5 Degrees and Other Poems (Poets, Penguin) [Hardcover]

Nicholas Christopher (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Hart Crane once wrote to Sherwood Anderson of his hope to find a "form that is so thorough and intense as to dye the words themselves with a peculiarity of meaning." For Christopher, that form is the title poem here, a dense and stunning, often elliptical sequence of 35 interlocking poems. Like the Arctic adventurer John Davis, who figures prominently in the poem, Christopher explores themes of spiritual transcendence, magic and history as they coalesce in the mind of the unnamed narrator one night on the streets of New York City (where the temperature is 5 ). Displaying an almost Borghesian fascination with the underbelly of history, Christopher (In the Year of the Comet) cites Herodotus, lunar cartography and Harry Houdini, linking his poems to resemble a circular room of mirrors. The poems-each shimmering with immediacy-deflect the reader into such subjects as the Nazi occupation of an Aegean island or the friendship between Van Gogh and Gauguin. Along with this difficult but immensely rewarding poem are collected 25 shorter, mostly lyric poems. Notable among these is "Terminus," a powerfully moving political poem written in response to altrocities committed in the Yugoslavian civil war.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

Christopher's fifth book of poems begins with a series of interlocking poems (with allegorical elements) that all are generated by a single night in an enormous imaginary city in which the temperature is five degrees. For the most part, the ambitious sequence succeeds, and Christopher's language is as bewitching as the inhabitants of his fantasized metropolis. These include Harry Houdini, introduced as an aviation pioneer who does magic only as a hobby; an angel who signs a man's name in blue light on a black wall; and the goddess Inanna descending into the underworld on razor-sharp, slippery steps. After the sequence come 25 lyric and narrative poems; their subjects range from hibiscus tea in a dying man's room to observations of a city street at 6 a.m.; their locales, from Vietnam to Bosnia. In all the poems, Christopher beautifully combines empathy and distance, mystery and exploration. Elizabeth Gunderson

Product Details

• Hardcover: 112 pages
• Publisher: Viking Adult; First edition. edition (January 1, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0670853410
• ISBN-13: 978-0670853410
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.8 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.9 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #8,341,465 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Optimum Temperature at Combustion, July 18, 2000

By 

Douglas A. Storm (Glen Carbon, IL United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: 5 Degrees and Other Poems (Poets, Penguin) (Mass Market Paperback)

It must all be true. At least, that's what you think when reading Chistopher's poems--they are fantastic, but they seem to be factual (you want to believe that Houdini could dog paddle under a sheet of ice for 2 hours looking for his escape, and you want to believe that John Dee could speak with Angels). This is one of his gifts and failings: his writing is beautifully flat. "Flat" must be counted a pejorative when speaking of writing; but in this collection it is exactly this quality that suspends our disbelief. Granted it must be that Christopher has found subjects that "work" within this framework. All this sounds ambivalent, and I don't mean it to. This is a wonderful book, especially for those not normally poetry readers; it is accessible--one reader has said there's something in it for everyone, and this is surely true.

5 Degrees is the title of what is a long poem in 35 sections--each section stands on its own but is made stronger and more interesting by its placement within the whole. Odd comparisons are made by way of recurring words, characters, elements, historical persons, mythology, and of course the style. Houdini is the subject of a couple poems, Van Gogh as well, and John Dee, an English mathematician and scientist "friend to Sir Walter Ralegh/and Thomas Harriot." (Harriot and Ralegh are strong presences in Christophers fantastic novel, "Veronica"). We see the Nazi's burn copies of "The Tempest" in one poem and read that "John Davis, explorer and navigator, died the night/The Tempest was first performed in London."; Iron makes its way into several poems as element from the stars that unites us through history, but also simply as the "color" of most of these poems (many seem to take place in winter).

One cannot show you enough here. Each section in this long poem makes you think of a different earlier poem and causes you to reflect upon that poem differently. What we learn throughout is made explicit in section 15: "And Shakespeare, who understood that the hard/facts he pillaged from Plutarch were prefigured in myths--the wellspring of history--". This is exactly what Christopher has given us--a veritable encyclopedia of information (factual, fantastical, mythological, historical), shaken up in his cupped hands, like the bones used to tell fortunes, and let fall to the table under Fate's guiding hand (simply peruse section 25 to get the idea). His is an art of resurfaced truth and rearrangement (he mines for Iron ore and can also seek it in the Pole Star).

This is my favorite of his works (although I did read the novel "Veronica" several times), and of his previous and subsequent work, this is by far the most even. I do also enjoy his first book, "On Tour with Rita"--and find it has poems that would work very nicely within the framework of "5 Degrees".

5.0 out of 5 stars Christopher's Poems are amazing..., March 4, 1999

By 

Manorwood23 "thequips" (Austin, TX USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: 5 Degrees and Other Poems (Poets, Penguin) (Mass Market Paperback)

Nicholas Christopher is truthfully one of the most well-written and introspective poets of the 20th century. Anyone can find something in his poetry that they appreciate and value greatly. "Hibiscus Tea" is one of the most awe-inspiring and beautiful poems full of imagery I have ever read.

5.0 out of 5 stars 5 degrees is the most phenomenal book of poetry I have read., February 17, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: 5 Degrees and Other Poems (Poets, Penguin) (Mass Market Paperback)

Put quite simply, this is the best book of poetry that I have ever seen. Christopher's verse is infinitely compelling and his scope so broad that every reader can take something away from a perusal of it. I would recommend this book to anyone and everyone.