Scan barcode
kidasquared's review
challenging
informative
medium-paced
3.75
as a novice to lit crit and a shameful avoider of poetry, Lerner created a welcoming introduction into those worlds. the title allows the interested and the skeptical to walk in easily. it's digestible at under 100 small pages, offering history and insight into the complicated definition and criticism of poetry.
this was my first exposure to Lerner. I felt safe among his beautiful prose as he tackled what I thought were somewhat difficult concepts to a dilettante like me. while the topics might not be for everyone, sometimes falling into futility, it's worth a read if you have any interest in attempts to uncover and excavate the depths of art.
B
this was my first exposure to Lerner. I felt safe among his beautiful prose as he tackled what I thought were somewhat difficult concepts to a dilettante like me. while the topics might not be for everyone, sometimes falling into futility, it's worth a read if you have any interest in attempts to uncover and excavate the depths of art.
B
mikkiokko's review
informative
medium-paced
Shoutout to my Creative Writing professor for assigning this read as homework! I liked it and understand more about my relationship with poetry because of it! Excited for the poetry unit after break!
officialkohls's review
3.0
The first half of this text is tightly focused on the American view of poetry, and is absolutely fascinating. The second half falls off the rails and gets into politics and citizenship. Is poetry inherently political? Perhaps. Is this book unable to maintain one thesis for 80 pages? Certainly.
jeremygoodjob's review
2.0
Very fun to read but also pretty forgettable. Loved his analysis of Claudia Rankine's work.
talypollywaly's review
challenging
informative
medium-paced
3.25
Aside from his language being unnecessarily dense at times: has this guy never spent time around high schoolers?
The majority of people who stopped reading poetry after high school forced only Shakespeare upon them-and had poetry soured for them for many years after that- will give you a very simple reason as to why "people hate poetry."
Lerner writes with the assumption that the people who Hate poetry are people who have spent hours studying it, only to shun it.
Most people don't know shit about poetry, but what they do know is enough to resent it, and the weird elitists like Lerner- who try to expouse its beauty without ever getting down to the level of the masses who resent it- aren't helping to convince them.
You could replace "poetry" with "novels" and those of us who hated Hemingway in high school would still be ignored. Lerner ignoring the entirety of this population just seems to prove Lerner's very narrow-minded point: You can only hate poetry if you love it? Or does he really mean you can only hate poetry if you have an English degree?
The majority of people who stopped reading poetry after high school forced only Shakespeare upon them-and had poetry soured for them for many years after that- will give you a very simple reason as to why "people hate poetry."
Lerner writes with the assumption that the people who Hate poetry are people who have spent hours studying it, only to shun it.
Most people don't know shit about poetry, but what they do know is enough to resent it, and the weird elitists like Lerner- who try to expouse its beauty without ever getting down to the level of the masses who resent it- aren't helping to convince them.
You could replace "poetry" with "novels" and those of us who hated Hemingway in high school would still be ignored. Lerner ignoring the entirety of this population just seems to prove Lerner's very narrow-minded point: You can only hate poetry if you love it? Or does he really mean you can only hate poetry if you have an English degree?