Reviews

Alice Glarden Brand's book on Poetry, Studies on Zone, is a beautiful work, portraying a journey through life of one individual, but in a larger sense, of humanity en masse.

Questions are raised, how did we develop from the early beginnings of civilization to where we are today, where is the transition stage to the twentieth century humans?

The road has been a long one and not without turmoil. But are we better off today? Are women of Western civilizations better off than aboriginal women? While "lying in a hotel room, bleeding," (47) the female character feels helplessly transplanted back to fetal stages of humanity, reflecting, we have the knowledge and the experience, but do we use it constructively?

The "aboriginal rip out the toilet provided to them and claim there are sacred sites that airplanes cannot fly over... "(9)-- do we have the right to impose our more advanced technology on social groups that have not yet grasped the need for better tools and basic machinery?

The poetic story, as it's revealed from page to page is thought-provoking and gripping. The style of free verse is quite suited to the subject matter at hand. While reading, we can almost hear the monotonous drums of the jungle - nothing is happening, the time clock of life just taps on, drum, drum, drum.

The style of free verse has been by some, branded "formless" - and the immediate impression is exactly that -- Studies on Zone, is a collection of words following each other in utterly formlessness -- and without the guidepost along the way of meter and rhyme, the reader might at times feel helplessly lost in a labyrinth of mere words.

However, a closer examination of this work reveals that beauty lies in the selection of words, shown in lines, such as, "clay pots hold water from underground pools and never uncoil to joy or chaos,..." (65) , "the perfect indifference of a cotton rope rug," (31), and, "green fringed lampshades are not of their making nor plastic mats or bowls."

One gets most pleasure -- and I believe reading poetry ought to creare such a sensation -- from this work by reading it slowly and listening to the melody the words create. It's formless, yes, maybe, but one can almost say, it's classical in its formlessness.

This is a 88 page soft cover poetry book. It???s priced at $12 from the publishers.

The author is acknowledging the encouragement and help from various work shops in New England, and she gives thanks to a special friend who edited the final version. She also gives thanks to the Dean who guided her through the final process of the writing.

Thanks are also extended to her family members for their inspirations, advice, and support. The author is clearly a gifted poet who leads the reader into a personal world built upon elusive moments of pain, joy, and humor.