kamen reviewed Howl and other poems by Allen Ginsberg
Review of 'Howl and other poems' on 'Goodreads'
5 stars
"the weight,
the weight we carry
is love."
57 pages
English language
Published Dec. 14, 1996 by City Lights Books.
Howl and Other Poems is a collection of poetry by Allen Ginsberg published November 1, 1956. It contains Ginsberg's most famous poem, "Howl", which is considered to be one of the principal works of the Beat Generation as well as "A Supermarket in California", "Transcription of Organ Music", "Sunflower Sutra", "America", "In the Baggage Room at Greyhound", and some of his earlier works. For printing the collection, the publisher Lawrence Ferlinghetti, another well-known poet, was arrested and charged with obscenity. On October 3, 1957, Judge Clayton W. Horn found Ferlinghetti not guilty of the obscenity charge, and 5,000 more copies of the text were printed to meet the public demand, which had risen in response to the publicity surrounding the trial. "Howl and Other Poems" contains two of the most well-known poems from the Beat Generation, "Howl" and "A Supermarket in California", which have been reprinted in other collections, including …
Howl and Other Poems is a collection of poetry by Allen Ginsberg published November 1, 1956. It contains Ginsberg's most famous poem, "Howl", which is considered to be one of the principal works of the Beat Generation as well as "A Supermarket in California", "Transcription of Organ Music", "Sunflower Sutra", "America", "In the Baggage Room at Greyhound", and some of his earlier works. For printing the collection, the publisher Lawrence Ferlinghetti, another well-known poet, was arrested and charged with obscenity. On October 3, 1957, Judge Clayton W. Horn found Ferlinghetti not guilty of the obscenity charge, and 5,000 more copies of the text were printed to meet the public demand, which had risen in response to the publicity surrounding the trial. "Howl and Other Poems" contains two of the most well-known poems from the Beat Generation, "Howl" and "A Supermarket in California", which have been reprinted in other collections, including the Norton Anthology of American Literature. The collection was initially dedicated to Lucien Carr but, upon Carr's request, his name was later removed from all future editions.
"the weight,
the weight we carry
is love."
It's been a fair few years since I read this, decided on a re-read because I'm going to read [b:The Poetry and Politics of Allen Ginsberg|28226019|The Poetry and Politics of Allen Ginsberg|Eliot Katz|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1450280088s/28226019.jpg|48150873] soon, so thought it was best to have a refresh.
I read Howl and then listened to the main himself performing it, best way to do it. Everytime time he says "eli eli lamma lamma sabacthani saxophone cry that shivered the cities down to the last radio" it gives me goosebumps.
One thing I noticed this time is that his poetry still angers people, still getting thumb downs on YouTube. What a guy!