BOOKS IN REVIEWchildren in hard hats, looking alarmed;a bow-tied mayorish gentleman flyingbehind a purple machine; a photographersnapping pictures; a house amiddestruction. The round-faced childrenare a brother and sister who live in Skeletown(the streets are named after thebones in the skeleton so the people canlearn anatomy). Skeletown is a citywhose Mayor has proclaimed that innovation(i.e., crazy ideas) is its most importantresource; to graduate from highschool, students must invent a schemenever before imagined. Jon has inventeda comic book (the fourth most popularin Canada). Christine finally comes upwith the best idea yet: a "do-it-yourselfdemolition company" in which peoplecan, for three dollars, take out their frustrationsby smashing windows, takingsledge hammers to walls, and kicking inplaster. All would go well, but naturally,there is one sinister element in town andChristine's demolition plans are demolished.Ken Roberts is a children's librarianwho has no illusions about what Canadianchildren want to read. This isGordon Korman for the younger set. Butdo not scorn — when it is National BookFestival time, Canadian public andschool librarians will thank Roberts forhis crazy and highly readable idea.Beyond the Door moves about as farfrom bright, primary colours and innovativeideas as possible. The cover illustration,in muted beige, blue/grey, andyellows, shows a huge expanse <strong>of</strong> sand, adorway, two children, a boat, and thesun. Illustrator Deborah Drew-Brookehas captured perfectly the static greyness<strong>of</strong> the novel. The story begins like a newversion <strong>of</strong> William Sleator's House <strong>of</strong>Stairs. Two children suddenly find themselvespropelled from a burning movietheatre into a world <strong>of</strong> sand. Eventuallythey are taken to a "loonie bin" fromwhich no one has ever escaped. Up tothat point, the novel has a bit <strong>of</strong> Sleator'ssurrealistic tension, but it soon slackensinto a lulling journey reminiscent <strong>of</strong> TheWizard <strong>of</strong> Oz. The two children andtheir three new-found Ozish friends manage,with a very simple plan and littleeffort, to escape from the asylum. Theirescape sets the pace for the rest <strong>of</strong> theirquest; the fivesome never seem to be inany real danger. Reading the book is likewatching a television series and knowingwith absolute certainty that the star willalways be safe because she must returnthe following week. By the time the novelis finished, two <strong>of</strong> the characters havepredictably fallen in love, one has died,and the two children return to find thattheir guardians have met and married.The future is guaranteed to be pure (iftedious) bliss.The cover illustration for In the City<strong>of</strong> the King matches perfectly the gentlefantasy it depicts and protects. The art,by Ian Wallace, shows the fresh strength<strong>of</strong> young Elena dancing before the confusedKing and the sinister Priests. In theCity <strong>of</strong> the King is a black versus white,good versus evil fantasy. Young Elenaand her older partner Ariel are minstrels.Both entertainers are special: Ariel becausehe is a member <strong>of</strong> "the brotherhood"which subtly protects the Kingfrom Evil; Elena because she is a member<strong>of</strong> a secret society called the Daughters<strong>of</strong> Ismay. The two become embroiledin a mission to save the King from thecontrol <strong>of</strong> a group <strong>of</strong> evil Priests. Thestory, like the cover illustration, movesgently and believably from the youngwoman's simple role as entertainer to herhuge responsibility for keeping the Kingfrom the Priests. It isn't Susan Cooper(though the cover blurb does compare itto The Arabian Nights and The Horseand His Boy), but in Canada, wherethere is a paucity <strong>of</strong> good children's fantasy,this one is at the top with Ruth187
BOOKS IN REVIEWNichol's A Walk Out <strong>of</strong> the World andMarrow <strong>of</strong> the World.A quick reaction to the covers <strong>of</strong> thesethree books from Groundwood becomesa summary : one is fun, one is a bore, andone is gentle fantasy. Just a glance, butthat should cover the works.JUDITH WALKERLIMITS OF FEELINGMICHAEL BULLOCK, Prisoner <strong>of</strong> the Rain.Third Eye, $10.00.GERRY SHiKATANi, A Sparrow's Food. CoachHouse, n.p.MARLENE COOKSHAW, Personal Luggage.Coach House, n.p.EVA TiHANYi, Prophecies: Near the Speed <strong>of</strong>Light. Thistledown, $8.95.JOHN LENT, Frieze. Thistledown, $8.95.THESE FIVE BOOKS, two <strong>of</strong> them firstfull-length collections, force some consideration<strong>of</strong> poetic technique, <strong>of</strong> theaccessibility <strong>of</strong> poetry to the interestedintelligent reader, and <strong>of</strong> the obviousrelationship between the two. In four <strong>of</strong>these books, the transmission <strong>of</strong> seriousfeeling seems to lie largely outside thepossibilities <strong>of</strong> the techniques, and it isfar from clear what emotional note isbeing hit, what our response should be.Michael Bullock <strong>of</strong>fers us ninety-eightsurrealist prose-poems. Obviously surrealismis still alive, at least in Vancouver,and Bullock's track record in thismost difficult genre is, <strong>of</strong> course, impressive.However, there are problems withthis book, and for this author it must bejudged disappointing. The best surrealismtakes us into the subconscious in sucha way as to help us emerge from astrange journey seeing things freshly.This does not happen here; there is littleor no shock to the comfortable logic <strong>of</strong>our lives. The images are certainlydreamlike, but s<strong>of</strong>t-centred, gauzy, pallid,even fey, and their impact is minimal.The prose-poems <strong>of</strong>ten seem flabby —justifying the right margin does not, initself, make a good prose-poem, and thesame effects could be had by using continuousprose or free-verse. There seemsno necessity for the form and not enoughappreciation <strong>of</strong> its difficulties. In particular,there is far too much syntacticalrepetition (especially in the first lines),and I doubt if many readers will responddeeply to lines likeUnder the covered gaze <strong>of</strong> hawks the starfilledsky opens to reveal its empty womb.Waving trees beset it on either side andmushrom clouds <strong>of</strong> fish swim through itsinner waters. Houses rise on a foundation<strong>of</strong> clouds and drift towards the approachingwind.It all seems so dated, so familiar, so unchallenging.However, I must mentionsome Monty Python lines (if only therewere more like them) which delight thereader, stunned and weary by the sheerweight <strong>of</strong> <strong>of</strong>ten tedious writing: "At thebottom <strong>of</strong> a well a redheaded toad iswandering / around holding a balloon ona string." And why not? Bullock's admirerswill no doubt find this book essential.Others will want more than imaginarytoads in imaginary gardens and will probablybe waiting for a giant cartoon footto descend, popping the balloons.Gerry Shikatani's is a big collection(143 pages) and is finely illustrated byRosalind Goss. In fact, poem and drawingmerge <strong>of</strong>ten in interesting ways.Shikatani claims that his work is "actionin service to compassion," that he is exploring"such things as speed acceleration,shape, density, line, angle." Poetryis a tenuous thread in "ecological being."Luckily, this sort <strong>of</strong> bombast is not alwaysnoticeable in the poetry itself, the best<strong>of</strong> which is supple, spare, and suggestive :where silence is bitten<strong>of</strong>f bitby bit / hereand there188
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- Page 36 and 37: BOOKS IN REVIEWwith a love of life,
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