Customer Reviews

Days with Walt Whitman with Some Notes on His Life and Work

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British author Edward Carpenter was ahead of his time in many ways-- he was a feminist, a socialist reformer, and an outspoken homosexual in a time when none of these things were particularly popular. Unfortunately, his work has gradually disappeared from public view since his death in 1929. His friendship with Whitman is an important piece in studying the American poet.

The larger part of this book is taken up recounting two trips Edward Carpenter, one of Whitman's British disciples took to visit the aging poet. On this front, it's very useful in filling in some of the details of Whitman's conversations and those of Whitman's friends (Burroughs, Bucke, Anne Gilchrist), who all met the young pilgrim. It's useful for this, but this period of Whitman's life is quite well attested already in the massive Traubel volumes _With Walt Whitman in Camden_. There are jewels here, but only the specialist need dig for them.

The rest of it is Carpenter's opinion of Whitman. (To call it criticism would be inaccurate--it's praise and context.) Carpenter considers Whitman a spiritual figure, and in coming to visit the author of _Leaves of Grass_, Carpenter was engaging in a kind of pilgrimage that is very like his trips later to visit an Indian Gnani or holy man.

Carpenter's a fascinating character in his own right--one of the first 'out' homosexuals in Britain, a socialist with anarchistic leanings, a writer on religion, society, and sex. This book gives a number of valuable insights to his relationship with Whitman's ideas.

Whitman, Ginsberg and Dylan are three of America's greatest offsprings. And while Ginsberg and Dylan are of our times and can be appreciated in the here and now, and nicely preserved thanks to modern technology, Whitman remains in a time that seems more and more distant as America changes, what seems, hour by hour. Whitman, that great poet (Leaves Of Grass) and humanitarian (his efforts to comfort soldiers injured during the Civil War) was a great inspiration to this kindred and sophisticated spirit from England, Edward Carpenter (also a poet). Carpenter offers some of the most insightful and poetic glimpses into this giant of a man. You can almost see Whitman's reflection in the mirror Carpenter holds before you. This little book is a must for anyone interested in Whitman, and what WW was really about.