In our Spring 2018 Issue, we recommended Robin Robertson's The Long Take as one of the best poetry books of that quarter. The Long Take is an expertly realised long-form narrative poem, and so it was very fitting when we heard that Robertson had achieved the Man Booker long list. However, we were absolutely thrilled to hear that The Long Take has made it through to the shortlist. Our congratulations go out to Robin and to Pan Macmillan.
The Long Take offers a wholly unique literary voice and form. A verse novel with photographs, it manages to evoke with exceptional vividness aspects of post-World War Two history that are rarely parsed together. Swinging effortlessly between combat with its traumatic aftermath, and the brute redevelopment of American cities, The Long Take shows us the ravages of capitalism as a continuation of war-time violence by other means. It is also a bold, eloquent homage to cinema as perhaps the only medium in which the true history of America has been preserved. This is a genre-defying novel.
- Judge Jacqueline Rose
Members can order this book through our website at 25% off RRP. If you haven't treated yourself to this one yet, we thoroughly recommend it.