The Best of Robert ServiceCopyright 1940
Perigee Books/Poetry
212 pages
I'm going to keep this book review short because we've had storms and I've fallen far behind on basically everything except reading -- reviewing, life in general, possibly breathing in and out. Can't seem to get things right, this week. So, first and foremost . . . take a gander at Bob Service. Wow. Good-looking guy, eh?
And, the book? Way beyond my descriptive abilities, but I absolutely love Robert Service's poetry. He was, at turns, humorous and serious. His admiration for the raw beauty of the Canadian Yukon is reflected in his lovely wording. And, yet he also plainly had a respect for the dangerous forces of nature. He had strong morals and he found war distressing. At Wikipedia's entry on Robert Service, you can read that he was a conscientious objector during WWI, yet he did his part, driving an ambulance for the Canadian Red Cross.
Quite a bit of Service's poetry can be viewed online, so I'm going to save time and skip posting quotes, but here's a great site where you can view a number of his poems. My husband memorized and recited "The Shooting of Dan McGrew" and "The Cremation of Sam McGee" during his school years and immensely enjoyed those particular school assignments. He can still recite most of both poems, and it was the husband who purchased our copy of The Best of Robert Service because of fond memories. I've never bothered to read the entire book, till now. Thanks to John, once again. The 2nd Canadian Book Challenge may turn out to be my best challenge, ever.
This was my 2nd book completed for the 2nd Canadian book Challenge.
Also finished:
When Twilight Burns by Colleen Gleason -- Loved it, of course! Review forthcoming.
I'll hold on the review of High Altitude Leadership, since I've discovered it's an October release. Hubby and I were both so eager to read it that we had two bookmarks in the book, at one point. One of the authors was quoted in an article about the recent K2 disaster, much to our relief (glad to know he wasn't among those involved because, among other reasons, it would have been a total bummer).
Hope everyone is having a fabulous reading week!
He sure is handsome! I can't say that I have read him yet, but maybe now I will!
ReplyDeleteHe's a hottie! How did the Canadian snows keep from melting with him around?
ReplyDeleteWow, hot poet! Who knew? I don't think I've ever read any of his stuff, so I'll have to investigate some websites. Yay!
ReplyDeleteJessica,
ReplyDeleteHandsome is right! He's definitely worth reading, too. I may have to stick some excerpts in future posts, when I'm not so pressed for time. :)
Bybee,
Good question. The man was definitely hot. Maybe that's why he ended up in the South of France -- too much danger from all that melting snow.
Andi,
I know; I was really stunned when his photo popped up. Sooo hot. I think I had a mental image of an old, bearded sourdough. Silly me. Definitely look up his poetry. He was heavy on rhyme and rhythm, but I never felt like his poetry was forced -- like he'd twisted phrasing to make things rhyme.
I'm definitely going to have to check this book out! I blame being beyond on virtually everything on the Olympics! I'm usually in bed by 10, but now it's closer to 12 because I can't pull myself away from the TV. Eeks!
ReplyDeleteTrish,
ReplyDeleteI think a lot of people are spending their evenings glued to the TV because of the Olympics. My husband is one of them, even though our signal is so snowy you can barely see what's happening!