Rate this book

Howl, Kaddish And Other Poems (1956)

by Allen Ginsberg(Favorite Author)

4.04 of 5 Votes: 5

ISBN

0141190167 (ISBN13: 9780141190167)

languge

English

genre

Poetry

publisher

Penguin Classics

review 1: Ginsy can really spin a sentence... Wonderful prose. Easier to appreciate if one does background research of the times he lived in. Lots of cultural references, biblical allusions, mention of politics, Greek mythology, and much more. You have to be okay with not understanding every single reference. The point is to understand the all-encompassing feeling of the poems within this volume. Not a lot of punctuation or structure, extremely raw form of writing. Ginsberg lets it all hang out for the world to read, the good, the bad, and the ugly. It surprised me how comfortable he was with putting himself under a negative light. "Howl" and "Laughing Gas" are among my favorites. Definitely something I plan on revisiting.
review 2: Reading and appreciating Ginsberg is a... more highly subjective and insular experience, for the stream of consciousness and drug-infused imagery employed by the poet can only be fully digested by someone with a similar set of experiences. Nonetheless, Ginsberg is embraced worldwide for his rebellious, no-holds-barred attitude, which is evident in every one of his poems. Even though the reader may not wholly grasp Ginsberg's imagery, he more often than not will walk away burdened with the feeling that the world as we know it is a world of decay and moral decrepitude. The apocalyptic tone of many of the poems underscores this, but for me, it is "Kaddish," dedicated to his mother, that reveals a tender side of Ginsberg that is not immediately apparent in the other poems. less

Download links for: Howl, Kaddish and Other Poems

Advertising