Anyone read Robinson Jeffers?

[J.S. Ven]

Just need a recommendation on which of his books to pick up first. I'm really into the whole disregard for meter, his voice, and the primitivist transcendental thing. I'd like to stay away from the World War 2 commentary for now however, looking for something a bit more objective and general of his work. Any suggestions?

[ladderandbucket]

There is a slim book in print called Selected Poems which contains some of his best short poems. If you like what you find there you should definitely get The Selected Poetry of Robinson Jeffers which contains much more of the same plus some long narrative poems. These narrative poems are quite unique and, to my mind at least, often brilliant.
Good to see a Jeffers thread on here!

[J.S. Ven]

I actually found him watching a movie called Visioneers on Netflix. There's an uncredited quotation of "We Are Those People", I googled the exerpt ("We wish, of course, that our women would die like biting rats in the cellars, our men like wolves on the mountain...") and haven't stopped reading his stuff since. The movie is set in a Dystopian America where a company called Jeffers Corp. runs the country. I can't tell if it's just coincidence that the CEO's name was Mr. Jeffers and that they quoted a poet of the same name, but it certainly made me laugh when I realized.
I appreciate such a quick response, none of my english teachers could give me much information on him. I'll see what my county library and local bookstores have in stock!

[J.S. Ven]

By the way, I found a free copy of Californians for download on the Google play store. I figured you might like to know since you're a fan.

[ladderandbucket]

By the way, I found a free copy of Californians for download on the Google play store. I figured you might like to know since you're a fan.

Thanks. I've been hunting affordable copies of Jeffers' original books for a while. There is a set of complete works but it costs silly money.

I wonder if you have seen this 1967 documentary about him? https://diva.sfsu.edu/collections/sfbatv/bundles/189961

[J.S. Ven]

It says the server is down for that link, I'll get back to it in the next few days. Thanks!