Flaubert's Drum by Sugu Pillay

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Sugu Pillay's thought provoking work shifts effortlessly between New Zealand with a seamless integration of Maori themes and Asian locales, especially India, but is also informed by classical thinkers and artists. A challenging read, with its allusiveness, but one with rewards for those open to its startling juxtapositions and time warps. The title is from Flaubert's comment: "Human language is like a cracked kettle on which we beat our tunes for bears to dance to when all the time we long show more to move the stars to pity." Previously titled In Medias Res, the collection was Highly Commended in the 2012 IP Picks Best Poetry Awards and is a collection of mostly published poems from 1995 to 2012. show less

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timjones 280 reviews

Born in Malaysia, Sugu Pillay is an accomplished poet and playwright. Flaubert’s Drum, which is her first poetry collection, is a very interesting and wide-ranging set of poems that moves between Asia and New Zealand, between epic and earthquake, between the turtles of Chendor Beach and the schist of Lindis Pass. I especially enjoyed the final section of the book, which does a lovely job of tying the book’s strands together.

Mar 1, 2013

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