Scan barcode
encyclopediablonde's review
"Every artist's strictly illimitable country is himself. An artist who plays that country false has committed suicide; and even a good lawyer cannot kill the dead. But a human being who's true to himself whoever himself may be is immortal; and all the atomic bombs of all the antiartists in spacetime will never civilize immortality."
libkatem's review
3.0
What did I think... hmmm. Well, I guess his lectures (or rather, not lectures) were about art and truth and beauty and poetry. They're not really something that can be explained.
lalodragon's review against another edition
4.0
Copied down pages out of this. It would be five stars, except for an annoying habit-- slapping "un-" and "non-" on every thing disliked, rather than using a good specific word. And rather than beginning, he goes on pompously about how he is not lecturing--this a lot more false & pompous than lecturing. Other cases like this, where speaking against or denying something he is more egoistical and pompous than that thing.
All of which make cummings what he is & I do love him. My notebook is full of him. I need to buy this.
All of which make cummings what he is & I do love him. My notebook is full of him. I need to buy this.
petrichorandcoffee's review
medium-paced
3.25
I think this is definitely worth reading because of cummings' beautiful gift with words and his excellent notes on craft (of poemmaking) and selfhood. However, I do feel that reading this made me disenchanted with cumming (who is one of my favorite poets, but who I now see was very flawed). There is much in these nonlectures which show cummings is ignorant of his privilege (through his money and whiteness), and this frustrates me. I also don't like his anti-Bible statements (a perpetuation of the intelligence or faith false dichotomy that sprung up after the Enlightenment, which always irks me). Overall, I am glad that I read this because I am a writer and maker of other art and I feel it is helpful for considerinart making, but I am a little disappointed that cumming has not lived up to the pedestal I put him on from reading his poems.
amarrymeinbostonacademic's review
4.0
E. E. Cummings is probably one of the most abstract writers I've ever read. His style is certainly unique (and almost immediately recognizable for me as I've read him before) and I enjoyed reading about him when I could understand him. There were quite a few brilliant lines that he had blown me away with but other times I had no idea what he was talking about.
I know that obscuring meaning was popular among some post WWI modernist writers so that movement probably contributed to the complexity and purposeful confusion of his writing style. He was considered one of the more prominent modernist writers and for good reason too, I don't believe that there has quite been another writer like him since.
I know that obscuring meaning was popular among some post WWI modernist writers so that movement probably contributed to the complexity and purposeful confusion of his writing style. He was considered one of the more prominent modernist writers and for good reason too, I don't believe that there has quite been another writer like him since.
hannahlee's review
3.0
This was a sweet and interesting collection of personal-essay like "non-lectures." Some of the stories were really compelling and funny, and other moments, particularly when cummings gets into his dramatic pursuits, were kind of opaque for me. All in all a cool look into the life and mind of a wonderful writer - but I will probably stick to his poems from now on.
More...