Howl and Other Poems

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Summary: a rare and fortunate collection
Review: This is one of the greatest collection of words ever printed under one cover. The poems around Howl are also some of Ginsberg's best, some are:"A Supermarket in California", the second most anthologized Ginsberg poem, "An Asphodel", a beautiful little (short) love poem about what i believe to be a tulup or a dafodil (look it up, tho, it has symbolic meaning) and "Song" which is a very sincere and beautiful poem about love that made me cry it was so simply powerful. It is terrific to have this collection of poems in a small, nice-looking book; its portable. You can turn to any page and find something extraordinary.

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Summary: More than a poem!
Review: This work is more than a poem, it is prophecy in the truest sense of the word, a "forth-telling." It is a call to action and to live life with our eyes wide open. The ferment that this poem has started began with the Beats and continues on to our own time. So many poets, writers, and artists owe so much to Ginsburg and this shot that he fired. He inspired the writers of the Beat Generation on up to writers of our own day (I am thinking here of Geoffrey B. Cain's "The Wards of St. Dymphna" which clearly owes something to this poet). Read this; it is still news for today. It isn't over yet!

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Summary: I've seen the greatest minds of my generation....
Review: Howl is the epitaph for the free thinker in America. Ginsbergs verses sing inside the head like a radio, and his words touch the depths of the soul

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Summary: Electric, Alive, Divine
Review: Ginsberg's poems are electric, alive, divine. They make everything burn. "Howl" is a bird that flies, a maggot that wriggles and sickens the reader, a slick fish who gleams in clear water sunlight. It is, in a way, one of the most beautiful love poems in the English language. Another poem in the collection, "A Supermarket in California," is my personal favorite. To me, it is about the love of one writer for another, the passing down of a legacy, and the burden of passing (and sometimes the failure to pass) that legacy on. If you have felt this way about any artist, you will feel in this poem a kindred spirit. Even the introduction to Ginsberg's poems is glorious -- William Carlos Williams writes something so poetic, so reverential, so appreciative, so breathtaking -- it should be the envy of all who have ever had to (or wil ever have to) write about a piece of literature. Read this book from cover-to-cover. Carry it with you, if you are so inclined. Open it to a random page, and inhale, and read. You will feel like dancing, like painting, like screaming, like laughing, like cursing, like saying "I love you," like killing yourself, like inventing names and colors. THIS IS LIFE!

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Summary: ...who more foolish than I, and who more faithless?
Review: I read this recently for the first time, and had just completed a book on the history of the Beats, and Howl gave me the emotional stimulus to go ahead and come out of the closet. Whitman, Ginsberg, and Sherman Alexie. The three best poets I've ever read.

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Summary: read this book if you don't you must be living in a cave
Review: this is one of the greatest books of the 20th century and the best poem around. it's reflections of it's time period are still evident today and we can learn from it. while people may see it as obsene i say bs. it's only the bible thumper talking. open your minds and give in to the ultimate relaity check of your life.

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Summary: Buy it for Howl, enjoy it for the others...
Review: To be completely honest, I don't find Howl as interesting as I find Ginsberg's other poems. While Howl does reach the soul, I find that Ginsberg's poems America, Sunflower Sutra, and A Supermarket in California are much more effective this and a lot less annoying to read. I found myself plugging away through Howl because it got redundant and boring. The other poems are fresh and more personal than Howl. Howl is a great poem and it is easy to see how it receives so much acclaim, but as a fan of Ginsberg's work, I find that Howl pales in comparison to Ginsberg's America. By all means, purchase this book, but don't buy it with the expectation that Howl is the best poem in there, because it isn't.

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Summary: HOWL if you dig Allen Ginsberg
Review: Allen Ginsberg's HOWL and Other Poems does what true poetry is supposed to do...break all barriers. It does that in a way unmatched by any other book of poetry. Poetry is written for self sepression...so that we can carry on in collective individualism. Not only does Ginsberh thoroughly express himself in these hiply fresh poems, but he gives us the keys to his soul...he unlocks the jambs. Squares would squeal, and yet, he did was poetry was intended to do...reveal the soul's deepest thoughts. Dig it.

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Summary: Beat Voice Still Raging
Review: If you are familiar at all with Ginsberg, this is a must. His voice--strong and full of conviction. These poems were prophecy of what would transpire in the following decades. I got goosebumps. What else can I cay?

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Summary: spiritual
Review: Having had the unique pleasure of hearing him read HOWL in the FAC at Umass-Amherst, amongst many of his lesser works, i was moved often to tears. He told all 1000 or so of us young minds that because we gathered here for him he would read Howl for the first time in many years. This was one of his last appearances as he sat there a much older and frail man, he died nearly a year later. It was an experience i will remember till my dying day.