Wednesday, September 3, 1975
daily nebraskan
page 13
"Loveroot" offers a bawdy look at feminist author
By Bill Roberta
Erica Jong, the author of the best selling
novel Fear of Flying, has a new book of
poetry, Loveroot (Holt, Rinehart and
Winston, 1975). The poet is likable, the
poems are not.
Loveroot leaves the reader with an
impression of its witty, honest, fiminist
writer. Squeamish readers are warned that
she can be bawdy. "The crotch will be the
trellis for the vine" of her poetry, she
declares.
But she has a healthy attitude, and
though her celebrity seems based on her
dealings with sex, she does not exploit the
subject.
I think if I knew her, I would like her. 1
picture her as, a frenzied poet holed up in a
cheap apartment, wishing and writing.
Hays rote
But although she plays the poet role
well, her poems are not well written. Her
metaphors only work so far, and then what
may have seemed like a fresh idea turns out
to be a clumsy, poorly thought out
connection.
Jong's lines are unrhymed and their .
lengths vary, but convenience, not
freedom, is her purpose. The lines don't
have the rhythms of common speech,
merely common rhythms.
Her reliance on earthy terms seems to
keep sentimentality out, but there is often
sentimental thinking behind the poems.
The book is divided into three sections.
The first is "Mash Notes to the Dead &
Letters to the living." "Testament (Or,
Homage to Walt Whitman)" is the lead
poem in this section, and the best. Her
poetry owes Whitman a great deal, both in
style and pose, and I suspect he is Jong's
favorite poet.
After Keats
"Dear Keats" is the last poem of the
first section and is packed with quotes
from his writings. It looks as if Jong read
all of Keat's letters and poems in one
sitting and then, in a rapture, wrote a poem
of her dazzled impressions.
Her appreciation for Keats is conveyed,
but only a master like Keats could
poetically handle the feelings his
temperament aroused.- Jong is no such
master, and her poem is embarassing.
The second section of Loveroot is "In
the Penile Colony." It deals with liberation
from the machismo mystique. Male readers
should not be put off by this.
For one thing, both sexes would profit
by such a liberation. For another, the
extent of Jong's threat to male chauvinists
may be seen by this trite metaphor: "In a
rotting forest, we are lumberjacks raising
our double axes. . She has picked a
wonderfully promising subject but has let
us down.
Hungry
The third section of the book is
"Hungering." The 'frustration of being a
poet unable to write poetry is apparent in
this section.
It includes poems such as "Insomnia &
Poetry," whose title reflects the dullness to
follow. "Unblocked," which compares the
writer overcoming her inability to produce
witn constipation iouowea oy aiarrnea, is a
curiously honest poem.
Loveroofs author is a likable person
and the reader can come to know her. This
is no small achievement. But good poetry is
a larger achievement, and this book just
doesn't make it.
short slu!
An organizational
meeting for plant and
animal ecology,
climatology, soil science and
physiology undergraduate
and graduate students to
apply for a National Science
Foundation research grant is,
scheduled for Thursday at
7:30 pjn. in Oldfather Hall,
room 413.
The Kernels, Corn Cobs
and Tassels will meet
Thursday at 6 p.m. in the
Nebraska Union Ballroom.
A seminar for students
receiving financial aid will
be held today and Thursday
in the Nebraska Union
Small Auditorium from
2:30 to 4 p.m. The Office
of Scholarships and
Financial Aids is sponsoring
the seminar to answer
questions and explain
instructions.
Accounting Club will
meet today at 3:45 pjn. in
the Nebraska Union. The
meeting will cover
curriculum and the
interview process.
A Folk n Roll concert is
scheduled for 7:30 pjn. in
the Nebraska Union
Thursday.
' '..
ASUN standing
committees will meet today
at 9 p.m. in the Union.
Anyone interested is
welcome. For information,
call 472-2581.
The . ASUN Book
Exchange will dose today at
5 p.m. Students wishing to
pick up books may do so
TwtA., -J l?J A... t1.
p.m. in the Union
North-South Conference
Rooms.
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