This book may not be quite what you expect from a man with such a high profile name and reputation, but then when you consider the
nature of Stephen
Fry, it is exactly the sort of thing that he is the master of. We all know of the lovely Stephen through such a well-rounded body of media work. Most will know him for his work with Hugh Laurie, intellectual meets nonsense comedy, a sort of Pythonesque duo for the next generation, but as Laurie has more recently shown there is much more to Stephen Fry than arsing about with long words and disdainful looks. Fry’s back catalogue includes a string of books, television host spots,
writing, production and directorial credits for plays in both the theatre and on T.V as well as his better known acting roles. What is not common knowledge, due to the private nature of its existence, is that Stephen Fry is also a poet, writing purely for personal pleasure, which by definition means that, like all labours of love, is that he writes for all the right reasons. It is too this end that the book we are discussing here, “An
Ode Less Travelled” is directed, to enable people to have the
tools to write
poetry for fun (or profit).
From appearances on various T.V. shows you are left with the impression that Fry is concerned about the falling standards of teaching in schools, and this books introduction backs up this feeling. As he states, there has been a move away form teaching the technical rules and regulations in schools in the last few decades in favour of using a more “free form” or progressive approach. Whilst the ability to put feeling into a piece of writing is important, is this not the equivalent of saying to a budding pianist, “don’t worry about the keys on the piano, just express yourself by hitting them, expression is more important than rules.” Its obvious from this example that to play music you need to understand who the keys, notes, chords and musical script work and relate to each other and it’s the same with writing poetry. This book aims to give you that understanding.
Many people will say that its too late to learn a whole new skill such as writing poetry, if they couldn’t do it at school, then it is probably beyond their capabilities. What most people fail to realise is that unlike music or
art we all have the basic skills already under our belts. The tools that we use to make our poetry is the very thing that we use to communicate with on a daily basis, ordering a pizza, doing the Times crossword, talking about Eastenders and writing the shopping list are all these very tools in operation and writing poetry is just a different application of those skills.
The book is very technical in nature, containing examples and exercises of various rules of writing, but it is Fry’s writing style that adds some humour and humanity to the task at hand. It is not as some may imagine lots of witty Fryisms and a bit of education; it is the real deal. This is a textbook through and through, albeit one with a warmer style that those dusty tomes we remember piled up in the corner of the English lesson. It is aimed at imparting everything you will need to approach the subject of poetry and there is no reason why it shouldn’t make the school curriculum reading list. It is however aimed as much at the person choosing to write poetry not just those forced to do so in the name of education. Alongside the need for understanding the “ifs and buts” of the art, fry tries to promote an appreciation, if not love, of the rich heritage of poetry. The former cannot exist without the later. Amongst the other myths being dispelled here is the effeminate tag that poetry seems to have been labelled within the modern “cool above all things” age that we have built for ourselves. It keeping with the books nature he sums this up with,
“Lets hear it for the Sapphic ode,
An oyster bed of gleaming pearls
A finely wrought poetic mode,
Not just for girls.”
For anyone wishing to indulge a passion longhidden, try their hand at something new or just brush up on something that they feel they should have been better schooled in, then this book fits the bill. Stephen Fry, as your mentor, makes for a great way to experience this art and with such a well recognisable voice leading the class, the words will resonate through your head in his rich and articulate way, almost an audio book of your own imagination. This 300 odd page book contains a wealth of other reference information alongside the literary learning curve that it offers but it is primarily a step-by-step hands-on guide to learning the art of poetic writing. Try something new and venture down Stephen Fry’s Ode less travelled.