Customer Reviews

The American Night: The Writings of Jim Morrison, Vol. 2

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3 star:		(1)
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1 star:		(1)

 

 

okay, so morrison wasn't walt whitman. big deal. all you geniuses who knock him for being such a "pretentious" (a totally relative term)poet are probably turned on to the hip new sound of illustrious modern music geniuses like the backstreet boys or kid rock. well, to put it mildly, you guys can have them, and i for one prefer jim morrison to any the corporate owned commercialized out there today, who use absurd gimmicks and parade around in ridiculous costumes and makeup while openly admitting that all they are interested in is money. and i'm not some old hippie indulging in nostalgia--i'm 18. morrison was a passionate, idealistic, philosophical, intellectual poet who wanted to revolutionize society with the band's music. yes, things did not pan out as most of the artists (including morrison) envisioned it, but this is nonetheless heartfelt, sincere stuff, and it works as lyrics AND poetry, say what you may. i guarantee you that if morrison had lived he would have been an above average, if not legendary, poet, and that he would have made his mark among artists and intellectuals outside of pop culture. "an american prayer" is a touching poem and is the work of a man who had aspirations and ideals that were perhaps too lofty for one human being to carry out or realize at all, with or without the influence he had. he is obviously influenced poetically by the surrealists, the existentialists, and his poetry is more of the modern variety than the classical, as one would expect from such a rebellious, anti authoritarian individual. you can tell from these poems alone, and the poems in "wilderness", that while morrison was no shakespeare, he was an amazingly unique individual who somehow gained free access to his subconscious mind and who frequently employed imagery from it, seemingly whenever he wanted. and the guy who titled his commentary "abject failure as art" doesn't seem to recognize (or doesn't want to)that morrison was not writing from the traditional perspective, and one can probably be safe in assuming that he was of the dada/surrealist/futurist opinion that anything can be art, including life. if ever a man was himself the existential incarnation of his philosophy of life, jim morrison was it. this is a necessity and a must read, as is all the other poetry he wrote.

Some of Jim's poems are exceptionally good, specifically the finished ones. But for the most part it seems they weren't finished, which isn't surprising considering American Night was published by his estate after his death. Who knows what he was planning to do with this material... it was just laying around in a jumble in various notebooks, I presume, and so they decided to sell it. They sold it "as is", straight from his notebooks and journals without any editing.

You might already be familiar with some of the material in this book, such as the chapter called Lyric Verse, which is a rehash of song lyrics. Then there's "Celebration of the Lizard," "American Prayer," "The Hitchhiker," "Paris Journal," and "Notebook Poems." I thought the most interesting section was "Notebook Poems", it was full of ideas about this and that, basically lots of experimentation. But unfortunately a lot of it just seems piled together.

I recommend Jim's self-published poetry book The Lords and New Creatures. It was completed while he was alive, thus it has the feel of a finished project-- something American Night lacks.

For so long students have been shown and taught about poetry in "medieval" ways by boring, old teachers. Made to write pointless Haiku's or name poems, etc... None of them give a blossoming student, with dreams to someday be a writer, a chance. Few students today can appreciate the artform it truly is, because of the way they're subjected to it, moreless write it. James Douglass Morrison, in this peice and his other poetry he has written, creates that bridge to youth,like myself and others. "The American Night", allows us to "Break on Through, to the other side", to Jim's side.

A "Must Have" for any serious fan of Jim Morrison\The Doors. The original poems of Jim Morrison from which many of The Doors songs' lyrics were taken\based on. Provides additional insight into the works of Jim Morrison and The Doors.

This collection by Jim Morrison is deep and beautiful. I have found that alot of these poems on here are also on the American Prayer CD, so that is cool. If you like this, get any other book from Jim, you won't be disappionted. If you want to hear him read his work, get the American Prayer CD.

I must admit, I find Jim's poems very symbolic and understanding his meanings is sometimes like trying to crack open a hard nutshell. But his poems are highly intelligent, showing much knowledge and a strong command of language, an ability to use language creatively. Apart from poems culled from his notebooks after his death, this book also includes an intriguing and disturbing unfinished screenplay about a hitchhiker who commits murder, and includes the text to his more poetic song lyrics.

David Rehak
author of "Poems From My Bleeding Heart"

"The American Night: The Writings of Jim Morrison Volume 2" is a collection of short stories and poetry written by Jim Morrison. This book has interestingly diverse content. It includes lyrical verse of many musical styles, uncorrected journals, and pages of unconventional poetry. The stories and poems are very distinct and separate considering it is a compilation of work that spans many years. You may read autobiographies or descriptions of Jim Morrison and learn facts about the events of his life, but if you prefer to form your own opinions and make your own judgments, this book gives you insight into Jim Morrison through his writings.


The wild and charismatic Jim Morrison is revealed in his documents. Some of the writings may not be grammatically correct or traditionally written, since most of the work in this book was never revised. On the other hand, revisions may have tainted the overall impact of the work. The writing is so gripping and unique that it holds your interest from cover to cover. There is just enough reality in his writing to keep you engrossed and enables you to relate to the text. Jim Morrison was a great poet, songwriter, and author. Go ahead and pick up a copy of this intriguing book, it won't let you down.

This book inspired My entire life. I read it first when I was 13. It's stunning and beautiful work.

this was a poetic masterpiece. Perfected by one of our countries greatest poets. But his reputation as a rock star made people think that jim wasn't really a poet. But at heart he truely was. The writings in this book are some of jim's best writings ever. And for those who don't agree with me and say that this book is terrible think this probably because it takes a certain type of person to really understand what the great american poet was trying to say.

I really dig this book. If you're trying to get into Jim's poetry, I recommend buying "The American Night" and not "Wilderness"
Both books have printed copies of his actual journal writings in them, but The American Night felt more complete.