With this second edition of Native Song, Halifax author and
painter David Woods goes all in and the result doesn’t show in his
favour. Too often this finished book reads like a notebook (though it’s
not identified as such), full of unfinished, unformed
ideas—beginnings of larger ideas or expanded forms. For example,
while the section called “Voices” offers some short, sharp style and
witty observations of human behaviour, the pieces read as rough
character sketches and fragments belonging to a whole unseen to the
reader. A pagination error, with two sections, “Voices” and “The Derby
Tavern,” listed as starting on the same page in the table of contents,
underscores the feeling that there’s too much confusion caused by
wanting to show more material from his emerging stage (the purpose
stated in the Author’s Note).
The strength of Woods’ writing lies in his prose-poetry, when he’s
setting scene, placing character within it and telling a bit of a
story: “The Derby Tavern” cycle, or the poem, “Conversation with
Gilbert,” occasions when his gaze rests awhile to focus on who’s there
and what’s happening and why. Of Woods’ paintings, the representational
portraits and high realist scenes are resolved and evocative of people,
experiences and stories.
This article appears in Feb 19-25, 2009.