by Richard Subber | Dec 31, 2024 | American history, History, Human Nature, Theater and play reviews
to be or not to be…
Movie review:
Old Henry
The tension builds slowly in Old Henry (2021, not rated, 99 minutes) and you may be tempted to stop waiting to find out what it’s all about.
Truth is, it’s easy to stay with it.
There are no “stars” in Old Henry, and no Hollywood gush.
It’s a 1906 Oklahoma western that doesn’t need a soundtrack.
There is father-son conflict and bonding galore.
There is persistent necessity to consider the yin and yang of what’s right and what’s wrong and a lot of the in-betweens.
You’ll learn a few things you don’t already know about the real-life Henry McCarty who called himself William Bonney and is known to history as Billy the Kid.
You can take some time to think about this: are we who we were, or are we who we are, or can we be who we want to be, or should we be who our loved ones think we are…
Old Henry received the “Best Feature” award at the 2021 Almeria Western Film Festival.
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Movie review. Copyright © Richard Carl Subber 2024 All rights reserved.
“The beginning is always today.”
(quote, Mary Shelley)
so get started…
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As with another eye: Poems of exactitude with 55 free verse and haiku poems,
and the rest of my poetry books are for sale on Amazon (paperback and Kindle)
and free in Kindle Unlimited, search Amazon for “Richard Carl Subber”
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by Richard Subber | Dec 29, 2024 | My poetry, Poetry, Reflections
into tomorrow…
Rocks and ripples
I tossed that rock far out,
in the middle,
not as far as I could throw,
but out there,
and then I watched the ripples,
in a wind-shaped circle,
fading to dimples soon enough
but not quite wiffling into nothing,
and I could see, for a moment,
how that rounding pulse
would keep going
after I turned away…
August 22, 2019
Inspired by “Read my rocks” by Ellie Shumaker, age 13
in 2019 Rattle Young Poets Anthology
My poem “Rocks and ripples” was published in my fourth collection of 55 poems, As with another eye: Poems of exactitude.
You can buy it on Amazon (paperback and Kindle),
or get it free in Kindle Unlimited, search for “Richard Carl Subber”
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My poetry. Copyright © Richard Carl Subber 2024 All rights reserved.
Book review: Saint Joan
by George Bernard Shaw
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In other words: Poems for your eyes and ears with 64 free verse and haiku poems,
and the rest of my poetry books are for sale on Amazon (paperback and Kindle)
and free in Kindle Unlimited, search Amazon for “Richard Carl Subber”
Your comments are welcome—tell me what you’re thinking.
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by Richard Subber | Dec 26, 2024 | Book reviews, Books, Books Commentary, Joys of reading
Book reviewing never has been
the noblest profession.
The art of the book review is relatively young. Edgar Allan Poe wrote some reviews for Graham’s Magazine in the 1840s. The first explicitly titled book review appeared in 1861—it was a sweetheart review, in the awkwardly reserved language of the era:
“The present work has the additional recommendation of an unmistakably useful subject…”
An interesting point is that no one thought there was a need for book reviews before the middle of the 19th century. The Junto: A Group Blog on Early American History says:
“By the 1840s, improved production techniques and faster distribution networks meant that middle-class readers in America could expect convenient access to a wide range of literary materials in a variety of formats. But they also meant that readers trained to prize discernment needed more sophisticated ways to evaluate the materials passing before their eyes. This was one of the requirements that led to early attempts to define an American national literary canon.”
Book reviewers haven’t been getting a lot of respect since the early days. Poe criticized book reviews in 1846:
“We place on paper without hesitation a tissue of flatteries, to which in society we could not give utterance, for our lives, without either blushing or laughing outright.”
A century later, George Orwell had these unkind words for reviewers:
“In much more than nine cases out of ten the only objectively truthful criticism would be ‘This book is worthless’, while the truth about the reviewer’s own reaction would probably be “This book does not interest me in any way, and I would not write about it unless I were paid to.”
If you’re feeling the urge to be a full-time book reviewer,
take a moment and think about medical school.
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Book review. Copyright © Richard Carl Subber 2024 All rights reserved.
Book review: “The Gentle Boy”
The Puritans had a dark side…
by Nathaniel Hawthorne
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My first name was rain: A dreamery of poems with 53 free verse and haiku poems,
and the rest of my poetry books are for sale on Amazon (paperback and Kindle)
and free in Kindle Unlimited, search Amazon for “Richard Carl Subber”
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by Richard Subber | Dec 24, 2024 | Human Nature, My poetry, Poetry
doing what’s right…
A man’s job
I won’t sell my trees.
The balsams would go quickly
at “cut your own” prices,
but I tell my neighbors, again this year,
there will be no cutting
on this old slope that spills down
to my little barn.
Day is darkening,
and I move among my trees.
This one, bent and broken
in last winter’s snows,
has grown,
the birds of spring may nest
in its green spaces…
and now, from below,
the boy climbs to me, his head down,
his father’s axe in hand,
he has changed since his father died,
he tries to do a man’s work,
he will have little time
for baseball with the other boys.
“I told Momma I would find a tree,
to make a Christmas for Becky and the baby.”
So.
He holds his axe in both hands,
and he stands straight in my field.
I extend my arm.
“Go find a good one,
I can help you carry it home.”
December 1, 2018
My poem “A man’s job” was published in my sixth collection of 73 poems, Above all: Poems of dawn and more.
You can buy it on Amazon (paperback and Kindle),
or get it free in Kindle Unlimited, search for “Richard Carl Subber”
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My poetry. Copyright © Richard Carl Subber 2024 All rights reserved.
“Tear it up,” says Kurt Vonnegut
“Write a six line poem, about anything…
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My first name was rain: A dreamery of poems with 53 free verse and haiku poems,
and the rest of my poetry books are for sale on Amazon (paperback and Kindle)
and free in Kindle Unlimited, search Amazon for “Richard Carl Subber”
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by Richard Subber | Dec 21, 2024 | Book reviews, Books
strange wake-up…
Book review:
The Last White Man
by Mohsin Hamid
New York: Riverhead Books, 2022
180 pages
Hamid’s central idea is interesting: white people wake up and discover that they are brown people. Think about it. How many differences are more than skin deep?
As I started to read The Last White Man, I started to think of Coleridge talking about “the best words” and “the best words in the best order.” I started to think about other books I’ve read about beautiful words. I realized that this book isn’t full of them.
Hamid repeatedly offers massively run-on sentences to his readers. That’s not for me. It’s just too hard to want to turn the page and read more of this book.
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Book review. Copyright © Richard Carl Subber 2024 All rights reserved.
Book review: The Poems of Robert Frost
he hears bluebirds talking…
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Above all: Poems of dawn and more with 73 free verse poems,
and the rest of my poetry books are for sale on Amazon (paperback and Kindle)
and free in Kindle Unlimited, search Amazon for “Richard Carl Subber”
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