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ABC of Reading

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A typical sentence: "Anyone who is too lazy to master the comparatively small glossary necessary to understand Chaucer deserves to be shut out from the reading of good books forever."

You may use this quote as a meter for predicting your enjoyment of the book. If you find it amusing and arguable, Pound's ABC of Reading will delight you with its erudite gems. If you are repulsed by the presumption, then give the book a wide berth.

Pound sets a standard for basic literacy that few literature scholars can hope to achieve (including mastery of several languages as a pre-requisite to study). Nonetheless, the book is a treasure trove of brilliant and piquant observations, and is itself an exemplar of the crystaline prose Pound extolled. You would be hard-pressed to find an ostentatious or superflous word in the book's entire 200 briskly-moving pages.

Read this book with a pen in your hand because you are going to want to underline the dozens of amazing sentences and little paragraphs, as well as scribble complaints and disparaging comments next to the rash and just plain faulty ones.

This book will astonish and anger a thoughtful reader. It is not a coherent essay that moves logically from point to point - it is a jarring, manic kaleidoscope.

Since I am a typical American and only understand one language (English, modern) some of this volume was lost to me - but this book is well worth the time you will spend reading it. Highly recommended for all striving writers and people who would like to read more earnestly.

Pound was an angry, noisy man whose honesty--and the extent to which the volcano of his personality burns through his prose--is convincing and, when it comes to literature, correct. I can think of no one I'd rather have read anything I've written & say: damn good.

He's dead & that's not going to happen. But we can still get the brash truth about literature, in easy-to-remember pithy comments such as "Literature is news that STAYS news" or comparisons of writing to making a table (don't matter which leg you start with so long as it stands upright when you're done) or to writing a check (the writing of a bad check is a criminal act). He also tells us why, say, Milton was a lousy poet & Homer a great one.

The all-embracing, subjective, if-someone-likes-it-then-it's-good parts of us will reel against some of Pound's fascistic judgements, but the arbiter of taste in each of us, the madman or woman who fumes at how ad. copy is deadening our linguistic nerves, will stand proud at owning, reading, & quoting--often--The ABC of Reading.

I'd been exposed to Pound's poetry in college but never came across this gem. His opinions are unconventional, but the arguments are convincing and enlightening. His categorization of Chaucer, and Chaucer's England, as being more a part of the European community than England was in Shakespeare's time is fascinating. The unspoken extension would be that many writers today are provincial and less cosmopolitan than writers in the past, in spite of the Internet and the pervasive belief that "the world is smaller" today. I also appreciated Pound's criticism of Milton's odd sentence structure as the result of too much Latin and the inappropriate and confusing attempt to make uninflected English sound like Latin by changing the word order. By virtue of the noun cases, the same Latin sentence may be constructed differently to change the emphasis. This is impossible in English even though Milton attempted it.

The book is full of these unconventional observations, and challenges the reader to look more critically at the classics, let alone at the junk with which we are inundated today.

When I first read this book, I was so angered that I scribbled my indignant protests against Pound's arrogance and judgemental elitism all over the margins. I reread it two years later and felt very sheepish. I had been offended because I was as ignorant as the book made me feel and it is only later, having a greater appreciation for the importance of Pound's role as an editor for major C20th writers and pioneer of honest critical writings, that I was able to come to terms with it. Pound is often very pithy and this can lead to an irritating smugness with which he assumes a position of unassailable knowledge, but I am still being surprised by discovering the accuteness of his judgements. Any book composed so much of opinion is going to be wrong occasionally, but Pound's clear attitude that one can learn more from a little excellent writing than loads of rubbish can itself make the challenge he sets to educate tastes feel less intimidating than his initial impression. It is part exercise book and part anthology and takes little time to read compared to the impact which it can have in improving critical habits as well as giving a wider perspective on global culture.

At the outset, it's important to note that Mr. Pound offers ABC of Reading as a "text-book that can also be read 'for pleasure as well as profit' by those no longer in school; by those who have not been to school; or by those who in their college days suffered those things which most of my own generation suffered".

We're all duly welcomed to Mr. Pound's class. However, once the door is shut, he throws harsh (and gut-bucket funny) criticism at snobbishness, poor preparation, and laziness -- especially targeting the teacher who, by any of these vices, would lead any student away from the very personal road of discovery, i.e. away from critical thought that is no respecter of persons, even great persons. Too many jabs to count, but here are a couple of his friendliest (and well-placed) shots:

1. Anybody who is too lazy to master the comparatively small glossary necessary to understand Chaucer deserves to be shut out from the reading of good books for ever.

2. It would take a bile specialist to discover why the Oxford Book of Verses includes the first five strophes (of John Donne's "The Ecstasy") and then truncates the poem with no indication that anything has been omitted.

On this "no slackers" context he elaborates a simple core message: Look at a work for what it is and for what the author intends; then, learn by comparing it to worthy counterexamples. One example of Pound's guidance on this point: "The way to study Shakespeare is to study it side by side with something different and of equal extent. The proper antagonist is Dante who is of equal size and DIFFERENT. ...You can't judge any chemical's reaction merely by putting it with more of itself."

Pound also dares you to either study languages or remain ignorant to the weight of timeless literature. "There is no use...in my publisher asking me to make English literature as prominent as possible. I mean, not if I am to play fair with the student. You cannot learn to write by reading English." (Also, Read p. 35, par. 2 for the MOST telling and eloquent statement on this fact.)

In sum, Mr. Pound is far from dogmatic. No man who issues a fair challenge can be considered so. He told you as much: "My lists (of poems) are a starting-point and a challenge. This challenge has been open for a number of years and no one has yet taken it up. There have been general complaints, but no one has offered a rival list." Calling him dogmatic thus becomes a wimp-out on an invitation to hard study and thought.

That said, it should not be lost on anyone that Pound's invitation is nearly the equivalent of the boxing critic being challenged to a round by Muhammad Ali in his prime.

Nevertheless, as students of literature and life, we should be willing to run Pound's gauntlet long before offering up any dogma on Pound himself or the work in question. Our only recourse, though, is it's own reward since we are free to fearlessly question even Mr. Pound along the way.

As a bonus, I believe any reader will gain even more by taking up the opening invitation to read the book "for pleasure as well as for profit". Do this times over and with a lens much wider than the literary. ABC of Reading then reads as a solid treatise on living and learning.

*NAS, Stillmatic 2001-2. "You want beef? I hope you got yourself a gun." Pound says no less. Come ready.

Ezra Pound said what he meant. In this book, he is completely frank about what the state of poetry was when he wrote, and what literature of the past is worth reading. His bluntness is refreshing beyond belief, esp. compared to the sorts of obfuscation one finds in critics today who try to tell us what they like to read.

There are some startling opinions in here, but I highly recommend giving Pound his due. He is in love with literature as an art, as a profession, as a process, and as a way of life, and this book is a beautiful introduction to his passions. For me, he still sets the standard for clarity and candour in writing about literature.

Any cursory search of this mighty amazon renders a mountain of manuals written by people who in the main cannot write advising you how to write.

This pamphlet, this religious tract, this mighty treatise is the grand-daddy of them all.

Before Robert Graves formalized this genre of meta-writing with his Reader over your shoulder, Mr. Pound engendered it powerfully like an Olympian god thundering in his might and wisdom, with an unrepeatable authority and a robust strength.

Yet he conceals this literate power and glory like Moses in the bullrushes, as mere reflections and cautious advice about how to read. He frequently states with great caution and trepidation that he could never so presume as to indicate to writers how to write and how we fail miserably to write clearly and well, and yet he then proceeds to do so, and marvelously so, while denying it all the way.

Anyone who wishes to write in any way must first read this book.

The spotlight review above more than adequately cites this source, and so I shall not trouble you with further citations. The ghost of the great Oscar Wilde, dripping with epigrams, often walks herein.

You will be unable to put down this witty and wise book, but will walk or drive with nose shoved between its leaves and a pencil stub in hand, marking every line heavily until you cannot recall which you intended to highlight for further meditation and study, and filling the margins with your own dijointed, incoherent marginalia.

In a word, you will write clearly, concisely, with precise use of vocabulary. Poetry is distillery. Who writes less writes more.

But that is only my own clumsy and imprecise summaries of what treasures you might find within this book.

Everyone who writes must read this book. Everyone who reads literature or other writings must read this book. This is the owner's manual to any other book, to any attempt at writing, including my own and your own and it helps us greatly and generously at every step.

ABC OF READING. By Ezra Pound. 206 pp. New York : New Directions, 1960 (1934) and Reissued. ISBN 0-8112-0151-1 (pbk.)

Ezra Pound's 'ABC of Reading' is an attractive work. In contrast to the pompous and rarified nonsense of a deracinated French intelligentsia which has spread like a deadly virus through academia and is busy wrecking young minds everywhere today, Pound's thought, to borrow the words of Gary Snyder, is like "drinking cold snow-water from a tin cup" while taking in the view through crisp mountain air.

The aim of the book is very ambitious, and has been stated as follows : "It is a primer for the reader who wants to maintain and cultivate an active, critical mind, to become increasingly sensitive to the beauty and inspiration of the world's best literature." In other words, it teaches what good literature is and how to appreciate it.

But just as life's aim - that of continuing in life - is also highly ambitious, and yet can be fulfilled by the simplest of means - pure water and a bit of wholesome food - Pound's ABC gives the reader all she or he really needs to be able to think clearly about literature, and to distinguish between the mere chatter of poseurs and the truth that every real artist brings.

Reader : What is literature?

EP : Literature is language charged with meaning.

Reader : What is great literature?

EP : Great literature is simply language charged with meaning to the utmost possible degree (p.28).

In contrast to the Lacans and Derridas and Gadamers and their groupies, men who "play endlessly with ideas spun from their own entrails," with "soft bodiless conceptions which are squeezed and molded," and whose passion is the pursuit of various private agendas, Pound's thoughts have been "hacked out by strength and courage from the hard stuff of reality," and the agenda he pursues is open and freely acknowledged (Maccoby). Pound was passionately committed to the twin causes of clear thought and good literature, to civilization-sustaining as opposed to civilization-wrecking values.

What is literature? EP : "Literature is news that STAYS news" (p.29). Should we study its critics? EP : "If you wanted to know something about an automobile, would you go to a man who had made one and driven it, or to a man who had merely heard about it?" (p.30).

Here we see the great danger to the status quo of men such as Pound, bearers of perfectly simple and self-evident truths in contrast to those who becloud the mental landscape with the thick fog of their pseudo-thought, and then charge a handsome fee to act as our guides.

EP : "Good writers are those who keep the language efficient. That is to say, keep it accurate, keep it clear.... The fogged language of the swindling classes serves only a temporary purpose" (p.33).

How do we charge language to the utmost possible degree with meaning? Read Chaper 8, which takes up a whole page and a half. Note also that Pound does not merely confine himself to TELLING us what good literature is. As an artist he knows that SHOWING is even more important, and in the second half of this small book he has assembled a collection of EXHIBITS, passages of literature both great and less than great, a sort of mini-anthology of exercises to test our new-found wits.

Pound's 'ABC of Reading' is a golden book that should be read by everyone who cares about literature, and certainly by all students of literature. It is studded with valuable thoughts you will never forget, and in its brief compass provides us with a total aesthetic. It is also both easy to read - as is all clear and genuine thought - and hugely enjoyable. Gallic tripe may safely be ignored. Pound's ABC will lead you out of the fog.

This book should not be approached as a guide on how to read, but as an example of Pound's brilliance. The essence of the book is that the more one reads, the better one becomes at it. That is, by exposing oneself to the greatest variety of literature, one should eventually become capable of seeing connections and allusions more clearly, and deriving greater meaning, from what one subsequently reads. This is why most people say that they discover more in "Huckleberry Finn" as they reread it over the course of their lives.

By his familiarity with a singularly wide range of literature in many languages, Pound exemplified the consummate reader. Few of those perusing this book will be able to approach his level. In this way, the book is more a promise than a guide.

The book is, as others have noted, full of startling and unusual opinions. For example, Pound argues that Chaucer is a greater writer than Shakespeare; a little analysis will reveal why. As a highly educated, multi-lingual, and widely-traveled individual, Chaucer's life contrasts with that of the more provincial, less learned, and middle-class Shakespeare. Had Pound met both men in a social setting, he would have had far more in common with Chaucer. Thus we may conclude that the writers to whom we feel the greatest affinity are those whose lives most parallel our own. This isn't my opinion, it's Pound's, and each reader may agree or disagree as he wishes.