{"id":2210,"date":"2013-09-16T09:30:46","date_gmt":"2013-09-16T01:30:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/xichuanpoetry.com\/?p=2210"},"modified":"2013-09-11T22:52:42","modified_gmt":"2013-09-11T14:52:42","slug":"scmp-runs-another-lame-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/xichuanpoetry.com\/?p=2210","title":{"rendered":"SCMP Runs Another Lame Review"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Clouds<\/a><\/h3>\n

In February the South China Morning Post<\/em> ran a review I called <\/a>“horribly written” and said made me feel “embarrassed to say I like the translations in a book that could inspire such homely homilies.”<\/p>\n

Here’s another stupid review <\/a>of contemporary Chinese poetry in the SCMP<\/em>, of I Can Almost See the Clouds of Dust<\/b> <\/em>\u6211\u51e0\u4e4e\u770b\u5230\u6eda\u6eda\u5c18\u57c3 by Yu Xiang\u00a0\u5b87\u5411, translated by Fiona Sze-Lorrain. It starts badly:<\/p>\n

I Can Almost See the Clouds of Dust <\/i>differs from other poetry anthologies due to its simplicity. However, that doesn’t mean this collection is easy to understand.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

(The book is not an “anthology,” it’s a collection; the interest of the poetry is not whether it’s easily understandable; simplicity is not a rare feature of poetry collections…). It continues with ignorant and sexist remarks:<\/p>\n

This doesn’t follow traditional poetic rhythms or even the cadences of normal conversations; it’s like reading a woman’s tangled thoughts.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

And concludes with platitudes, clich\u00e9s, and mixed metaphors all at once!<\/p>\n

This anthology is a refreshing breeze that highlights the little details of our daily lives.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It can be helpful to address a non-poetry-reading audience in a poetry review–especially in a newspaper in a place such as Hongkong. But I hope this is the last time the SCMP<\/em> runs a poetry review by someone who hasn’t read a poem since middle school.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In February the South China Morning Post ran a review I called “horribly written” and said made me feel “embarrassed to say I like the translations in a book that could inspire such homely homilies.” Here’s another stupid review of … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[3,16],"tags":[228,82],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8srwF-zE","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2623,"url":"https:\/\/xichuanpoetry.com\/?p=2623","url_meta":{"origin":2210,"position":0},"title":"Cutbank Reviews on Yu Xiang","author":"Lucas Klein","date":"May 21, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Christina Cook of Cutbank Reviews has reviewed Yu Xiang's \u5b87\u5411 I Can Almost See the Clouds of Dust \u6211\u51e0\u4e4e\u770b\u5230\u6eda\u6eda\u5c18\u57c3, translated by Fiona Sze-Lorrain. 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