Howl and Other Poems Review

Howl and Other Poems by Allen Ginsberg (69 pages)

My Rating: 3.5 Stars

Date Read: 18 January 2016

Synopsis:

The prophetic poem that launched a generation when it was first published in 1965 is here presented in a commemorative fortieth 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 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 & Other Poems freed to become the single most influential poetic work of the post-World War II era, with over 900,000 copies now in print."

My Review:

I don't overly enjoy poetry for the most part, but I have to say, I really enjoy Allen Ginsberg's writing.

I had previously read "Howl" and "A Supermarket in California" which I very much enjoyed. The other poems, being new to me, I thoroughly enjoyed.

Ginsberg has a very interesting writing style that is very vivid. I love how he speaks directly to his fellow poets in some of his poems. In writing them in, he is giving them an even greater form of immortality.

I enjoyed the poem "America." It's asking the citizens of America what the war is worth, but America is also asking things of him that he wouldn't be able to live up to. He questions his own writing in this as well.

Ginsberg has a very musical beat to his poems that makes you have to keep reading. It pulls you along, especially when you read it out loud.

Overall, I very much enjoyed this little book of poems.