Die hilfreichsten Kundenrezensionen
|
|
5.0 von 5 Sternen
Indispensable, 4. März 1999
Von Ein Kunde
John Berryman said that the art of poetry was that of developing a personality in words. Gary Snyder is one of the most recognizable and fascinating poetic personalities of our time. Even when he is absent, he is present -- the details he chooses to focus on, the way of perceiving embodied by the poems, tell us as much about his mind ("a mind like compost," as he writes) as any work by the so-called "confessional" poets; but rather than concentrate on tawdry details and domestic crises, Snyder is more interested in the possibilities of mindfulness, the various ways of living well in the world, of carrying out "the real work". Constantly preoccupied, even obsessed, with questions of what to keep and what to throw out, where to withdraw and where to stand firm (see "Front Lines"), Snyder is engaged in the perpetual task of literature: to save what is worth saving, to make it fresh and pass it along. And his ability to find just the right rhythms and words for every situation, sensation or idea is remarkable. I admire him greatly and am grateful for his work.
|
|
|
2.0 von 5 Sternen
Snyder, remains as always, the subject of his poetry., 14. August 1998
Von Ein Kunde
Nowhere in modern poetry is there a poet who sells himself as much as Snyder. His poetry is rarely original and largely, embarassingly pillaged from various other systems and styles, both past and present. He is a preacher first, poet last. He is hell bent on advising the proper ways to live on the earth. Yet every path the man has taken has been to glean from others, to co-opt. We are still waiting for the real Gary Snyder to please stand up. He salutes the cultures of indigenous peoples - but uses their cultures not to help develop his own voice and to make universal connections, but to celebrate their cultures in such a way as to appear to understand them better than they understand themselves, in other words, to be their spokeman. He has a wooden ear for language, except for a handful of early poems. At this point in his career he sells himself with the expert help of an astute agent - as "the first West coast nature poet - which is not true, and attempts to question and qualify the likes of Thoreau. He has produced very little work - most of it recycled over and over in his books. He has a holier-than-thou attitude about people in general which he celebrates with an ego that should by now have proved rather boring to most serious readers. But again, Snyder represents a poet who has gotten to where he now stands by calculated living in other people's worlds and then attributing those other worlds as his - via his writing. Someone who spends all his waking hours championing and spreading his name is obviously working like a devil to get immortalized. Look through all his books - listen for universal voices, try to get beyond Snyder - it can't be done. He should be happy that he has written a few good poems and get on with storytelling, his real strength, if any. We are happy that Snyder loves himself and his life - but sorry he lacks compassion and authentic connection.
|
|
|
5.0 von 5 Sternen
gary snyder, living treasure, 25. August 1997
Von Ein Kunde
if we needed anymore evidence that North Armerica should have Living Treasures much as Japan and China do, i have yet to see it! no nature is the best intro to Snyder's work there is..
|
|
|
|
