The Lords and the New Creatures

The Lords and the New Creatures

3.82 of 5 stars 3.82  ·  rating details  ·  1,392 ratings  ·  61 reviews
Intense, erotic, and enigmatic, Jim Morrison's persona is as riveting now as the lead singer/composer "Lizard King" was during The Doors' peak in the late sixties. His fast life and mysterious death remain controversial more than twenty years later. The Lords and the New Creatures, Morrison's first published volume of poetry, is an uninhibited exploration of society's dark...more
Paperback, 144 pages
Published October 15th 1971 by Touchstone (first published 1969)
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Community Reviews

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Gina
I just found this 1970 edition at a thrift store for a buck. It has the day-glo green pages and some tripper's handwritten notes inside. I read this years ago and it's just as silly as I remember. He self-published this, obviously. So cocky he thought he didn't need an editor.
It's dated yet I think it's still modern for each generation.
I'm a fan--but as poetry it works much better with that badass Ray Manzarek Hammond in the back. Here's one of Jim's stand-alone lyrics and is as true today as i...more
Jerry Oliver
This book is a cohesively put together collection of early poems centered around Jim Morrison's world. A 1960's California rock and roll world filled with sex, drugs, fame, death and an obsession with native american mysticism. These often hallucinatory images make for some 4 star poems while others are throw aways. I still think his best and most consistently compelling words were for the Doors, but you can see how much of that came from his poetry. I dug it enough to go ahead and tackle The Am...more
Paul Gleason
These early Morrison poems are tremendous. The collection simmers with the influences that - I don't think - would ever cohere into a coherent vision. But what makes it so important is that it shows Morrison's intellectual and passionate engagement with his influences and, perhaps more controversially, show that he probably wasn't cut out to be a rock frontman and Bozo Dionysus but a poet.

Influences: Nietzsche, shamanism, Rimbaud, Burroughs, Blake, a host of avant-garde filmmakers.

Morrison tries...more
Ryan shirey
Dec 18, 2009 Ryan shirey rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: yes to some
Recommended to Ryan by: Adam
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.
A.M.
"All games contain the idea of death."

Just one of many insightful lines of Jim Morrison's The Lords and The New Creatures - a collection I was delighted to find recently in a used book store and to revisit after a twenty-year hiatus.

"We all live in the city.

The city forms - often physically, but inevitably
psychically - a circle. A Game. A ring of death
with sex at its center. Drive towards outskirts
of city suburbs. At the edge discover zones of
sophisticated vice and boredom, child prosti-
tutio...more
Deb Wong
I bought this book after watching "When You're Strange", an excellent documentary on the Doors, and most specifically, Jim Morrison. I like many of the lyrics of the songs that he wrote, so was disappointed in this collection of observations (mostly about the cinema in the first half), mostly one-liners and sub-standard "poems" in the second half. Yes, the late 60s-early 70s were a time of very loosely-written philosophies which were called poetry. I had all of Richard Brautigan's books, some of...more
Julie Rylie
he is one of the most inteligent and sensitive human beings that ever walked on earth. i think this says it all.

his poetry really resembles rimbaud, i think he was his most notorious influence.

i prefer to "listen" to his poems through music or spoken words, but 5 stars for the lizard king, he sure can do anything.
Ray
Morrison is a clumsy, drug-addled pop-culture reference, and his poetry is more suitable for gleaning general trivia about Jim Morrison, rather than actual reading. It's abstract, certainly, though not because he uses abstraction and absurdism, but because he's really, really high.
Valentina
"In that year there was
an intense visitation
of energy.
I left school & went down
to the beach to live.
I slept on a roof
At night the moon became
a woman's face.
I met the Spirit of Music." JDM


Richard Sharp
The Doors, and in particular Morrison, were an important cultural infuence in my novel on the so-called silent generation, "The Duke Don't Dance." Morrison spoke to both the disaffected younger generation at home as well as those enmired in Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War, where the Doors' recordings were highly popular, or perhaps better described as addictive. He appealed to both the simple despair of those who summarized the continuous stream of casualties in the words "it don't mean no...more
Simon
Felt very proud when I actually sent off to America for this. Was a big deal in those days and for a small town fellow like me. I loved the doors. To an impressionable 15 year old trying to find some direction and not being drawn to convention it worked. I'd feel rather sad if I still had the same outlook. I'd like to think that 40 years of experience have added something to the wisdom that the previous 15 had endowed me with.
I still like the doors from time to time but find the poetry and philo...more
Adam
The Lord’s, And the New Creatures
Author: Jim Morrison
Reviewed by: Adam Michaelis

A man that had the power to change a generation, He made music with a band that had a great impact on the scene. He was a poetic man and with his controversial words and experience of life itself he wrote The Lord’s and The New Creatures. This book will seduce you with its hypnotic words and will change the perspective of everything after it is read. Before this book we as people were blind. This book opens the true...more
Trak
I read this ages ago and at the time it could lay claim to be the only published poetry of Jim Morrison and that has changed.
I am not sure I would have called this poetry, sometimes you just get observations or Morrison's reasoning on cinema.
It is interesting reading because of who he was but also you are never sure of how drug induced or lucid he was when these words were committed to paper.
For fans of Jim Morrison.
Tom
Jim Morrison's poetry is far less coherent and readable than his lyrics for The Doors. This, however, does not mean it isn't worth a thorough read. With reference to his name as the Lizard King, contemplations about what 'vision' really is and some really intruiging imagery, he manages to produce an excentric oeuvre.

And, let's face it, that's what we all seek in his works, be it music or writing, any way.
Emmamulligan
A lot of Morrison's poetry is pretentious rubbish, but there are some real gems in here. His writing is at the very least entertaining and very addictive. I've also read Wilderness Vol 1 and I plan to read American Nights. I expect to encounter a lot of bad writing again, but I'm sure it will be worth it for his moments of brilliance.
Mai Tuominen
Kauniilla sanoilla
ei mitään merkitystä
kaikki kantautuu
tyhjyydelle jossain
kaukopuheluvalheiden
onnettomuuksien onnellisuudessa.

Mahdottoman mahtavaa, kiitos Jim.
Kunnioittaen suuresti, Mai
Ps. Sulla oli synttärit just, onnea sinne jonnekin, äärirajojen ulkopuolelle
Greg Cummings
One of a handful of books to survive my multiple continent hops. It's something of a moleskin notebook of poems, and the sort of thing a writer might wish to get published before he or she had ever thought of a decent plot, but there are some worthy poems.
Stephen Cronin
Inherently flawed early poetry tackles death, cinema, manipulation, and slavery. Not bad, but "The American Night" by J.M. is a literary leap forward worth checking out: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/53...
Matthew W
"The Lords" features some interesting thoughts by Jim Morrison on the art of cinema. "The New Creatures" is far less interesting.

This is a fairly quick read and can easily be finished within one sitting.
Alshia Moyez
I've already expressed that I like his poems so this rating should come as no surprise^^. This is the companion novella of poems (if I can say that) to another one he compiled. I like them both.
stevie
i don't really know what to say about this...
i found it under my bed, negelcted after years of not reading it and decided to give it another go. it's now back under my bed.
the thing is, i LIKE the doors. hell, i think jim's an interesting enough guy. but poet? poet, no. in the words of bukowski, 'i see where i have made a great many poets, but not so very much poetry.' and 'not so very much poetry' is exactly what i found in the lords and the new creatures. the thing is, i feel like it's...force...more
Phoenix
Feb 15, 2009 Phoenix rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: anyone who's interested.
Jim Morrison is not only an amazing musician, but also a wonderfu poet. After reading just a few pages, I suddenly had an overwhelming urge to try and write somthing myself.
Jamie Rose
I would actually really like to get my hands on this book again. It has been a long time since I read it. At the time I remember being very interested in it.
Rachel Elizabeth
Definite inspiration to explore the creative arts and the mystery behind the Doors legend. Compelling journey through heartache by a forever hero.
Sara
Jun 14, 2009 Sara rated it 3 of 5 stars
Shelves: music
"Do you dare
deny my
potency
my kindness
my forgiveness?
Just try
you will fry
like the rest
in holiness"

RIP, Lizard King.
Victoria
Morrison's poetry felt like it washed over me like an ocean. I could almost hear his voice as I read. Beautifully written.
Iceman
Poemas de Jim Morrison de 1969, alguns deles que originaram algumas das canções do Doors.
Liz Orten
The most beautiful man will you ever have the pleasure of getting to know.
Joe Reto
MOrrison's poetry is entertaining and confusing. Maye I understood some of the poems.
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Nevermind 1 16 Jan 07, 2010 09:15pm  
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James Douglas Morrison was an American singer, poet, songwriter, writer, and film director. He is best known as the lead singer and lyricist of The Doors, and is widely considered to be one of the most charismatic and influential frontmen in rock music. He was also the author of several books of poetry and the director of a documentary and short film.
More about Jim Morrison...
Wilderness: The Lost Writings, Vol. 1 The American Night: The Lost Writings, Vol. 2 An American Prayer Джим Моррисон. Стихи. Песни. Заметки / Poems, Lyrics, Notes Jim Morrison - Poemas Ocultos

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