Book Review |
The Depths of a Clamby Peter Connors |
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The Depths of a Clam
Poetry by Kim Kwang-Kyu
Translation from the Korean
by Brother Anthony of Taize
White Pine Press, 2005 $16
Think of all the people you know who read poetry on a regular basis. Now cut that number in half (to be generous) and you can begin to imagine the American audience for poetry in translation. And that’s a damn shame. This first American edition of work by major contemporary Korean poet Kim Kwang-Kyu not only delivers readers to themselves, but illuminates thought patterns and points of view from another culture. Anyone out there still think we can get by without understanding other cultures? For the past thirty years, Kwang-Kyu has revealed truths about Korean society that few poets, anywhere, would be bold and skilled enough to speak about. In The Depths of a Clam he maintains both hope and good humor while plumbing the depths of an over-industrialized society driven by politically corrupt forces. Anyone out there unable to relate? The hope and humor remain because Kwang-Kyu writes from an Everyman perspective; never hovering over the fray, but writing from the depths of his understanding of how the politics of Korea affect the people of Korea. Or is it the people of America?
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