Despite a less than enthusiastic reception, this months choice served to enhance the book groups' credentials as literary critics. The beauty of a collection of poems is that it can be savoured over months and years, dipping in and out as the fancy takes you. For those with a love of all things 'Gothic' these poems will provide pause for thought but for those who enjoy the sunnier side of life they may prove to have a depressive effect . As one of our group noted, reading a collection of poems is like a visit to an art gallery, Bronte's work is the dark subdued, heavy oil paintings, too many and you're left longing for the brightly coloured Vincent van Gogh'. Rather like a fine wine, it's best to savour one poem, rather than read the book cover to cover.
Emily Bronte's poems are unique in their evocation of the wild and wonderful moors surrounding her home town of Haworth. She weaves natures beauty, power and ferocity into her work. She draws her inspiration from the dark tempestuous storm clouds of autumn and winter, tending to overlook the gentle breezes of a sun kissed summer meadow. As she herself would say 'Cold in the earth - and one hundred and seventy three wild Decembers' since her death the author retains the power to move the reader. Her poems are generally preoccupied with death and grief and the pain of loss and for those grieving they are particularly poignant. Emily Bronte's short life was defined by tragedy and loss, her mother died when she was a young child and was closely followed to the grave by her two eldest sisters. It is not surprising then that most of her poems speak of the pain of separation and eternal suffering. She returns again and again to the tortured grief of those left behind to mourn, haunted by the memory of those they have loved and lost. These sentiments are magnified and made incarnate in her only novel 'Wuthering Heights' .
Our next book is a complete change, we will be reading "The Reluctant Fundamentalist" by Mohsin Hamid
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