Review: Beauty Exasperated- Cass Garison
Review written by A.R.Arthur - Editor in Chief, Fahmidan Journal
Beauty Exasperated by Cass Garison is a lustrous collection of collage poems that have been inspired by the 19th century literary movement and George Eliot’s Middlemarch. Beauty Exasperated epitomises the often-contrasting nature of love between fierce desire and a unique loneliness and longing that stems only from the grip of a love most magnificent, most haunting. This collection is centred on the intensity of two lovers whose love morphs, ebbs and flows and reflects the wider nature of loving and losing love as the seasons change and time passes.
Garison’s poetry is fresh, exciting and open without losing strength and depth of authorial intent. Garison’s choice of an erasure poem format within this collection is striking and is a credit to this collection in that it allows for unexpected twists and turns and greater space consideration and usage on the page. I particularly enjoyed the great strength of word-economy present throughout this collection!
(13)
Garison’s emphasis on a contrasting love engages the reader long after their eyes have left the page. This contrast serves to elevate the core narrative whilst affirming the depth of this fleeting love ever changing, ever bolder in its existence. Perhaps most enduring within this collection is its heart-wrenching nature that overwhelms the reader and affirms a certain mightiness of narrative development, of artistic expression within these words.
Further, Garison makes use of extended metaphor that serves to return the reader to the exasperation that is so sacrosanct to this narrative and indeed, so well embedded that the reader is never lost, never confused. Garison’s attention to readability and sustained strength of narrative must be commended.
(41)
Beauty Exasperated is a darling collection of poetry that melds the tender with the soul-crushing, lust with frustration and much, much more. Garison is a talented poet whose collection is a credit to his ability to weave complexity, depth and a sense of gravitas sensationally well. This spring collection should be on your 2024 summer reading list!
You can Buy Cass’ Collection: here