By: Judymarie Gaps, Poetry Reviewer
What is poetry? Is it a grouping of stylized words? Stanzas of rhymes? Maybe it is up to the eyes of the beholder. For Anne Carson, poetry is whatever she wants it to be. Long, sprawling paragraphs or repetitive phrases are all poetry, according to her.
But once one has decided what poetry is to them, they must then write “good poetry.” But who determines “good” poetry? Who sets that metric? The thing about poetry is that it is meant to move people, to share your trials, tribulations, and deepest thoughts with the masses. However, what moves someone else might not move you. In Anne Carson’s case, what moved her might not move anyone at all.
From the beginning of the book, the reader is given the impression that Anne Carson is a knowledgeable woman. She, like every woman, holds multitudes. In Carson’s case, she broadcasts her life stories to her audience, sharing anecdotes, stories, and comparing herself to philosophers. For example, in an early poem, Carson describes in detail how she would carry herself as if she were Joseph Conrad. She intermingled stories of her life with those of Conrad’s until the two were inseparable. Carson asked seemingly silly questions, such as “When I wish to report that I, as Joseph Conrad, never pick up the check in a restaurant, whose dossier do I put it in?” While these narrative tools may be effective, the level of outside research required to understand Carson’s poems lessens the books’ efficacy.
Carson strikes me as a woman who is afflicted with knowledge. She carries it around like a burden and feels the need to equate her life to stories of those who are dead and gone. She philosophizes for the masses, and in making sense of her situation, sometimes makes no sense at all. Additionally, every poem is so deep and metaphorical that it is inaccessible to the average reader.
For example, she writes interviews that she has given in the past and includes what she was thinking at the time: “Seems to me that, although waiting is hard, especially waiting for something that never arrives, never arriving is hard too and has just about as much waiting in it.” There is truth in this statement, but the circular reasoning runs the risk of tripping up the average reader.
Overall, Wrong Norma by Anne Carson was a good but difficult read. I found myself having to put the book down multiple times to reconnect with my surroundings. This book will teach you and move you, but it will also pull you away from reality in doing so. At one point, I was discouraged from reading it in public due to the sour face I was making while reading.
Regardless of these critiques, I do believe that the book is good and would be popular amongst literature nerds and academics alike. I was not personally changed by the words of Wrong Norma, but there is definitely an audience who may be.