What really counts in this life? For the writer, Alexander McCall Smith, it is friendship and love - themes that crop up time and again in his novels. And it is these themes that he explores in this collection of poems.
In this book, divided into nine sections, the author takes you on a journey across the globe from Africa to Greece, London to Mumbai, and back home to Edinburgh. In a Time of Distance is a captivating celebration of place and people, but also of animals and books. Looking at the world through the lens of this writer it is a better, more humane place. Throughout these poems there are moments of swoop and soar, descriptions that will make you laugh and realign your view. In this collection, Alexander McCall Smith reminds us to look at the world differently, to stop once in a while and look up at the sky.
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Here on a line outside a croft, A suit has been hung, A WASHING LINE OUTSIDE A CROFT
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(@PolygonBooks, 15 October 2020, ebook, 160 pages, borrowed from @GlasgowLib via @BorrowBox)
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I've enjoyed other books by the author so thought I'd give his poetry a try. I enjoyed some of the poems but for the most part they left me cold. Many of the poems are focused on nature and the natural world or cities and different places. I'm afraid these didn't do much for me. I felt very distant from the narrator and themes of the poems, ironic given the title of the collection. The language was very nice at times and that's about it. I prefer more personal poems where the poet offers insight into their own life. They were very bland overall.
