Tim Thorne's review of Luminous Bodies, written for The Mercury but not published

It is extraordinary that this is only James Charlton's first collection of poems. 'It seems that he and his insightful, meditative lyrics have been around for nearly twenty years. His Koonya, certainly, was in the 1985 anthology, Effects of Light, although in a slightly different form.

What has always impressed about Charlton's writing, and what is very much evident in this book, is his ability to express the transcendent experience without getting vague and woolly, to convey the idea that there is more to this world than its material surface, while at the same time giving the reader the most vivid images of that surface.

His Bird Studies are more than a series of imagiste impressions, as are his longer pieces examining fauna and landscape; they are genuinely studies, leading immediately beyond image to thought.

Likewise his meditations on historical events and characters, although these tend sometimes to rely on the strength of the history rather than that of the language (a difficult problem for anyone writing out of a place like Tasmania). Charlton is better with the incidental figures like Billy Ah Foo than with Governor Arthur or Truganini, and better still with those figures he admires, such as Father Kolbe.

The one sense that comes through most strongly in these poems is of wonder. This is obviously so in the 'nature'pieces and in those poems where he contemplates the ability of people such as Cousin Gwen and Amy to defy the rational definitions which would limit them.

It is also evident in the title poem, which is one of the most moving love poems I have read for a long time.

Luminous Bodies has been a long time coming, but it's truly worth the wait.

More reviews: Anne Kellas |: Judith Beveridge |: Dr Anuraag Sharma |: Tim Thorne |: Eleanora Court

© James Charlton