Poetry and narrative …

… Book review: The Long Take, by Robin Robertson - The Scotsman. (Hat tip, Rus Bowden.)

Nearly 230 pages long, it follows Walker, a veteran of D-Day who grew up in Nova Scotia, from 1946 to 1953. Instead of returning to Canada, his journey takes him from New York (where he works in the docks), to Los Angeles and San Francisco. He becomes a journalist with two especial interests, being on the “City Desk” – urban regeneration and homelessness. It is clear from the outset that Walker is a damaged individual, and part of the momentum of the poem is a quest for redemption, of being able to put himself back together after witnessing and committing atrocities.