Howl
by Allen Ginsberg
For Carl Solomon
I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness, starving
hysterical naked,
dragging themselves through the negro streets at dawn looking for an angry
fix,
angelheaded hipsters burning for the ancient heavenly connection to the
starry dynamo in the machinery of night,
who poverty and tatters and hollow-eyed and high sat up smoking in the
supernatural darkness of cold-water flats floating across the tops of
cities contemplating jazz,
who bared their brains to Heaven under the El and saw Mohammedan angels
staggering on tenement roofs illuminated,
who passed through universities with radiant cool eyes hallucinating Arkan-
sas and Blake-light tragedy among the scholars of war,
who were expelled from the academies for crazy & publishing obscene odes
on the windows of the skull,
Thursday, April 28, 2011
On The Road and the Beat writers quiz
Fine arts in the 50's and 60's
For your answers, choose between (last names only) Allen Ginsberg William S Burroughs Jack Kerouac Tom Wolfe Lewis Carroll Edward Lear Edward Albee Bob Dylan Beatles.
1. On the Road, the picaresque novel published in 1957.
2. Howl, the long poem which was censored by an obscenity trial in San Francisco.
3. "The Scroobious Pip," a nonsense piece that influenced 60's writers.
4. The vile quasi-novel, Naked Lunch. Was banned in Boston as obscene.
5. The satiric drama Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf.
6. Though adopted, was raised by a wealthy family in Manhattan.
7. Became a student at Columbia University through a football scholarship.
8. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.
9. The author of "Jabberwocky."
10. "Blowin' in the Wind" and "The Times They Are a-Changin'"
11. Marriage and alcoholism.
12. Writing similar to that of Mark Twain or F. Scott Fitzgerald.
13. Within you, without you," "She's leaving home."
14. The novel The Dharma Bums.
15. Spontaneous prose was part of his style.
16. Philosophical inquiry in the midst of the headlong pursuit of drugs, drink and sex.
17. The second city - after NYC - for many of the Beat writers: a) Chicago b) Houston c) New Orleans d) San Francisco.
For your answers, choose between (last names only) Allen Ginsberg William S Burroughs Jack Kerouac Tom Wolfe Lewis Carroll Edward Lear Edward Albee Bob Dylan Beatles.
1. On the Road, the picaresque novel published in 1957.
2. Howl, the long poem which was censored by an obscenity trial in San Francisco.
3. "The Scroobious Pip," a nonsense piece that influenced 60's writers.
4. The vile quasi-novel, Naked Lunch. Was banned in Boston as obscene.
5. The satiric drama Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf.
6. Though adopted, was raised by a wealthy family in Manhattan.
7. Became a student at Columbia University through a football scholarship.
8. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.
9. The author of "Jabberwocky."
10. "Blowin' in the Wind" and "The Times They Are a-Changin'"
11. Marriage and alcoholism.
12. Writing similar to that of Mark Twain or F. Scott Fitzgerald.
13. Within you, without you," "She's leaving home."
14. The novel The Dharma Bums.
15. Spontaneous prose was part of his style.
16. Philosophical inquiry in the midst of the headlong pursuit of drugs, drink and sex.
17. The second city - after NYC - for many of the Beat writers: a) Chicago b) Houston c) New Orleans d) San Francisco.
Magnet fine arts: the importance of Kerouac and On The Road
On the Road is a highly-recommended book for the college-bound student or the adventure-minded person.
- Lower middle class life in the post-war, post-depression era prior to widespread prosperity.
- A writer and his charismatic buddy criss-cross the US by bus, hitch-hiking, train and careening, high-speed driving.
- Find an atlas and keep it by your side as you read so that you can learn the towns and cities of the US.
- Men obsessed with drinking, sex, drugs and boyish freedom nonetheless bond with each other over philosophical inquiry.
- How men slowly and painfully mature.
- Strong parallels with Huckleberry Finn and The Great Gatsby.
- A celebration of jazz and of brotherhood.
- Published in 1957 the tale catalyzed the alienated and restless youths already disillusioned by the material prosperity delivered by success in the American Dream.
1.Kerouac 2.Ginsberg 3.Lear 4.Burroughs 5.Albee 6.Albee 7.Kerouac 8.Carroll 9.Carroll
10.Dylan 11.Albee 12.Kerouac 13.Beatles 14.Kerouac 15.Kerouac 16.Kerouac 17.San Francisco.
- Lower middle class life in the post-war, post-depression era prior to widespread prosperity.
- A writer and his charismatic buddy criss-cross the US by bus, hitch-hiking, train and careening, high-speed driving.
- Find an atlas and keep it by your side as you read so that you can learn the towns and cities of the US.
- Men obsessed with drinking, sex, drugs and boyish freedom nonetheless bond with each other over philosophical inquiry.
- How men slowly and painfully mature.
- Strong parallels with Huckleberry Finn and The Great Gatsby.
- A celebration of jazz and of brotherhood.
- Published in 1957 the tale catalyzed the alienated and restless youths already disillusioned by the material prosperity delivered by success in the American Dream.
1.Kerouac 2.Ginsberg 3.Lear 4.Burroughs 5.Albee 6.Albee 7.Kerouac 8.Carroll 9.Carroll
10.Dylan 11.Albee 12.Kerouac 13.Beatles 14.Kerouac 15.Kerouac 16.Kerouac 17.San Francisco.
Saturday, April 23, 2011
Pippin / SLTA / Ap 28 - May 8
The play begins, says Wikipedia, with a Leading Player of a troupe and the accompanying actors in various costume pieces of several different time periods, establishing the play's intentionally anachronistic, defamiliarized, unconventional feel.
The Leading Player invites the audience to join them in a story about a boy prince searching for fulfillment ("Magic to Do"). They reveal that the boy who is to play the title character is a new actor.
The Leading Player invites the audience to join them in a story about a boy prince searching for fulfillment ("Magic to Do"). They reveal that the boy who is to play the title character is a new actor.
Thursday, April 21, 2011
Romantic poetry and prose, inspiring a jillion journeys: the Jack Kerouac novel On the Road
Kerouac wrote the novel On the Road in three weeks, typing continuously onto a 120-foot roll of teletype paper, he told many interviewers.[3]
However, although the story is true per se, the book was in fact the result of a long and arduous creative process, says Wikipedia.
Kerouac carried small notebooks in which much of the text was written as the eventful span of road trips unfurled. He started working on the first of several versions of the novel as early as 1948, based on experiences during his first long road trip in 1947. However, he remained unsatisfied with the novel.[4]
Inspired by a thousand-word rambling letter from his friend Neal Cassady, Kerouac in 1950 outlined the "Essentials of Spontaneous Prose" and decided to tell the story of his years on the road with Cassady as if writing a letter to a friend in a form that reflected the improvisational fluidity of jazz.[5]
It is a largely autobiographical work that was based on the spontaneous road trips of Kerouac and his friends. It is considered a defining work of the postwar Beat Generation.
Filmmakers (Gus Van Sant, Oliver Stone, etc etc), novelists (Ken Kesey, Tom Wolfe, etc), songwriters (Bob Dylan, Hendrix, etc) and other artists have, since the 1960's, considered On The Road a biblical text.
However, although the story is true per se, the book was in fact the result of a long and arduous creative process, says Wikipedia.
Kerouac carried small notebooks in which much of the text was written as the eventful span of road trips unfurled. He started working on the first of several versions of the novel as early as 1948, based on experiences during his first long road trip in 1947. However, he remained unsatisfied with the novel.[4]
Inspired by a thousand-word rambling letter from his friend Neal Cassady, Kerouac in 1950 outlined the "Essentials of Spontaneous Prose" and decided to tell the story of his years on the road with Cassady as if writing a letter to a friend in a form that reflected the improvisational fluidity of jazz.[5]
It is a largely autobiographical work that was based on the spontaneous road trips of Kerouac and his friends. It is considered a defining work of the postwar Beat Generation.
Filmmakers (Gus Van Sant, Oliver Stone, etc etc), novelists (Ken Kesey, Tom Wolfe, etc), songwriters (Bob Dylan, Hendrix, etc) and other artists have, since the 1960's, considered On The Road a biblical text.
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Magnet fine arts: Carroll & Lear
Lewis Carroll (1832 - 1898), was the pseudonym for Charles Dodgson, author, mathematician, clergyman and photographer.
- Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
- Through the Looking Glass
- Jabberwocky"
- "The Hunting of the Snark"
Influenced Lennon, McCartney and other authors, illustrators and filmmakers.
Edward Lear (1812 - 1888) was an illustrator, artist (see his painting of Masada in the desert near the Dead Sea) and author of limericks and work such as "The Scroobious Pip."
- Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
- Through the Looking Glass
- Jabberwocky"
- "The Hunting of the Snark"
Influenced Lennon, McCartney and other authors, illustrators and filmmakers.
Edward Lear (1812 - 1888) was an illustrator, artist (see his painting of Masada in the desert near the Dead Sea) and author of limericks and work such as "The Scroobious Pip."
English Lit that influenced the artists and writers of the 60's: Lewis Carroll's "Jabberwocky"
`Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe:
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.
"Beware the Jabberwock, my son!
The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!
Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun
The frumious Bandersnatch!"
He took his vorpal sword in hand:
Long time the manxome foe he sought --
So rested he by the Tumtum tree,
And stood awhile in thought.
And, as in uffish thought he stood,
The Jabberwock, with eyes of flame,
Came whiffling through the tulgey wood,
And burbled as it came!
One, two! One, two! And through and through
The vorpal blade went snicker-snack!
He left it dead, and with its head
He went galumphing back.
"And, has thou slain the Jabberwock?
Come to my arms, my beamish boy!
O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!"
He chortled in his joy.
`Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe;
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe:
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.
"Beware the Jabberwock, my son!
The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!
Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun
The frumious Bandersnatch!"
He took his vorpal sword in hand:
Long time the manxome foe he sought --
So rested he by the Tumtum tree,
And stood awhile in thought.
And, as in uffish thought he stood,
The Jabberwock, with eyes of flame,
Came whiffling through the tulgey wood,
And burbled as it came!
One, two! One, two! And through and through
The vorpal blade went snicker-snack!
He left it dead, and with its head
He went galumphing back.
"And, has thou slain the Jabberwock?
Come to my arms, my beamish boy!
O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!"
He chortled in his joy.
`Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe;
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
