Book description
James Lasdun's third book of poems explores the themes and tensions
of his last two with a new boldness and exuberance, in a series of
poems about life in the Catskill mountains outside Woodstock, where
the author moved with his family some years ago.
Questions of exile and belonging, cutting ties and forming new
bonds, figure prominently, as does the struggle to find a viable
relationship with the natural world of the mountain wilderness - at
once a stunning companion and a ferocious competitor. Out of this -
'the need to carve out a niche for ourselves;/our singular relation to
what we love' - rises the book's central image: the chainsaw. Very
much a real machine (given to the alarmed poet by his wife), it also
comes to form a complex symbol in which all manner of human traits are
reflected with an intense, often comical, brilliance.
A brilliantly assured, deftly lyrical sequence, Landscape with
Chainsaw melds passion with wit, the classical with the quotidian,
in a thrilling meditation on history, love, cultural identity and the
anxiety of displacement. As an examination of the complexities of
deracination and domesticity, it marks the matured genius of one of
England's most important poets.
James Lasdun was born in London and now lives in upstate New York. He
has published two collections of short stories, three books of poetry
and two novels,
The Horned Man
and
Seven Lies
. His story 'The Siege' was adapted by Bernardo Bertolucci for his film
Beseiged
. He co-wrote the screenplay for the film
Sunday
(based on another of his stories) which won Best Feature and Best
Screenplay awards at Sundance, 1997. He is the recipient of a Guggenheim
Fellowship in poetry, and currently teaches poetry and fiction workshops
at Princeton. In 2006 he won the inaugural National Short Story
competition with 'An Anxious Man'.
