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123rd out of 323 books
—
428 voters
The Collected Works of Billy the Kid
"Not a story about me through their eyes then. Find the beginning, the slight silver key to unlock it, to dig it out. Here then is a maze to begin, be in. (p. 20)
"
Funny yet horrifying, improvisational yet highly distilled, unflinchingly violent yet tender and elegiac, Michael Ondaatje's ground-breaking book The Collected Works of Billy the Kid is a highly polished and self...more
"
Funny yet horrifying, improvisational yet highly distilled, unflinchingly violent yet tender and elegiac, Michael Ondaatje's ground-breaking book The Collected Works of Billy the Kid is a highly polished and self...more
105 pages
Published
by Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
(first published October 28th 1974)
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A stew of fact and fiction, a hot mess of history, a researched yet fabricated poetry book, a travelogue, a series of gray-scale images, and also text describing nonexistent images in film photography's technical jargon (and I swoon), this book hits all my right notes. If Billy the Kid had ever constructed a little girl's scrapbook journal which reflected on the huge themes of his life, but in simple language like stripping bare an entire mythology of a real human being and then drawing it in cr...more
avant-garde, postmodern, revisionist, a deconstruction, self-conscious and self-aware, prose from another planet, beautifully brutal, the kind of spikey poetry you see in some of the books of Hawke or even some DeLillo (i'm thinking Libra), the kind of book that you read and reread and remember forever. at least this reader did.
all of the above does nothing to sum up the yearning and strangeness and rightness of this underrated modern classic.
i mentioned 'poetry' but i am talking about the prose...more
all of the above does nothing to sum up the yearning and strangeness and rightness of this underrated modern classic.
i mentioned 'poetry' but i am talking about the prose...more
I've taken to describing this book as "What would happen if William Faulkner wrote Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid as a poem. Concisely. In Canada."
So it's no surprise that it blew me away.
So it's no surprise that it blew me away.
"Get away from me yer stupid chicken."
Oh man I love this book. There's a blurb from Larry McMurtry where he admits that it "strains one's powers of descrition" which pretty much sums it up. The Collected Works explores the interior life of Billy the Kid and his relationship with Pat Garrett. It's raw, funny, and frightening all in one go. Because 1) it's so interior, 2) Ondaatje excels at this sort of characterization, and 3) Billy is bat shit crazy, the exteriors are hyperbolic and grotesque. B...more
Oh man I love this book. There's a blurb from Larry McMurtry where he admits that it "strains one's powers of descrition" which pretty much sums it up. The Collected Works explores the interior life of Billy the Kid and his relationship with Pat Garrett. It's raw, funny, and frightening all in one go. Because 1) it's so interior, 2) Ondaatje excels at this sort of characterization, and 3) Billy is bat shit crazy, the exteriors are hyperbolic and grotesque. B...more
I have a theory about my difficulties with poetry. I think, because I kind of discovered prose outside of learning, I've always viewed it as past-time more anything. My parents got me reading early, I feel like I was reading books quite early. I certainly had a well-established addiction to Famous Five by the time I was in first class (seven-ish?).
But never poetry. The only poetry I was ever really exposed to was in the classroom. Thinking about it like that I can understand how other kids felt...more
But never poetry. The only poetry I was ever really exposed to was in the classroom. Thinking about it like that I can understand how other kids felt...more
Michael Ondaatje is certainly one of the world's greatest living writers. My admiration for his writing craft is boundless but I will nonetheless attempt at a dispirited review of his first novel-ish publication. Although this is his first "novel" (more on novel(ish)ness later), it ranks among his most unabashedly avant-garde next to The English Patient and his most recent Divisadero. The Collected Works of Billy the Kid is one of the earliest attempts in North American letters at revising the W...more
I'd say this book is like a Terence Malick movie transformed into poetry/prose/a few pictures. It's fragmentary, nebulous, disintegrating, nonsensical, beautiful, weird, scary, quiet, even silent. It's got lots and lots of white space. For a reason. I think it's wonderful and I want to spend even more time with it, let it soak in a bit more before further reports. One thing to say: it's very much an Ezra Pound poetry as history sort of thing, but clearer (but only because we know the myth immedi...more
Poems, snippets, and pictures.
Hearty. Read it twice.
After shooting Gregory
this is what happened
I'd shot him well and careful
made it explode under his heart
so it wouldn't last long
was about to walk away
when this chicken paddles out to him
and as he was falling hops on his neck
digs the beak into his throat
straightens legs and heaves
a red and blue vein out
Meanwhile he fell
and the chicken walked away
still tugging at the vein
till it was 12 yards long
as if it held that body like a kite
Gregory's last w...more
Hearty. Read it twice.
After shooting Gregory
this is what happened
I'd shot him well and careful
made it explode under his heart
so it wouldn't last long
was about to walk away
when this chicken paddles out to him
and as he was falling hops on his neck
digs the beak into his throat
straightens legs and heaves
a red and blue vein out
Meanwhile he fell
and the chicken walked away
still tugging at the vein
till it was 12 yards long
as if it held that body like a kite
Gregory's last w...more
I have wracked my brain, no joke - I actually whipped out a thesaurus in an attempt to find a word that might adequately describe Michael Ondaatje's Collected Works of Billy the Kid, but to no avail. I just don't think there is a word in the English language that would do it much justice. "Beautiful" or even "gorgeous" seem too dreary. No, Ondaatje's book of poems inspired by the infamous American outlaw is something else entirely. Writing from several perspectives, including that of Billy himse...more
I don’t see why you need my views on it.
But since you ask.
I do not claim to be an authority on poetry - least of all the experimental kind. Seems to me too many of thems that write it see a reader enjoying their work as a sign they did it wrong. Listening to me ramble on about it - you’d think I was one of them dumbass Conservatives as hates anything intellectual - but I really put great store in most literatures. It’s just that experimental poetry that gets my dander up.
But Billy is another sto...more
But since you ask.
I do not claim to be an authority on poetry - least of all the experimental kind. Seems to me too many of thems that write it see a reader enjoying their work as a sign they did it wrong. Listening to me ramble on about it - you’d think I was one of them dumbass Conservatives as hates anything intellectual - but I really put great store in most literatures. It’s just that experimental poetry that gets my dander up.
But Billy is another sto...more
Mar 03, 2013
Tony
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
sri-lankan,
obscure-but-cool
(Cue the Dylan soundtrack from the movie Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid. A little scratchy, a little 'first-take'. Go sepia. Remember the first time you heard: Billy, you're so far away from home.)
Ondaatje was a kid in Sri Lanka -- a kid in Sri Lanka -- and he fell in love with the legend of Billy the Kid. Never kicked it. Then he started to write -- he had to write. He wrote a collage: of poems and poem fragments, prose, documentary testimonies. It's uneven, a broken western sky. But we're at th...more
Ondaatje was a kid in Sri Lanka -- a kid in Sri Lanka -- and he fell in love with the legend of Billy the Kid. Never kicked it. Then he started to write -- he had to write. He wrote a collage: of poems and poem fragments, prose, documentary testimonies. It's uneven, a broken western sky. But we're at th...more
Favorite quotes:
1. "My fingers touch/this soft blue paper notebook/control a pencil that shifts up and sideways/mapping my thinking going its own way/like light wet glasses drifting on polished wood."
2. "Not a story about me through their eyes then. Find the beginning, the slight silver key to unlock it, to dig it out. Here then is a maze to begin, be in."
1. "My fingers touch/this soft blue paper notebook/control a pencil that shifts up and sideways/mapping my thinking going its own way/like light wet glasses drifting on polished wood."
2. "Not a story about me through their eyes then. Find the beginning, the slight silver key to unlock it, to dig it out. Here then is a maze to begin, be in."
Michael Ondaatje may be one of the most wildly inventive novelists we have. The Collected Works of Billy the Kid is a fictionalized retelling of a very beguiling person. It is also an artistic, abstract mosaic using a multigenre format (one of the first modern texts to do so). It will challenge and it will startle. The book is poetic from the very first page, and there are some "genres" that are especially memorable. The interview near the end is quite good. I found the poems particularly stunni...more
I tend to waver a lot on what I think of any given Ondaatje book, but Collected Works has been at the top of my Favorites list since I discovered it in a class on multigenre writing as an undergrad. Reading this, I understood for the first time that genre can be fluid - something I had sort of known, but never been able to articulate - and that story happens as it is going to happen. I love how Ondaatje tells the story of Billy the Kid through a pastiche of memories, photographs, short fiction,...more
Interesting tale telling. I enjoyed the lack of pictures to fit the descriptions. It made me want to read more so I could fill those gaps. Switching between poems and stories form different characters was quite original. Another key point..... very dirty and gory.
Feb 16, 2009
Emily-rose Guillebeau
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
poetry peeps
Shelves:
recently-read-and-really-reviewed
I've actually read this one twice, most recently in a hostel in France. The book chronicles the misadventures of Billy the Kid and the shadowy personages that flit in and out of his short life--his friends, lawmen, prostitutes, etc. This is one of Michael Ondaatje's earliest "novels." It is very experimental, often breaking into verse, interrupted by period photographs--it's a dreamy, exotic hodge-podge. The prose passages contain some stunning images, which is what I've always read Ondaatje for...more
I had only read one other of Ondaatje's book before, which was Anil's Ghost. The ending irked me so much, I was a little hesitant to read another. I am glad I did. I really liked this one.
The Collected Works of Billy the Kid is a retelling of the life of the gunslinger, told in poetry, prose, imaginary newspaper accounts, photos, and interviews. In the story, Billy isn't only the rough killer is usually protrayed but he also has moments as an ordinary boy, whether it is dancing with the Mexican...more
The Collected Works of Billy the Kid is a retelling of the life of the gunslinger, told in poetry, prose, imaginary newspaper accounts, photos, and interviews. In the story, Billy isn't only the rough killer is usually protrayed but he also has moments as an ordinary boy, whether it is dancing with the Mexican...more
I LOVE this. So much that after I finished, I spent some time reading about Billy the Kid's life, and then started rereading Ondaatje's book. This is one of those books that, like Anne Carson's Autobiography of Red, blurs the lines between novel and poetry. It needs to be savored slowly, and it's a book that doesn't seem to come together until you get to the end and then take the time to reread it. The first read was like wading through water -- enjoyable because Ondaatje's words are a joy to re...more
This is the book that got Tom Romano thinking about incorporating multigenre research in his high school classes, and it's easy to see why he found it so inspiring. (Interesting side note: In a new afterword Ondaatje reveals that he did almost no outside research prior to or during writing. He based his writing on the two facts he knew – that Billy the Kid was 21 when he died, and he had killed 21 people. Virtually everything else is Ondaatje's invention, contrary to what Romano thought). The co...more
kind of amazing in its free-wheeling scope and bloody imagination. (also one of ondaatje's earliest works which feels totally daunting.) ondaatje supplements actual historical records of the outlaw with poetic/bloody takes on billy's private world and historical era. with the usual sure and evocative touch, ondaatje manages to make billy complex, terrifying, semi-sympathetic, and just a young bad boy all at once. when a writer makes me care about what happens and why to a character i would proba...more
A slim but gorgeous, highly experimental work, The Collected Works of Billy the Kid follows, somewhat disjointedly, the life of the famous outlaw and a bit of his legend, too. Through a mixture of Ondaatje's unparalleled poetry (he is undoubtedly the most under-appreciated poet in the English-speaking world) and his equally moving, memorable prose, the reader drifts in and out of Billy's mind, his experiences, and the perspectives of the people who knew and loved him. The book is deeply focused...more
Aug 16, 2011
Matt
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
those longing for strange heroes in a world not-so-past, western history buffs
There are slivers of the truth in Ondaatje's Billy the Kid, all the surrounding players and characters. The settings, the New Mexican snows and sands. The poetry of it all, at least now, in our modern world, looking back and reflecting on what it was, or what it wasn't.
Essentially this is historical fiction as poetry. Even the prose is poetry. He can't help it. It flows naturally and gives a voice, a sorrow, a reality to the antihero Billy the Kid.
I love the many vignettes, the intertwined poeti...more
Essentially this is historical fiction as poetry. Even the prose is poetry. He can't help it. It flows naturally and gives a voice, a sorrow, a reality to the antihero Billy the Kid.
I love the many vignettes, the intertwined poeti...more
Other than a few poems, i've never read any Ondaatje, and this book really blew me away. I was drawn to it for the collage-like assemblage of texts (poems, stories, pictures, etc) that together work to blend history and mythology. The effect is wonderful. It's a quick read and so many wonderfully abject, violent, and sad moments. The one down side: every time I read the word "Billy" I couldn't help but think of Emilio Estevez. Him I could live without, but don't take away my Lou Diamond Phillips...more
"His stomach was warm
remembered this when I put my hand into
a pot of luke warm tea to wash it out
dragging out the stomach to get the bullet
he wanted to see when taking tea
with Sallie Chisum in Paris Texas
With Sallie Chisum in Paris Texas
he wanted to see when taking tea
dragging out the stomach to get the bullet
a pot of luke warm tea to wash it out
remembered this when I put my hand into
his stomach was warm"
Who thought we could know Billy the Kid so intimately through poetry and photographs?...
remembered this when I put my hand into
a pot of luke warm tea to wash it out
dragging out the stomach to get the bullet
he wanted to see when taking tea
with Sallie Chisum in Paris Texas
With Sallie Chisum in Paris Texas
he wanted to see when taking tea
dragging out the stomach to get the bullet
a pot of luke warm tea to wash it out
remembered this when I put my hand into
his stomach was warm"
Who thought we could know Billy the Kid so intimately through poetry and photographs?...
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Is this book fiction or nonfiction?
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Do you think there is a strong male character in this b...more
Your permissions will only allow the editing of the metadata
add more answers...
Is this book fiction or nonfiction?
What is the genre of this book (romance, thriller, historical fiction, etc.)?
What is the tone of this book (bleak, romantic, upbeat, violent, etc.)?
What is the writing style of this book (such as journalistic, descriptive, scholarly, accessible, etc.)?
add more answers...
What is the perspective of the narration?
Do you think there is a strong male character in this b...more
I read it because it was the book that inspired Tom Romano to start multi-genre research. I loved the concept of telling a story through different types of writing and using different voices. But at times I got lost as to whose voice I was supposed to be hearing. However, it is a very quick read, I read it in one afternoon and I am the slowest of readers, so I do recommend people take a few hours to read through it...especially anyone interested in doing multi-genre in their classroom.
Slim and sick volume from one of my favorite writers. It was fulfilling to revisit MO's writing. I think its been a year or so since I last read him. I would place it more under the "prose poem" label rather than poetic prose, but its intersting to see a mixed genre work 30 years before mashup culture opens the floodgates for this type of writing today. Am now going through his follow up Coming Through Slaughter, which has a more successful narrative.
Interesting look at Billy the Kid's life through poetry, prose and tidbits of history thrown in. I skipped this one in my Western Lit class due to time constraints and the Blood Meridian monster project I was working on. I just read it in about an hour - I like the way Ondaatje mixes his poetry with plain prose. It's a nice piece, born of a sincere love and fascination for the American West by an outsider.
i read this book while passing through billy the kid country in the american southwest, stunned and shattered by the mythology of the west and its intricacies. ondaatje captures the blood and skin of it, the drumming heart. i felt like i was dancing a crazy old waltz with the kid himself. i want to read it again and pass it along to anyone who is interested in the confounding stories of the american west.
It was really well written but it got to the point that it was too fragmented for me to make sense out of anything. I thought the prose parts were pretty good but the poems really seemed a bit too far beyond me. I also enjoyed the use of different forms of media in the story but I really just saw it as an attempt that just didn't seem to work the way the author wanted it. Or else it just went way over my head, which is entirely possible.
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
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| Earlier Ondaatje | 1 | 9 | Jun 04, 2009 02:36pm |
He was born to a Burgher family of Dutch-Tamil-Sinhalese-Portuguese origin. He moved to England with his mother in 1954. After relocating to Canada in 1962, Ondaatje became a Canadian citizen. Ondaatje studied for a time at Bishops College School and Bishop's University in Lennoxville, Quebec, but moved to Toronto and received his BA from the University of Toronto and his MA from Queen's Universit...more
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“She had lived in that house fourteen years, and every year she had demanded of John that she be given a pet of some strange exotic breed. Not that she did not have enough animals. She had collected several wild and broken animals that, in a way, had become exotic by their breaking. Their roof would have collapsed from the number of birds who might have lived there if the desert hadn't killed three- quarters of those that tried to cross it. Still every animal that came within a certain radius of that house was given a welcome--the tame, the half born, the wild, the wounded.”
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“Blood a necklace on me all my life.”
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Mark, I've had dreams about goodreads people before, too. Just a few days ago I dreamed that...more
updated Jan 09, 2013 01:52pm
Jan 09, 2013 10:21pm