Better than God
Peter Porter
Better than God
"Better Than God" sees the eighty-year-old Porter working with a lyric engine tuned to perfection, and a mind that shows every sign of speeding up: Porter can make a song of what another writer might take an essay to cover. Whether working in the forms of epigram or narrative, or writing of memory, mortality, Renaissance intrigue or the surreal distortions of old age - Porter's faith in poetry as a road to the truth shines through. There are few other writers for whom contemporary events throw such long shadows or for whom the past is so present, and in "Better Than God" one has the sense of the poet attaining an increasingly commanding height.
4.8 out of 5 based on 4 reviews
|
Omniscore:
|
| Classification |
Fiction |
| Genre |
Poetry |
| Format |
Paperback |
| Pages |
80 |
| RRP |
£8.99 |
| Date of Publication |
February 2009 |
| ISBN |
978-0330460675 |
| Publisher |
Picador |
| |
"Better Than God" sees the eighty-year-old Porter working with a lyric engine tuned to perfection, and a mind that shows every sign of speeding up: Porter can make a song of what another writer might take an essay to cover. Whether working in the forms of epigram or narrative, or writing of memory, mortality, Renaissance intrigue or the surreal distortions of old age - Porter's faith in poetry as a road to the truth shines through. There are few other writers for whom contemporary events throw such long shadows or for whom the past is so present, and in "Better Than God" one has the sense of the poet attaining an increasingly commanding height.
Reviews
The Guardian
Fiona Sampson
"One might...have imagined that this latest book, published to coincide with his 80th birthday, should be read primarily in the retrospective light of the existing work. But nothing could further from the truth. Better Than God is a densely fleshed book by a poet at the height of his powers... Porter rises at moments to a magisterial, Eliotian lyricism... Better than God may be a tall order. Better than Porter is, too."
28/03/2009
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The Independent
Michael Glover
"He has much in common with Auden – other critics have said this – but, unlike the older Auden, he has not descended into silliness. He doesn’t coin preposterous words for their own sakes, or write light verse as funny as an anonymous passing fart. He lacks vanity and has kept his sense of judgement. Better Than God is a very companionable book, beautifully wrought, in which, as in all good poetry, language is held to account."
24/02/2009
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The Sunday Times
Alan Brownjohn
"A collection of well over 50 substantial new poems, it is as impressive as any volume he has given us... The intensity of Porter’s commitment can result in some complex, even intellectually forbidding verse. But new readers should not be deterred."
19/04/2009
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The Times
Elaine Feinstein
"...he draws his images with equal ease from art history and music, Star Wars and computer avatars. He is at his most amusing when he inhabits personae whose problems he can at once mock and respect; in Henry James and Constipation, say, in which the novelist is waiting for a letter from his brother William, though he finds his advice overly moral: De Quincey had my trouble - opium / For him, for me, inaction, looking on / The bathroom stalled, the crucial moment / gone ..."
06/02/2009
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