Ravine
Doomed House of Abraxas (Ex Occidente / Mount Abraxas Press):
Bucharest: 2021
First edition, Chapbook, Limited, New,
32 pp.
The first in the Doomed House of Abraxas imprint from Ex Occidente / Mount Abraxas. Beautiful. Limited to 110 copies. “Subtitled ’An Ecological Parable In Twelve Parts And Thirty-Six Parastanzas.’ Ravine by Douglas Thompson sets out to blur the distinction between a short story and a long poem, hence its pleasantly large type face and loving presentation by artist Heo Tsop and Bucharest publishing impresario-extraordinaire Dan Ghetu. The sun scarcely goes down at midsummer in the far north of Scotland, and over two such mornings waking at 5am and out of his box on nothing stronger than Coffee, Thompson produced this stream of consciousness. It takes us beyond the limits of death and life to reflect on the hidden depths of the puzzle of human existence. Fans of the author's 2014 novel The Rhymer may recognise his technique of densely punning onomatopoeic alliteration gradually building towards a symphonic conclusion: In the year of The Great Plague the ravens ate well.” #68303
Price: $72.22 save 10% $65.00