{"product_id":"orwell-at-the-kremlin-paperback","title":"Orwell at the Kremlin - Paperback","description":"\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eWalter Bargen\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"The depth of tragedy is keenly felt in Bargen's poem marking \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ethe day of the Russian invasion: \"February 24th, 2022. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe Cost of a Flower.\" In this early piece, we meet an old \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ewoman questioning a Russian soldier, \"Why are you here? \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWhy are you here?\" The soldier's only response is a weak, \"I \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ewas told this was an exercise.\" Unlike this na?ve or deluded \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003esoldier, the old woman recognizes the politically expedient \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003elie he bears with his rifle. Then, \"She offers him \/ sunflower \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eseeds to put in his pocket \/ so when he lies down in this \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ecold land \/ flowers will get back up.\" Is that a germ of hope \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ethat Ukraine will rise again in spite of the invasion? Or is it \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ethe fatalism of a generation that knows the truth of war?\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eOne of the harshest realities of the war is played out in \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBargen's \"After the Dam on the Dnieper River.\" When the \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003edam is blown by Putin's army to \"slow the Ukrainian \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ecounteroffensive,\" the floodwaters swallow up the Fairytale \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAbrova Zoo-a, now, darkly ironic name-and all 300 \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eanimals drown. Still, Bargen's lines march on through the \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eravages of this war.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWalter Bargen's book finishes with an Epilogue of poems \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ethat bring the barrage of words and images unsettling our \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003efive senses to an uneasy but just close. His unrelenting \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003evision of the seemingly irreversible decimation of all life in \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ewar will insinuate itself into the reader's consciousness and \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003econscience for a long time to come. Do not turn away. Keep \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ereading and thinking in spite of the Thought Police that \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003emight be lurking in our margins.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e - Julie Chappell, author of \u003cem\u003eMad Habits of a Life\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn his decades-long and distinguished career as a poet, Bargen has turned to the atrocities of war as his subject matter on many occasions. None of his previous work, however, in this vein matches the power and haunting terrors of his new volume of verse about the Ukraine war with Russia. The subjects he tackles run the gamut of the worst of human behavior. He writes about shivering children, madmen, dead bodies lying in the streets for weeks, and children running, screaming and diving for cover, and he does so with the knowledge, passion, and poetic skill of a literary artist at the peak of his powers.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e -Larry D. Thomas, 2008 Texas Poet Laureate, Winner, 2023 Spur Award (poetry category) sponsored by Western Writers of America\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 120\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 0.28 x 8 x 5 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e August 24, 2024\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Books by splitShops","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51773870375200,"sku":"9781958182802","price":18.72,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0974\/9764\/5344\/files\/95ce1f64c9e61b7e1818af4451e75fea_598ca914-b0b0-4493-8305-d80e176e2aab.webp?v=1780434715","url":"https:\/\/ebocreations.com\/products\/orwell-at-the-kremlin-paperback","provider":"The E-Book Oasis LLC","version":"1.0","type":"link"}