Dumpty Review: My first time reading political poetry

 

Hello,

I feel like my final blog was an unsatisfying conclusion this year’s blog. My recent post, "Recommending a book based on your favorite class this year" was mostly based on research: I didn’t review many books I actually read. I also did not finish reading any books this cycle. With this in mind, I decided to read and write about a new book for my true final blog.

I have read a lot of poems before. From my independent readings of Shel Silverstein and Edgar Alan Poe, to the Poetry unit in subbie English class, to the recent in-depth exploration of poems this quarter. However, I have never seen poems of Political satire. Enter Dumpty. This book is a collection of poems discussing the Trump administration. My parents had really liked this book, so I decided to give it a try.

Dumpty, written by the well-known actor and author John Lithgow, is a witty and satirical book of poems about the scandals committed by the Trump Administration. While some of the poems seem purely comedic and slightly immature, (like “Trumpty Dumpty wanted a wall,”) most of them bring up serious concerns about the acts of corruption committed by the administration.

This book is written in a very clever and witty way. I have caught myself laughing out loud on numerous occasions while reading it. However, I am not completely sure this book meets its intended purpose of spreading awareness about the Trump administration’s corruptness. Given the extremely divided nature of today’s political climate, I highly doubt that supporters of Trump will take the clearly opinionated messages conveyed by this book seriously. Additionally, the most likely people to read this book are those against the former president, and thus probably know most of these stories. So, even though it is a great and quite funny work of poetry, its political purposes are limited mainly to cathartic purposes for those against Trump. Overall, Dumpty is a pretty fun and fast paced read, so I will give it an 8.5 out of 10. Definitely a great addition to the list of poetry books I read.

I hope you enjoyed my last blog (fr this time) and have a great summer!

-Linden

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