[reviews]
[masthead]
Russell Thorburn, Approximate Desire
(New Issues Press, 1999)
reviewed by Catherine Sundt
In the space of 61 pages of poetry, Russell Thorburn
takes his readers from Paris to Minnesota, to the 19th century and back
again, and into the minds and interactions of historical figures ranging
from Einstein to Ty Cobb. It is this range and variety that makes his
poetry collection, Approximate Desire, so appealing to everyone
from a poetry expert to a novice reader.
The book is divided into three parts, each with
its own rhythm and tone. In the first section, Thorburn describes personal
experiences of historical figures, focusing mainly on the French surrealist
poet Guillaume Apollinaire. Switching between first and third person narration,
Thorburn shows Apollinaire's varied experiences in France. He experiences
the turmoil of war. He plays a lighthearted tennis matches with his friend,
the Parisian artist Marie Laurencin, in which they exchange witty banter.
"Dammit," he cries at her, "behave / like a woman,"
as she sticks out her tongue, / hands on her hips, flat-chested painter
/ with eyes much bigger than her face." Later, in an imagined conversation,
Apollinaire discusses relativity with Einstein, describing how "the
fire of mathematics / lights his eyes, his shirt unbuttoned / to the chest,
and he tells me / about the way the world will end." It is this flawless
juxtaposition that Apollinaire presented in his own poetry, and Thorburn
continues beautifully against the setting of Paris.
The second section is the most eclectic, and
seems to be where many of Thorburn's personal experiences come forth.
Many of these poems are driven by specific settings or landmarks, such
as the Eiffel Tower, Montreal, or a mysterious Lesznianska Street. These
settings frame Thorburn's reflections on music, loneliness, art, family,
love, and death, ending with the haunting "Film Noir," an elegant
poem about a snowy nighttime drive and a captured moment of excitement
and fear. At the end, the narrator says to his passenger, "You laughed
as we spun about, / and I knew some day I would shout / that pain of never
hearing your voice again."
The third and final section brings the poetry
back to its Michigan author's roots, as Thorburn sets most of the poems
to the theme of baseball. Some of the poems are reflections on baseball:
as a metaphor, as truth, as an art. One very powerful poem called "Apology
to My Father" uses playing catch as a framework for the father-son
relationship and the disappointments that the narrator associates with
it. And, not to be forgotten, Apollinaire returns to the collection in
the final segment, playing catch with Ty Cobb and proclaiming, "'Here
I am prepared to die under two gods, baseball / and poetry.'" As
the collection comes to a close, the poems decrescendo into sadness, ending
with "Hotel Memory," a fragmented piece about grief and searching.
Russell Thorburn's unique vision of the world
makes it difficult to recommend his collection to any sort of person in
particular, and comparisons to other authors prove difficult as well.
While his messages are as varied as his topics, he seems to strive in
his poetry to bring together history, travel, baseball, love, and all
of the other intertwining aspects of his life into a literary format,
sharing himself with his readers piece by piece. He does so with elegance,
emotion, and a subtle wit that crackles beneath the surface of his poetry.
Thorburn's well-defined style is a product of all that which has shaped
him throughout his life, including his experiences in Michigan. Russell
Thorburn is truly one of Michigan's modern poetic voices, and this collection
shows just how graceful that voice can be.
___
Catherine Sundt is graduating from GVSU with a Spanish major this year, and will be going to graduate school at Ohio State University.
FEATURED:
An Interview with Peter Ho Davies