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Book Synopsis
A wonderfully sustained narrative poem, full of the resonances and repercussions attendant on the end of an era, The Donkey''s Ears depicts life aboard a Russian flagship just before the battle of Tsushima, 1905. It purports to be written by E.S. Politovsky, a ship''s engineer addressing his wife in letters back home. Known as ''The Trafalgar of the East'', Tsushima (which, translated from the Japanese, means ''The Donkey''s Ears'' - a description of the twin peaks of the islands) was the biggest naval gun-battle in history. The action of the poem takes place before the battle. A vividly realized claustrophobia prevails. Life below and on deck is brilliantly detailed as is the sense of incipient doom; one man''s voice (domestic, particular, yearning for wife and home comforts) pitched against the inexorable onslaught of events.

The Donkeys Ears Faber Poetry

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    A Paperback / softback by Douglas Dunn

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      Publisher: Faber & Faber
      Publication Date: Publication Date: 08/05/2000
      ISBN13: 9780571204267, 978-0571204267
      ISBN10: 0571204260

      Description

      Book Synopsis
      A wonderfully sustained narrative poem, full of the resonances and repercussions attendant on the end of an era, The Donkey''s Ears depicts life aboard a Russian flagship just before the battle of Tsushima, 1905. It purports to be written by E.S. Politovsky, a ship''s engineer addressing his wife in letters back home. Known as ''The Trafalgar of the East'', Tsushima (which, translated from the Japanese, means ''The Donkey''s Ears'' - a description of the twin peaks of the islands) was the biggest naval gun-battle in history. The action of the poem takes place before the battle. A vividly realized claustrophobia prevails. Life below and on deck is brilliantly detailed as is the sense of incipient doom; one man''s voice (domestic, particular, yearning for wife and home comforts) pitched against the inexorable onslaught of events.

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