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megsoap_'s review
5.0
A quick, dense, and yet surprisingly pleasant read. A challenge to view the art with less contempt and to expand the expectations of perfection. A challenge I admit I may not fulfill, but aim to pursue.
pmgilger's review
2.0
This was such a disappointment. In this work, Lerner tries to defend poetry (moving from “hatred” of poetry to a defense of the art), but he spends what feels like the first half of the piece ripping a specific poem to shreds because it’s “bad” and not what a poem should be. I understand, and Lerner points out, that how poetry is received is subjective, but this makes the rest of his argument defending the art as a whole feel hypocritical. He doesn’t satisfactorily harmonize his own preferences or hatred of specific poems with his defense of capital-P poetry.
Further, this entire piece feels pretentious and snobby. By this, I don’t mean that Lerner uses insider terminology. I studied poetry and still didn’t understand the points he was trying to make most of the time. He had such an opportunity here to make poetry accessible, but the result is a dull, run-on thought piece that would make me hate poetry had I not independently been a fan already.
Further, this entire piece feels pretentious and snobby. By this, I don’t mean that Lerner uses insider terminology. I studied poetry and still didn’t understand the points he was trying to make most of the time. He had such an opportunity here to make poetry accessible, but the result is a dull, run-on thought piece that would make me hate poetry had I not independently been a fan already.
mmaack24's review
the style is not for me. while i don’t think it is bad content, it feels quite pretentious, although that is probably unavoidable when talking about poetry as an art form. i could not continue because it was too much work to read; i had to really focus on each clause of each sentence to understand where the author’s thoughts began and ended, and i do not have the patience at this time. i may return to it later.
ms_castalian's review
5.0
Ah, Ben Lerner is so smart! He argues that people love to hate on poetry — including those who write it. Why? Because every actual poem is a far cry from the ideal of Poetry we all imagine. And in professing our hatred for individual poems, we sometimes reinforce our love, devotion for, or at the very least belief in the sacred ideal of Poetry.
A wonderful romp through many ages in Western literary history. Short but pretty much indispensable!!!
A wonderful romp through many ages in Western literary history. Short but pretty much indispensable!!!
taschott's review
4.0
"Do you remember the feeling that sense was provisional and that two people could build around an utterance a world in which any usage signified? I think that's poetry."
philipkenner's review
5.0
Such a clear, lucid essay. It’s emotional, full of yummy imagery, and an immensely satisfying reading or any lover or hater of poetry. I especially appreciated Lerner’s consistent and well-argued theory that all poetry is a reach toward the divine (the emotional divine, the physical divine, the divine ability to inspire action in others) while at the same time existing as an inescapable failure to reach that same divine. If poetry elicits any strong feelings in you (love, hate, confusion, etcetera), then this is a tight essay you should absolutely ingest.