Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, May 8, 1994 TAG: 9405010157
SECTION: HORIZON PAGE: D-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
By Carolyn Forche. HarperCollins. $20.
The empty post-modern times of which the late novelist Walker Percy wrote\ so eloquently receive a new, different and moving treatment in this lengthy\ narrative poem by a talented young Maryland poet.
Its context is the moral disasters of the 20th century, from Auschwitz\ where "the silence of God is God" to the lingering effects of the atomic age.\ Ms. Forche writes poetry as the young Hemingway wrote prose; a lean spareness\ set to the flow of free verse. Yes, despite her topics, she avoids what poet\ James Dickey rightly critcized as the pit of much American poetry, the howling\ polemics of Allen Ginsberg and so many others who seek to politicize the poem.
The values of which Ms. Forche writes are personal and universal. They\ represent rage held in check by sadness; pain overcome by love. And they do it\ with skill and discipline.
- ROBERT HILLDRUP
The Old House at Railes.
By Mary E. Pearce. St. Martin's.
Some 20 years have passed since Mary E. Pearce's "Apple Tree Lean Down" was reviewed here. Now, in her newest work, Pearce again creates a novel of life in 19th century rural England. The plot centers on the Tarrant family, their home Newton Railes, and Martin Cox, the poor son of a miserly stonemason and quarryman. As partial payment for his father's work, the 15-year-old Martin is offered lessons at Newton Railes with the young Tarrant twins, taught by their 18-year-old sister Katherine. Martin, an apt and able student, learns much of taste and manners in addition to his more traditional studies. In the course of his lessons, Martin also gains an abiding love for both the old house and the family. As the plot progreses, we follow the fortunes of all concerned. Throughout, Pearce's book is a fascinating story of very "real" people and their intertwined lives.
- HARRIET LITTLE
Fifty Hikes in Northern Virginia.
By Leonard M. Adkins. Backcountry Publications. $13.
Ranging though the remarkably varied terrain of northern Virginia, this\ extremely useful hiking guide covers all levels of experience and physical conditioning. For each trail, Adkins has done an admirable job of describing the natural setting and any relevant historical data, including details of Civil War battles and a brief history of gold mining in Virginia.
I have done a fair amount of hiking in Shenandoah National Park and\ George Washington National Forest, but I was amazed at how many more first rate trails Adkins had experienced. This book - divided into "Chesapeake Bay and Eastern Virginia," "Central Virginia," "Blue Ridge and Massanutten Mountains," and "Western Virginia" - is now permanently stored in my pickup, and I can't wait to continue my hiking adventures.
- JUSTIN ASKINS
Robert Hilldrup is a Richmond writer and former newspaperman.
Harriet Little teaches at James River high school.
Justin Askins teaches at Radford University.
by CNB