PositiveThe Straits Times... heartfelt ... a breezy read. It is a fine addition to Ferrante\'s output and, hopefully, a pause that gives readers a look into the mechanisms of her writing, before she once more takes the world by storm with another inventive work.
Alejandro Zambra, tr. Megan McDowell
PositiveThe Straits Times... has everything but also very little to do with poetry ... In his trademark lyrical style, Alejandro Zambra, a poet himself, pens this tribute to the unique milieu of Chile\'s literary circle, in which poets are treated like national heroes and the opinions of one poet about another spark fights ... In its toggling between perspectives and willingness to stretch out and examine seemingly trivial interactions, Zambra\'s writing is reminiscent of that of Czech writer Milan Kundera, who also makes abundant references to poetry ... Despite its subject matter, Zambra\'s writing is never insular, nor are his poet characters overly saccharine. The poet-editors, poet-journalists, poet-critics and poet-booksellers that he describes are both ridiculous and heroic ... Nor does he shy away from the limits of poetry. Beyond its capacity to express, soothe and entertain, the language of poetry is also deflection, in many ways hindering the development of real relationships between characters who would do better talking about how they feel in simpler terms.
Amia Srinivasan
RaveThe Straits Times... [a] necessary treatise of the modern age ... six essays on gender and sex of the highest quality - each one a joy to read and informed by the latest ideas ... From the dangers of pornography to interracial dating, she manages to capture in easy- flowing and concise prose the issues of the day ... Her fearlessness in engaging with touchy topics, usually avoided by progressives - including whether all people, no matter their sexuality, have a duty to examine whom they sleep with - makes her voice a real standout in a time of popular reckoning for gender relations not seen since the 1960s and 1970s ... From the outset, it is clear that she does not wish to only preach to the choir and is intent on persuading those who disagree ... follow her arguments to their not always definitive conclusions and it is clear that Srinivasan is not stoking controversy for its own sake ... She engages with conflicting evidence, ambiguities that cannot be easily resolved and then asks how these can be better reconciled and used to shore up ethical beliefs ... Everyone should read it.
