Wednesday, April 7, 2010

Response to "Sonnet 56"

I found Sonnet 56 to be a very interesting piece of writing, both for its adherence to/focus on only one concept (Shakespeare’s sonnet) and for its audacity in altering Shakespeare’s work not once, but 56 times. I was constantly surprised and impressed with Hoover’s ability to give the reader versions of the sonnet that were true to the spirit of Shakespeare’s words, while switching quickly between modern—Answering Machine was my favorite—and more classical forms of language. Though at times, the reading became a bit tedious, this is after all the same concept regurgitated more than 50 times, Hoover’s variety of forms allows the reader to find the form that speaks most to them, rather than Hoover himself choosing. Hoover’s work is proof that a writer can produce many different works from even one idea, should they take the time to pursue such endeavors.

1 comment:

  1. Tedious indeed. I definitely am having to force myself to keep reading poem after poem. But I agree that alone the poems are good.

    I wonder, do you think Hoover intended for his readers to read it straight through like a novel, or to just open to a page now and then to read?

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