Howl turns fifty, and more on the Beats

[pcockey]

http://www.alternet.org/story/27455

In honor of this joyous occasion, we performed a Halloween reading of Howl, complete with incense and drums. It was an absolute blast. If you haven't read Ginsberg's Howl, you can find it here: http://www.rooknet.com/beatpage/writers/ginsberg.html#howl It's an amazing poem and was the birth of a new generation of writers.

I love the Beats, as is probably evident by now--Denise Levertov is probably my favorite of the bunch. Anyone else a Beat poet fan? And for anyone reading Howl for the first time, what did you think?

[Psycheinaboat]

I am probably not as a much a fan of the beats as you. I have never read Denise Levertov, though.

I like Ginsberg's poems, but something about them seem incomplete to me. As if he wrote only the first draft and stopped there.

I do like Ginsberg and Kerouac; I think that element of their work that seems sloppy to me may be that I just don't "get it". Know what I mean?

[pcockey]

I can see that--I think in a lot of instances (Howl being a documented one--Ginsberg wasn't even sure if he was finished with it when he read it the first time) we *are* looking at first drafts. They just wrote and bam, they were done. Sometimes it certainly works better than others... :D

[Psycheinaboat]

If nothing else, I like the bravery shown in sitting down, popping pills, and typing until your fingers "bleed," and then collecting the line of paper for publishing.

It takes guts to go public with writing so raw.

[Psycheinaboat]

I read Howl again twice, once aloud.

I think I can appreciate this poem more at this point in my life. I now recognize that each life, no matter how mundane we label it, is an adventure. We each experience pain, love, coldness, weakness, loss, fear, and joy.

Thank you for starting this thread, and giving me the chance to read Ginsberg again.

[starrwriter]

"angelheaded hipsters burning for the ancient heavenly connection to the starry dynamo in the machinery of night"

One of the best lines of poetry I ever read.

[jon1jt]

Jack Kerouac and Neil Cassady's road travels are a testament to what it means to be struck with lightning and survive!! The NYC and San Fransisco in which they dwelled is long, long gone --- replaced are corporate towers and stuffy five star hotels...what would Kerouac and Cassady think of 42nd Street or Broadway today? 'On the Road' should be a required text for every college student in the country. Maybe they'd be electrified to give up their fancy college dorm life for real possibility. "Burn burn burn like roman candles bursting in the sky!" GO MOAN FOR MAN Y'ALL!

[Scheherazade]

Jack Kerouac and Neil Cassady's road travels are a testament to what it means to be struck with lightning and survive!! The NYC and San Fransisco in which they dwelled is long, long gone --- replaced are corporate towers and stuffy five star hotels...what would Kerouac and Cassady think of 42nd Street or Broadway today? 'On the Road' should be a required text for every college student in the country. Maybe they'd be electrified to give up their fancy college dorm life for real possibility. "Burn burn burn like roman candles bursting in the sky!" GO MOAN FOR MAN Y'ALL!Real possibilities of what? How to get drunk and/or high in the quickest way?

[starrwriter]

Real possibilities of what? How to get drunk and/or high in the quickest way?
What a square.
*Using my fingers to draw a square in the air*

[Scheherazade]

What a square.
*Using my fingers to draw a square in the air*I guess I should call you 'circle'/'round' and draw one in the air too but where I come from that is a rude gesture used by homophobics so I won't.


Please avoid personalising your comments during discussions. It is the ideas that we discuss, not the people.

[rachel]

PIAB,
How beautifully you put it. We, none of us live nothing, mundane lives.I truly believe that. I believe that every human has great worth and beauty, from the beauty queens strutting their stuff on the runway to the leper hiding her face so as not be be seen. I believe as did Mother Theresa of Calcutta, I see Jesus in every face. Everyone lives a 'once upon a time' unque tale upon this stage called earth. we can be the hero/heroine, villain or just a bit player. but the story is all ours. thankyou for your comment.

[starrwriter]

Please avoid personalising your comments during discussions. It is the ideas that we discuss, not the people.
Look who's talking. You personalized your comment on jon1jt's post by ridiculing it with a prudish remark. Lighten up, will ya?

[jon1jt]

I'm curious if Schnec.. has actually read Kerouac; I mean, read a full book or two, or has just read 'about' Kerouac and the Beat's drug and alcohol (ab)use?

[jon1jt]

When I wrote 'real possibility' I meant in terms of Kerouac's passion as a writer. If you read his Memoirs, you will see a man who never once wavers from keeping writing central in his life, even while facing overwhelming odds. I don't see that conviction in people for anything nowadays.

[starrwriter]

I'm curious if Schnec.. has actually read Kerouac; I mean, read a full book or two, or has just read 'about' Kerouac and the Beat's drug and alcohol (ab)use?
Booze and bennies were just part of the underground lifestyle of the 40s and 50s. Kerouac only wrote about them as a background to his main themes -- seizing life by the throat, going for broke in experience. I agree with you that "On The Road" should be required reading for English students.

[Scheherazade]

I'm curious if Schnec.. has actually read Kerouac; I mean, read a full book or two, or has just read 'about' Kerouac and the Beat's drug and alcohol (ab)use?Scheherazade has read On The Road (you can find the discussions on it here (http://www.online-literature.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4360&highlight=road)) and she is not in the habit of commenting on the books she has not read.

[rachel]

You can take that statement as a fact you could swear to in court. I absolutely believe it. I am glad to see you on site Scher. I think I must have missed you somehow the last couple of days and was just wondering this morning where you were.