Review: Dorothy Porter’s “Akhenaten”

by writereaderly

WARNING: Cover dysphoria!

I fortuitously saw this at the second-hand bookshop just after picking up A Woman’s Voice, and snaffled it with something very close to glee. As soon as I’d finished AWV, I was into this one, the brief, powerful poems making it perfect for short work-breaks. Akhenaten was Porter’s novel-in-verse, a poetic rendering of the life of the eponymous sun-worshipping pharaoh. ‘Ambient’ and ‘interrogative’ would be my adjectives of choice for this one – and also ‘carnal’ – and I’m so delighted to own this now so I can share it around. Highly recommended.

Where it came from: Second-hand bookshop
Time and manner of reading: Smitten work-break and bed reads over a day or so
Where it went: Keeper Shelf via KS
Reminds me of/that: The pleasure of the pithy word
Who I’d recommend it to: Language-loving readers
Also reading: Rabbit #4; How to Read a Poem by Edward Hirsch; The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon; Being Alive edited by Neil Astley; The Light between Oceans by M.L. Stedman; Jacob’s Room by Virginia Woolf; Great Expectations by Charles Dickens