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An Aviary of Small Birds

By: Publication details: United Kingdom; Carcanet Press Ltd; 2014Description: 88 Pages; PaperbackISBN:
  • 9781906188146
Subject(s): DDC classification:
  • 821.92
Summary: An Aviary of Small Birds is both elegy to a stillborn son and testament to the redemptive qualities of poetry as a transformative art. The book opens at the birth, which paradoxically becomes the moment of death when, after a long labour and an emergency caesarean, the baby's heart gives out. For the mother, her body flooded with endorphins, euphoria gives way to shock, followed by an intense and visceral grief. However, just as grief itself is not linear, so too the book follows an emotional rather than a strictly chronological arc, lyric rather than narrative. At the same time, McCarthy Woolf's formal experimentation allows an intellectual and metaphysical line of enquiry to emerge. Ultimately, it is a closely felt connection with the natural world, particularly with water and birds, that allows the author to transcend the experience and honour the spirit of her son.
Holdings
Item type Current library Call number Status Notes Date due Barcode Item holds
Book Adult and Young Adult 15-17 Karachi Poetry and Drama 821.92 (Browse shelf(Opens below)) Withdrawn Not For Loan Book Bazaar PKLC003042
Book Adult and Young Adult 15-17 Lahore Poetry and Drama 821.92 (Browse shelf(Opens below)) Withdrawn For Sale PKLC008559
Total holds: 0

An Aviary of Small Birds is both elegy to a stillborn son and testament to the redemptive qualities of poetry as a transformative art. The book opens at the birth, which paradoxically becomes the moment of death when, after a long labour and an emergency caesarean, the baby's heart gives out. For the mother, her body flooded with endorphins, euphoria gives way to shock, followed by an intense and visceral grief. However, just as grief itself is not linear, so too the book follows an emotional rather than a strictly chronological arc, lyric rather than narrative. At the same time, McCarthy Woolf's formal experimentation allows an intellectual and metaphysical line of enquiry to emerge. Ultimately, it is a closely felt connection with the natural world, particularly with water and birds, that allows the author to transcend the experience and honour the spirit of her son.

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