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Selected Poems, 1947-1995
Assembled by Allen Ginsberg, "Selected Poems 1947-1995" is the definitive collection of the best works of one of the most influential and revolutionary poets of the twentieth century.Allen Ginsberg, famous for helping catalyze the Beat Generation, wrote poetry for more than fifty years. His innovative verse and provocative attitudes of spiritual, political, and sexual libe...more
Paperback
Published
March 29th 2001
by Penguin Modern Classics
(first published 1996)
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Reality is a question
of realizing how real
the world is already.
Time is Eternity,
ultimate and immovable;
everyone's an angel.
It's Heaven's mystery
of changing perfection :
absolute Eternity
changes! Cars are always
going down the street,
lamps go off and on.
It's a great flat plain;
we can see everything
on top of a table.
Clams open on the table,
lambs are eaten by worms
on the plain. The motion
of change is beautiful,
as well as form called
in and out of being.
Next : to distinguish proces...more
of realizing how real
the world is already.
Time is Eternity,
ultimate and immovable;
everyone's an angel.
It's Heaven's mystery
of changing perfection :
absolute Eternity
changes! Cars are always
going down the street,
lamps go off and on.
It's a great flat plain;
we can see everything
on top of a table.
Clams open on the table,
lambs are eaten by worms
on the plain. The motion
of change is beautiful,
as well as form called
in and out of being.
Next : to distinguish proces...more
I bought this edition on the day that he died. I was studying abroad in England and was devastated when I got the news. He is not one of my favorite poets, but Ginsberg was instrumental in the lives of some of my favorite authors and musicians. This is a good collection for the beginner.
laugh if you want, but this was my bible for many years, and is probably the reason i'm not plowing a tobacco field right now. still carry it with me almost everywhere i go for more than a day or two b/c i just can't imagine being without it.
Not for the faint of heart: lots of drug use, violence, homoerotic references. You will, however, be transported back to that age--- and if that's a high you're interested in, then it's TOTALLY worth the crash.
Bought it after a friend gave me a mix cd with, among other things, Ginsburg reading "America" set on top of a Tom Waits instrumental. So many more in here that I am just now discovering.
i read HOWL
loved it
there are so many reasons that ginsberg is so incredibly well respected, but the epitome would be the work itself
i make a promise with myself to read more
loved it
there are so many reasons that ginsberg is so incredibly well respected, but the epitome would be the work itself
i make a promise with myself to read more
It was amazing to me how relevant his older poetry is today, especially his poems about Vietnam. One of my favorite poems is "Birdbrain!" If only he could have witnessed this presidency.
Ginsberg can be terribly entertaining and powerful. He can also be trite and plain unlikable.
America you don're really want to go to war.
America it's them bad Russians.
Them Russians them Russians and them Chinamen. And them Russians.
The Russia wants to eat us alive. The Russia's power mad. She wants to take
our cars from out our garages.
Her wants to grab Chicago. Her needs a Red Reader's Digest. her wants our
auto plants in Siberia. Him big bureaucracy running our fillingstations.
That no good. Ugh. Him makes Indians learn read. Him need big black niggers.
Hah. Her make us all work sixteen...more
America it's them bad Russians.
Them Russians them Russians and them Chinamen. And them Russians.
The Russia wants to eat us alive. The Russia's power mad. She wants to take
our cars from out our garages.
Her wants to grab Chicago. Her needs a Red Reader's Digest. her wants our
auto plants in Siberia. Him big bureaucracy running our fillingstations.
That no good. Ugh. Him makes Indians learn read. Him need big black niggers.
Hah. Her make us all work sixteen...more
When I was trying to act young and cool this book was essential reading - now it holds memories of what a pretentious prat I could be. Still some brilliant pieces in here though, but not his best work. The dark sexuality and violence of this selection becomes boring as you get older.
Mar 01, 2009
Shawn Sorensen
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
poetry,
national-and-international-affairs
Ambitiously intellectual, unafraid poetry. Written in a certain time frame and location (New York), but I won't hold that against Ginsberg. What else was he going to write about? Stream of consciousness writing from someone hungry for knowledge.
'I'm with you in Rockland
where there are twenty-five-thousand mad com-
rades all together singing the final stanzas of
the Internationale"
where there are twenty-five-thousand mad com-
rades all together singing the final stanzas of
the Internationale"
I got this edition at The City Lights Bookstore. Love it even when I'm wondering, seriously?
A Supermarket in California is perhaps my favorite poem. I love Allen Ginsberg.
I wish the douche that borrowed this book would give it back
Ginsberg will make you laugh, cry and arch an eyebrow.
I'm not sure this the best of Ginsberg
This guy completely sucks.
I thought the last few poems in the book were the more interesting ones. I can't honestly say I enjoyed this, though. They say Ginsberg should be performed, not simply read, but I'm not convinced I'm missing out on much.
This is a comprehensive book of Allen's poetry. A must for anyone who wants to read his work. It stands a reference book next to his book of interviews on my shelf.
Pick this one, a great anthology of a really interesting author.
Life-changing.
May 20, 2013
Macena Chowdhury
marked it as to-read
May 13, 2013
Anna
marked it as to-read
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Irwin Allen Ginsberg was the son of Louis and Naomi Ginsberg, two Jewish members of the New York literary counter-culture of the 1920s. Ginsberg was raised among several progressive political perspectives. A supporter of the Communist party, Ginsberg's mother was a nudist whose mental health was a concern throughout the poet's childhood. According to biographer Barry Miles, "Naomi's illness gave A...more
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May 17, 2013 05:44pm