Reading Response #2: Tocqueville

Discussing the collection of poems and/or stories contained within Khaled Mattawa's "Tocqueville", I think I was struck especially by one particular quality of his work, and that's the use of small but powerfully vivid details to describe the locations, people, and emotions that construct the broad landscape that gives us a view of global society, a view that wouldn't feel anywhere near as relevant without the intricate observations that we gain in passing. This widely varies, whether it's an observation from within a terrorist's tortured psyche, whether it's exploring sexual tensions from an unbearably frustrated angle, or simply taking note of the world around you while taking a walk with a cat. This may sound strange, but Mattawa has an almost Dickens-like quality: he uses an incredible amount of language and small detail to create something large and beautifully structured.