{"product_id":"9781787334557","title":"The Empire of Forgetting","description":"\u003cb\u003e'A master of language' HILARY MANTEL\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eJohn Burnside’s last collection of new poems gathers around a single theme – mortality – and draws on his faltering health and earlier glances with death, creating a powerfully moving exploration of memory, forgetting and the seven ages.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHere, as always, there is a clear-eyed curiosity; a sense of wonder at the beleaguered natural world and its endless mutability – its hidden beauty, often suddenly disclosed – and a deep faith in its old gods. Burnside was always as much a spirit-guide as a poet, and here, in the Empire of Forgetting, we are never far from a fresh alertness to the world, to epiphany – a sudden, spiritual manifestation. There is a sense, too, in these last poems, of a man having found a ‘dwelling place’ – a sense of rest and peace and settlement with the world. A state of grace.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e'Among the best writers of his generation, fully voiced and perfectly pitched… He now leaves behind a body of work that will only grow stronger as new generations discover it’ ANDREW O'HAGAN\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e‘A titan of literature…. His passing leaves a gap not only in our literature, but in our ability to exist in the world. He increased the possible ways of our being' KATHLEEN JAMIE\u003c\/b\u003e","brand":"John Burnside","offers":[{"title":"Random House UK |  Paperback \/ softback | Trade paperback (US) |  2025-09-30","offer_id":46914754674943,"sku":"9781787334557","price":27.99,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0329\/9075\/7001\/files\/9781787334557.jpg?v=1758656785","url":"https:\/\/riverbookshop.com\/products\/9781787334557","provider":"River Bookshop","version":"1.0","type":"link"}