Howl and Other Poems
Ratings57
Average rating4.1
15
Ratings57
Average rating4.1
"The prophetic poem that launched a generation when it was first published in 1956 is here presented in a commemorative 40th Anniversary Edition." "When the book arrived from its British printers, it was seized almost immediately by U.S. Customs, and shortly thereafter the San Francisco police arrested its publisher and editor, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, together with the City Lights Bookstore manager, Shigeyoshi Murao. The two of them were charged with disseminating obscene literature, and the case went to trial in the Municipal Court of Judge Clayton Horn. A parade of distinguished literary and academic witnesses persuaded the judge that the title poem was indeed not obscene and that it had "redeeming social significance."" "Thus was Howl and Other Poems freed to become the single most influential poetic work of the post World War II era, with over 800,000 copies now in print."--BOOK JACKET.
Reviews with the most likes.
on a reread, my favs were “Howl”, “A Supermarket in California”, “America”, “Song” and “Wild Orphan”. I'm not the biggest fan of a few of the poems, but overall it's such an amazing collection.
If there is any book that would be banned, this is it. Although very graphic (in the extremely creative beat poetic form), this compilation of poetry is very interesting to read. Allen Ginsberg, a homosexual poet wrote Howl and Other Poems as an way to bring out his thoughts and express many issues that was very important to him. Written in between 1955-1956, this automatic controversial book was sent to trial for obscenity and other charges. Some of my favorite poems in this book include America & A Supermarket in California which references famed 19th century poet Walt Whitman (another great homosexual poet). This book is only about 55 pages. It may seem short, but going through the first poem “Howl” was hard enough to understand, so I read it about two times before I could catch on. Poetry can be complex at times, and the message lies in between the lines.
Howl is real. But the writing doesn't carry me away. I can say the same for some of his other poems. Despite there being parallels between Ginsberg and Kerouac, this is only seemingly so, for Ginsberg's feels premeditated, with an elementary rhythm that is a ways away from jazz writing. The way he creates a vision for us, of a scene, with the choice of words and the order of the words, feel born from a template.
I am only saying that about his writing style. Like I said, Howl is real, and so were the other poems in this collection. The paths his thoughts take, his honest yearnings and madness come from nobody but him and you will know this.
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