Customer Reviews

A Coney Island of the Mind: Poems

5 star:		(26)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This was the first Ferlinghetti I ever got my hands on, and it swept me away into a world from which I have yet to return. The preciseness of his words and the incredible attention to detail make this book well worth the read. It made me fall in love with poetry...and the passion of the heart.

Let me start off by saying that, in the run of things, this type poetry is not my favorite. I'm more of a formalist myself, but I couldn't help but be impressed by much of this collection, which, along with Ginsberg's HOWL, kicked off the Beat Movement in American poetry in the 1950's.

This is largely a verbal collage, a compendium of memories, impressions, chants, lists, and lyric fragments. The influence of Whitman is apparent in the freeform meditations on the human body and the populist tone of much of the book. This is a cry for people to throw off the constraints of materialism and return to a simpler way of living. It exalts the earth over industry, art over commerce, individualism over uniformity. In other places the shadows of Eliot and Yeats can be seen; indeed in a couple of poems Ferlinghetti freely borrows from those masters - see "The Junkman'Obbligato", for instance, which echoes Eliot's "The Waste Land" with the repeated refrain "Hurry please it's time."

The book is divided into three sections. There is the title section then a series of seven pieces (including "Junkman") originally written for musical accompaniment and finally some selections from Ferlinghetti's first book PICTURES OF THE GONE WORLD.

Not for all tastes but seminal nevertheless and eye-opening as well.

AAAHHHHH! No one has ever topped Ferlinghetti for his exciting rhythm and electric presentation. Read this collection and discover how much FUN poetry can be. I first discovered these poems in the late '60s, an amazing time to be alive, and I felt that these poems captured some of that spirit uniquely and forever. What I didn't realize was that they also fit in perfectly with the '50s, and later in the '70s, the '80s, and the '90s, as well. And here we are in yet another century and the work holds up better than ever! Whatever you do, READ THEM ALOUD!

I first read Lawrence Ferlinghetti's poem, "Constantly Risking Absurdity" when I was 26 years young. I am now 41 and I still read that poem to remind me that even though my body may be taking on the appearances of getting older, my mind, my spirit, and my soul are just as young as ever.

I believe we grow old not because of time, but what we do or don't do with our time. We let our beliefs become rigid, we let our attitudes harden, we forget what it was like to be flexible and youthful and optimistic about life.

This book opens the mind. It expands the heart. It flows through the soul like honey and lets the "imprisoned splendor" escape through the cracks of the entire psyche. I would suggest reading this book by candlelight with maybe some Lee Morgan or John Coltrane in the background.

It's a book of prayers written by a Beat Priest and every day I thank God that I came across that poem I mentioned earlier in this review it changed my life in a million ways known as well as unknown.

If you are looking for something to bring you to a place of youthful vigor, give this book a try. Remember it's never to late to have a great life.

Peace & Blessings

...so begins beat poetry's most enduring classic (37 printings and counting!), an encyclical off-the-cuff fusion of hyperpersonal and universal, timeless themes: art, ethics, lust, and beauty. More in-line with the literary tradition of the English language, Lawrence Ferlinghetti thankfully lacks Ginsberg's heavy-handedness and Kerouac's understated moodiness -- there is something buoyant even in Ferlinghetti's most wrenching laments; we always seem to learn something from him (and if we don't, he's willing to laugh it all away with us). Ferlinghetti's knowledge of art and history (and his ability to tie them into his themes), as well as an unusual matter-of-fact (often in medias res) presentation lends an aura of significance to what could otherwise be random musings. Lawrence is the master...if you don't have this book, it's worth the seven bucks (and its weight in gold).

--Justin Laird Weaver <uweavj02@umail.ucsb.edu>

I'm very serious about the title of my review: "This book changed my life." It did. My father gave me a copy when I was sixteen (32 now) and from that point I've been an *avid* Ferlinghetti fan. His poems delicately point out the subtle joys, heartaches, and beauty which can be easily overlooked every day.

I cannot recommend this book any more highly. Buy this right now. Buy a few copies and give them to friends and family. I certainly have.

Ferlinghetti is strange in that he considers himself a man of the people, yet works in a field in which the common man wouldn't normally participate. He writes so that academics won't like him, and fans of bukowski or ginsberg won't necessarily like him. The only poet REMOTELY like him could possibly be Bob Hicok.

Ferlinghetti developed his own style of poetry that's (to paraphrase) not constrained by the limits of the poetic line. It's all over the place, in form and in content. This is his seminal work, and the modern version even contains the best from his previous: Pictures of the Gone World.

He has a sensibility for the turn of a phrase, as we see with "The poet's eye obscenely seeing" and "cast up / the heart flops over / gasping 'Love'. He is in tune with the alienation of the modern age, and although he's far from a "people person", his quiet insights have proven inspiring and invaluable.

His next-best work is probably "starting from san francisco", which contains my favorite poem, "overpopulation" (an oft-overlooked, but great piece of poetry to read aloud). This one, however, is a must-read if you're into a populist aesthetic for poetry. If you like poetry that you can read on fifteen different levels, and isn't really saying anything, this is NOT the book for you.

Ferlinghetti has an uncanny ability to capture the essence of life in words. The title of his book, for instance: brilliant. Then there's phrases like "drugged store cowboy" (as opposed to drug store cowboy) and plenty of others! My favorite line is when a girl walks up to him at a club of some kind and says, "You and me could really exist." Little details like that are what makes Coney Island of the Mind a real treat. It's easy to read, but it's by no means simplistic.

I first read this book of poems by Lawrence Ferlinghetti while in college in the early 1960's, and Ferlinghetti immediately became my favorite beat poet. "Johnny Nolan has a patch on his ass. Kids chase him..." and "Christ climbed down from his bare tree this year..." have remained in my memory all these years. I am so pleased to own this small book again and will take care to keep it safe this time.

A Coney Island of the Mind is one of the definitive works of the beatnik generation. Ferlinghetti has managed to combine unique phrasing to the beat of certain jazz to create a world of images, beautiful and strange. The ideas he conveys are that of the art of travel; finding the true artistic voices of the time and allowing them to ring out; and ridding ourselves of the empty thought that has penetrated, not only our minds, but our souls. I believe that the beautiful and creative way he presents his art will keep A Coney Island of the Mind a must-read for years to come.