Killing Time
April 30th 2007 04:21
Image: simonarmitage.co.uk
I am forever grateful to friends who suggest reading material to me. How much wonderful literature would I miss without this never-ending flow of suggested reading! Something I hope this blog does for you.
I have just read Killing Time by Simon Armitage. Poetry is not usually my preferred choice, but a good friend and work colleague thought I would enjoy it. As always, she was right (thank you Rosemary). But this is no ordinary poem. In one thousand lines, Armitage has spooled together a collection of 20th century events in which we humans, for better or worse, play the major roles. There are no surprises or left-field affirmations. We simply find a smattering of war, global-warming, materialism, and some of our greater achievements - reality TV and media-hungry monsters. Oh, and the ever-present high school shooting of course! (see previous post)
This is brilliant stuff. The slide-show of our century is displayed in a type of pantomime that the reader must interpret. And his depiction of the Columbine Massacre is absolutely astonishing! Guns are replaced with flowers, and everyone is showered with petals and blossoms. “Finally, overcome by their own munificence or hay fever, the flower-boys pinned the last blooms on themselves …” A very powerful parody that begs the question – Why are guns as easy to get as flowers?
If you’re looking to expand on your reading experience, I can’t recommend this enough. Even with my limited knowledge of this prose style, I can find and appreciate the sense of timely progress the author is hinting at. We are all one, marching to the same tune, in the same direction. As unstoppable as time itself.
Armitage was commissioned to the writing of this poem by the Poetry Society in 1999. I believe he found a voice for the new Millennium in this work, and has certainly won me over. I have a new appreciation for poetry and will be sure to peruse the shelves of book shops a little more carefully in future, looking for more of this quality verse. Speaking of which – I am heading overseas in a few days, hoping to visit many book shops during my travels – so it will be some time before the next post. But I do have a healthy collection of books to read on the flights, and I will be back with more titles and no doubt a few misadventures to tell!
NB : Killing Time is also a full-length film produced by Century Films. It was broadcast by Channel 4 on New Year’s Day 2000.
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