{"product_id":"9781529909258-ruin-blossom","title":"Ruin, Blossom","description":"\u003cmeta content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\" http-equiv=\"Content-Type\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eA remarkable collection exploring ageing, mortality and environmental destruction\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e**WINNER OF THE DAVID COHEN PRIZE FOR LITERATURE 2023**\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e'By far the best British poet alive' \u003c\/b\u003eSPECTATOR\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e'A master of language' \u003c\/b\u003eHILARY MANTEL\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn this powerful, moving book, John Burnside takes his cue from Schiller, who recognised that, as one thing fades, so another flourishes: everywhere and always, in matters great and small, \u003ci\u003enew life blossoms amongst the ruins\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHere, in poems that explore ageing, mortality, environmental destruction and mental illness, Burnside not only mourns what is lost in passing, but also celebrates the new, and sometimes unexpected, forms that emerge from such losses. An elegy for a dead lover ends with a quiet recognition of everyday beauty – \u003ci\u003efirst sun streaming through the trees … a skylark in the near field, flush with song\u003c\/i\u003e – as the speaker emerges from lockdown after a long illness.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThroughout, the poet attends to the quality of grace – numinous, exquisite, fleeting as an angel’s wing – and the broken tryst between humankind and its spiritual and animal elements, even with itself: \u003ci\u003ethe gaunt deer on the roads\/like refugees\u003c\/i\u003e. He acknowledges the inevitability of the fading towards death, but still finds chimes of light in the darkness – insisting that, here and now, even in decline, the world, when given its due attention, is \u003ci\u003eall Annunciation.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e*A BOOK OF THE YEAR IN THE \u003ci\u003eTIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT\u003c\/i\u003e*\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Rarewaves","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":41540106944609,"sku":"9781529909258","price":10.78,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0092\/7504\/8033\/files\/orig_32356395.jpg?v=1742588039","url":"https:\/\/www.rarewaves.com\/products\/9781529909258-ruin-blossom","provider":"Rarewaves.com","version":"1.0","type":"link"}