A posthumously published collection of Joseph Brodsky’s essays, On Grief and Reason is a series of meditations on literature as a moral and civilising force. For Brodsky, poetry is something that sharpens perception, preserves individual freedom, and is an antidote to the flattening effects of ideology and mass culture.
The essays move between literary criticism, personal reflection, and cultural philosophy. The title refers to a certain tension — grief being connected to loss, exile, mortality, and history, while reason has to do with form, clarity, discipline, and judgement. Brodsky proposes that literature is where these two forces meet and can be refined.
“Homage to Marcus Aurelius” is pretty great, and naturally it’s the first thing I went for. “In a Room and a Half” is probably Brodsky’s best known essay, recounting his parents and Soviet life. “To Please a Shadow” is a meditation on the poetic influence of W. H. Auden. The title essay refers to the interplay between emotional depth and formal control. Throughout, Brodsky’s prose is intellectually demanding, and highly allusive. I spent a lot of time following references and looking them up. The language is very precise, and while it can be humourous on occasion, it is far from flippant. Basically a poet who thinks in essays. Sentences have rhythm, and I could lose myself in them for who knows how long.
It’s culturally significant on a number of levels. It’s a compelling deep dive into the thoughts of a writer shaped by both totalitarianism and Western so-called liberal culture. Worth reading on that basis alone, but it’s also one of the best examples of how a great poet reads other poets, and offers a compelling argument as to why literature matters. And just his talent alone — this is a man who claimed to practically speak no English when he taught at the universities of Yale, Columbia, Cambridge, and Michigan. And yet, in these essays, he writes essays so richly and beautifully.
That being said, it’s not a light read. If you’re the kind of reader who is willing to move slowly and really pay close attention, you will not be sorry.
Lawrence Deveney 