“You have just caught a TROUT. If you’re not over your limit you may keep it and cook it over a slow fire.” So goes the promising beginning of Ottawa’s newest contribution to the lit scene. I like the idea that you have to hunt down and hook good reading, it doesn’t come to you, it lurks at the bottom of the shadowed gray pond of truth. That said, the stuff in Trout seems all too eager to jump in your boat. The poems are overtly accessible platitudes, that make me think of a typical Canadian painting of a placid lake at dusk. Still, I liked the speed of editor Gillies’ prose as featured in the entertaining WWII ramble, the Drop. So sometimes you never know what you’re going to catch on the line. While not the most lively fish, Trout is a well intentioned fishy that would do well to learn how to be more elusive. (HN)
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