Walking Backward [Paperback]

Paul Lake (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Kirkus Reviews

The second book by this Arkansas Tech professor collects a number of long narrative monologues, but the strongest poems are the short, focused, and often philosophical speculations on honor, glory, and other virtues. Lakes plain-talking speakers often have interesting stories to tell, and rely on easygoing rhythms: in Inspectors, a game of checkers turns into along tale of survival by a construction-site inspector who endured the Bataan Death March, and postwar nerve gas tests; in the title poem, a draft dodger wishes he could amend the past and takes his inspiration from a holy fool he met who walks everywhere backward; and in the longest narrative, an old woman who survived the westward migration with the original Donner Party describes the disappointment and death that prevailed. Two other voices speak convincingly of their fates: a truck driver brags of his abilities, while admitting a horrible accident caused him to retire; and, more chillingly, another man plagued by time, admits he loves the open road for being beyond civilization and good and evil, a notion he formed from a professors untested comment. In the shorter poems, Lake reveals his classical pessimism: on a chessboard, the pawns are cursed with their consciousness / Of all the horror of those empty squares; the logic of a gauntletcause harm or be harmedin Lakes view, proves the inefficacy of love and trust; a revision of the creation story in light of science demonstrates the equally criminal mutual heritage / of apes and men; and the great tragedies suggest, in The Gift, the fatal knot / Of family. Though Lake seems to exult in the idea of not-being, he frequently comes around to moments of trust and love, especially in a self-effacing tale of picking up two drunk hitchhikers. Lakes brilliantly ironic poem in the voice of the self-righteous Thoreau is typical of the poets strengths: not afraid of ideas (as opposed to images), formally inconspicuous, and witty in an understated way. -- Copyright ©1999, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Review

Additions
Antigone
The Century Killer
Concord
Epitaph For A Draft Dodger
Eternal Recurrence
Gauntlets
The Gift
A Grain Of Salt
In A Parking Lot
Inspectors
Interrogations
Pieces
Revised Standard Version
Seeing The Elephant
Simon Says
Thorn
Two Hitchhikers
Walking Backward
-- Table of Poems from Poem Finder®

Product Details

• Paperback: 88 pages
• Publisher: Story Line Press (July 15, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1885266723
• ISBN-13: 978-1885266729
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.4 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,415,242 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Intense lyrics, harrowing narratives., February 4, 2000

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Walking Backward (Paperback)

The intense lyrics and harrowing narratives of Walking Backward explore the web of values and obligations that bind people into neighborhoods and nations. Paul Lake's poetry reflects a blending of artful language with imaginative expression to present a lucid, articulate imagery that is as impressive as it is memorable. Pieces: The queen moves with unbounded liberty./Slant-eyed, a bishop offers up a prayer./A horse-faced gallant full of chivalry/Enters the family trade, an officer./A rook, high as a silo, lets fire fall,/Then ends its run behind a remnant pawn./The king strolls past his garden's rose-grown wall/To issue statements from the castle lawn./Only the pawns, bald-domed as army ants,/Urged to the common good by stripes and prayers,/regard the board, cursed with their consciousness/Of all the horror of those empty squares.

4.0 out of 5 stars good narrative poetry found here, May 30, 2002

By 

[e-mail] "[e-mail]" (Beaumont, tx USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Walking Backward (Paperback)

First of all, don't let the cover art fool you. This is not some sort of surrealist or postmodern collection. Paul Lake is a poet very much grounded in narrative and form. The book is divided into three sections. The first section is the weakest of the book. Lake has several good narrative poems throughout the collection ('Thorn' 'Inspectors'). Included in the first section is the narrative "Walking Backward" which is a great story told by a draft dodger or his draft dodging and of life's treatment of people. Section 2 only contains the long narrative poem "Seeing the Elephant" which is a great poem about a survivor of the Donner party. Section three, the strongest in the collection ends with one of the best poems, "Two Hitchhikers" which is not only a great ancedote, but has a hilarious ending. The collection has some very well done dramatic monologues, but where it weakens is in the lyric poems. "Pieces" and "Revised Standard Version" are pretty much the only lyric poems worthwhile. The rest bring down the collection as a whole. I wish that Lake had just included the narratives, a few of the dramatic monologues and those two lyrics. Perhaps to round the collection out more he could have included another narrative poem, which seems to be his strong suit.