{"id":12261,"date":"2022-02-04T08:52:45","date_gmt":"2022-02-04T15:52:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theprairiesbookreview.com\/?p=12261"},"modified":"2022-02-04T08:52:45","modified_gmt":"2022-02-04T15:52:45","slug":"the-ardent-dark-by-don-gutteridge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theprairiesbookreview.com\/?p=12261","title":{"rendered":"The Ardent Dark by Don Gutteridge"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Impressive\u2026 Compelling and utterly candid.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Guttridge\u2019s stunning latest combines a miscellaneous collection, comprising meditations on the leisurely boyhood days of sexual awakening, tribute to loved ones, and reflections on Bible stories from Sunday school among others. In \u201cAll the Waters of the World,\u201d the opening poem, Gutteridge reflects on the sense of security and warmth that his beloved grandfather brought to his young, anxious mind. His attention to detail is sharp and his imagery apt and poignant, making the poems, in every sense, transporting: \u201cMe just seven, my hand\/ in his, loving to be led,\/ a sifting of sand beneath\/ my feet, free to feel,\/ a sweep of beach from rim\/ to rim, a whisper of waves\/ before they bring their blue\/ to bear Whether he’s swimming in clear waters of the lake in Canatara, building castles on its sands, sledging with friends on chilly winter nights, taking a walk with his grandfather, mourning the loss of loved ones, or reflecting on Bible stories taught in Sunday school, the details add up to way more than beautiful writing. Gutteridge\u2019s greatest strength is his acute sense of observation. He possesses the ability to thread sensuousness into the fabric of everyday life, as in \u201cApril Rain,\u201d he writes: \u201cIt was one of those early\/ April rains that whisper\/ in the grass and breathe with listless\/ mists on tulip blooms\/ just debouched from their bulbs,\/ and tickle the nipples of new-born shoots: a time\/ of bud-thrust and furious\/ unfurling, and all things\/ a-green, lusting for light.\u201d Readers will be able to identify with many of the poems in the book. While \u201cCuddle,\u201d \u201cDefrocked,\u201d and \u201cRoan\u201d are ripe on boyhood sexuality, the sorrowful \u201cBenign,\u201d \u201cOne Year On,\u201d and \u201cHeathen\u201d mourning the loss of loved ones are sobering. This striking collection of human interactions, portraits, religion, and memories makes for a stunner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Ardent Dark<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Don Gutteridge<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Coming soon<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Impressive\u2026 Compelling and utterly candid. Guttridge\u2019s stunning latest combines a miscellaneous collection, comprising meditations on the leisurely boyhood days of sexual awakening, tribute to loved ones, and reflections on Bible stories from Sunday school among others. In \u201cAll the Waters of the World,\u201d the opening poem, Gutteridge reflects on the sense of security and warmth that his beloved grandfather brought to his young, anxious mind. His attention to detail is sharp and his imagery apt […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":145610851,"featured_media":11617,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_wpcom_ai_launchpad_first_post":false,"_jetpack_hide_featured_image":false,"_jetpack_featured_image_duplicate_dismissed":0,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"{title}\n\n{excerpt}\n\n{url}","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[],"tags":[7223,91,3328,178,422,1473,856121,309],"class_list":["post-12261","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-author","tag-blogging","tag-book-reviews","tag-books","tag-poetry","tag-reading","tag-review-website","tag-reviews"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pajKJn-3bL","amp_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/theprairiesbookreview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/no_image_book.jpg?fit=1205%2C1843&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theprairiesbookreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12261","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theprairiesbookreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theprairiesbookreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theprairiesbookreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/145610851"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theprairiesbookreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12261"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/theprairiesbookreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12261\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12263,"href":"https:\/\/theprairiesbookreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12261\/revisions\/12263"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theprairiesbookreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/11617"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theprairiesbookreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12261"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theprairiesbookreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12261"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theprairiesbookreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12261"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}