[5VS]≡ Read Free Rivers and mountains The American poetry series ; v 12 John Ashbery 9780912946382 Books

Rivers and mountains The American poetry series ; v 12 John Ashbery 9780912946382 Books

Download As PDF : Rivers and mountains The American poetry series ; v 12 John Ashbery 9780912946382 Books

Rivers and mountains The American poetry series ; v 12 John Ashbery 9780912946382 Books

Ashberry's death left a large body of poetry as well as a hole in the body poetic. He's been criticized as opaque -- but all poets such suffer his opacity. I'd rather read his confusion and settle into it than most other (younger) poets' workshopped cleverness and be eager to turn the page.


Tags : Rivers and mountains (The American poetry series ; v. 12) [John Ashbery] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Book by Ashbery, John,John Ashbery,Rivers and mountains (The American poetry series ; v. 12),Ecco Press,0912946385

Rivers and mountains The American poetry series ; v 12 John Ashbery 9780912946382 Books Reviews

This early collection is my first exposure to John Ashbery, and after researching the mixed critical acceptance of his work throughout his career, I feel a little less overwhelmed by my initial reaction to some of the poems within. Ashbery is well known for his surrealist style, and this definitely comes across in poems such as The Recent Past, and A Blessing in Disguise. Most reviews of this collection heap a lot of praise on the long-form poem that takes up nearly half of this volume, The Skaters, but I personally found a resonance within the shorter pieces, two in particular. Into the Dusk-Charged Air, a playful list poem, barrels through a variety of different descriptions of rivers in what feels almost like a tongue-in-cheek celebration of the language. Then there is The Ecclesiast, a poem about embracing the impermanence and inconsequentiality of life, and which read as a direct response (or rebuttal) to Kind David from Ecclesiastes 1, who proclaimed “Utterly meaningless!/Everything is meaningless.” A great collection from the early part of a long and celebrated career, Rivers and Mountains has me looking forward to delving into more of Ashbery's work.
Ashberry's death left a large body of poetry as well as a hole in the body poetic. He's been criticized as opaque -- but all poets such suffer his opacity. I'd rather read his confusion and settle into it than most other (younger) poets' workshopped cleverness and be eager to turn the page.