Burning Bright

Since the beginning of the year, I have been listening to The Daily Poem, a podcast on Spotify where the episodes are usually around 5-9 minutes long and there is a reading of a poem, some opinions on why it was worth reading, then a re-reading; I have learned a decent amount of poetry and what to look for when reading poetry as well as how to even read poems.

This review is a book about one of the poets that has been featured on The Daily Poem a few times: William Blake. Burning Bright is about a family from Dorsetshire who move to London for a change of scenery following a family death and a seemingly great job opportunity for the father. Next door to their apartment building lives the Blakes, who live seemingly normal lives while also being outspoken Revolutionists. The book is more of a smaller read; I had read another Tracy Chevalier’s books, Girl with a Pearl Earring, and I remember it being also a small read that involved historically famous characters in the plot.

I thought the beginning was a good setup. It is one of those “highly optimistic with little dark clouds hanging over” kind of beginning for a story, so I invested by curiosity to see where it would lead. It led to slight disappointment for me. I think because I am used to longer reads, that the steps from point A to B were quick. This is not to say that it was rushed poorly, but I think also because of the really basic sentences and the simple steps from A to B, that Burning Bright is probably more for grade school level. The cover said it was regular fiction, there are situations that are more for adults, but how everything wrapped up and came full contented circle felt more juvenile.

I enjoyed the cast of characters; you have a good family of newcomers and a girl from the “wrong side of the tracks” who befriends the kids, and they befriend a posthumously famous poet and printer who also happens to be great with children. This seems [keep using that word] almost like the opposite side of campy from the review I just did, They Both Die at the End, where again it is highly optimistic with little dark clouds hanging over versus a continual frickin’ thunderstorm with some rays of sun poking through. Both campy, just different feels to them, which is interesting to read one then the other like that. Coming from that point, I also liked the inclusion of the historical events that were happening around the characters as their plot was moving along. The Revolutionary War just happened, and now the French Revolution was happening, so there is a serious tone in the background that does not so much affect the kids, but more so the adults to the point where towards the end it was just affecting everyone.

I also appreciate where the ending [Spoiler] was one of those endings where it does not positively work out for the main family because they end up having to go back home, but at the same time it is also on a positive note because they worked through the grief of their loss and they resumed life there like they never really left; it was also a good reminder that sometimes things do not work out like they should and it can be ok. They tried, it did not work, but they remembered the things that worked for them and the opportunity to go back to the things that worked was available. That is not to say to give up if the failure was for a dream, but it can also mean to double back and replan a better way to strike back out into unknown territory.

Burning Bright was a one-and-done for me. I have been having a lot of those lately. Reading the smaller books have been good to get through so that I can make my goal, but what is a quantity goal when there is also a quality goal? Anyways, nonetheless I enjoyed reading Burning Bright and if you are looking for a nice quick read, you can find it here.

Have a great rest of the summer everyone.

8/10