Official Review: Last Flocks of the Geese by Philip Dodd
Posted: 04 May 2019, 18:18
[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Last Flocks of the Geese" by Philip Dodd.]
4 out of 4 stars
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Last Flocks of the Geese is a collection of 129 poems written by Philip Dodd. The book does not have any particular unifying theme, but most of the poems reflect the author’s thoughts on human existence in general. Dodd’s poetry elegantly addresses a multitude of themes, ranging from day-to-day events to poetic portrayals of biblical legends. He uses images from nature, religion, art, music, literature, and domestic life to construct his poems and probe universal motifs.
Dodd uses a variety of metrical forms and is not strict about the number of syllables per line. His employment of rhyme is also dynamic and fluid. The author is clearly a great admirer of William Shakespeare – “each play of his a celebration of language and life.” In fact, quite a few poems openly reference and honor Shakespeare, or even imitate him – like “January Sonnet,” for instance. In “Ode To A Pair Of Old Slippers,” Dodd makes witty and whimsical remarks about how the legendary Bard himself could have written the poem and how the readers could “expect some academic tomes published on the matter soon.”
I particularly enjoyed the complex and elaborate ways in which seemingly ordinary events acquire extraordinary qualities in Dodd’s poems – a noteworthy positive point. “Homage To Our Russian Washing Machine” is a good example of this, as are “The Man With The Mobile Phone” and “Kite Flying.” I was also pleased by his exploration of literary references such as Kafka, Chaucer, Sartre, and Thomas More. We slowly learn who the author is as we read the poems.
But most of all, I was delighted by the outstanding musical remarks made by Dodd in many of his poems. As a matter of fact, my favorite ones in the book were “Modern Troubadours” and “Records in Your Room,” in which he reminisces about where and when he listened to music throughout his life, and which songs, bands, and singers he appreciated the most. I was amazed to see how his taste in music absolutely matches mine.
To conclude, reading Last Flocks of the Geese was a truly pleasurable experience and I have no noteworthy negative points to speak of. Additionally, it is a very well-edited book and I found no errors in it. Therefore, I rate it 4 out of 4 stars. I highly recommend it to anyone that is fond of poetry. In my opinion, only readers to which the genre does not appeal might not like the book.
******
Last Flocks of the Geese
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4 out of 4 stars
Share This Review
Last Flocks of the Geese is a collection of 129 poems written by Philip Dodd. The book does not have any particular unifying theme, but most of the poems reflect the author’s thoughts on human existence in general. Dodd’s poetry elegantly addresses a multitude of themes, ranging from day-to-day events to poetic portrayals of biblical legends. He uses images from nature, religion, art, music, literature, and domestic life to construct his poems and probe universal motifs.
Dodd uses a variety of metrical forms and is not strict about the number of syllables per line. His employment of rhyme is also dynamic and fluid. The author is clearly a great admirer of William Shakespeare – “each play of his a celebration of language and life.” In fact, quite a few poems openly reference and honor Shakespeare, or even imitate him – like “January Sonnet,” for instance. In “Ode To A Pair Of Old Slippers,” Dodd makes witty and whimsical remarks about how the legendary Bard himself could have written the poem and how the readers could “expect some academic tomes published on the matter soon.”
I particularly enjoyed the complex and elaborate ways in which seemingly ordinary events acquire extraordinary qualities in Dodd’s poems – a noteworthy positive point. “Homage To Our Russian Washing Machine” is a good example of this, as are “The Man With The Mobile Phone” and “Kite Flying.” I was also pleased by his exploration of literary references such as Kafka, Chaucer, Sartre, and Thomas More. We slowly learn who the author is as we read the poems.
But most of all, I was delighted by the outstanding musical remarks made by Dodd in many of his poems. As a matter of fact, my favorite ones in the book were “Modern Troubadours” and “Records in Your Room,” in which he reminisces about where and when he listened to music throughout his life, and which songs, bands, and singers he appreciated the most. I was amazed to see how his taste in music absolutely matches mine.
To conclude, reading Last Flocks of the Geese was a truly pleasurable experience and I have no noteworthy negative points to speak of. Additionally, it is a very well-edited book and I found no errors in it. Therefore, I rate it 4 out of 4 stars. I highly recommend it to anyone that is fond of poetry. In my opinion, only readers to which the genre does not appeal might not like the book.
******
Last Flocks of the Geese
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Like mmm17's review? Post a comment saying so!