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Langston Hughes (Voice of the Poet)

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Humor, anger, and all the eloquence of the black experience in America is to be found in some of the poems presented here on this audio cd from the THE VOICE OF THE POET SERIES: LANGSTON HUGHES. Also presented is commentary inserted in-between Hughes reading of his poems. You get the background of how a certain poem came into being. You get Hughes talking about his childhood and racial pride. You get Hughes voice, soft, sort of high pitched, and inviting. MY LORD, MERRY-GO-ROUND, THE NEGRO SPEAKS OF RIVERS, JUDGEMENT DAY, MY PEOPLE, WHEN SUE WEARS RED, and FIRE are a few of the poems recited on this cd by Hughes. For those able to do so, I recommend purchasing the audio tape, LANGSTON HUGHES READS HIS POETRY, because this cd truncates some of Hughes commentary and poems.

It does a disservice to Hughes to dismiss much of his body of work as "wry" to make a particular audience more comfortable with it. It does a similar disservice to Hughes' integrity to ignore that both his parents were black and play up distant white blood to make him more palatable, so-called universal, to the larger audiencences prejudices (most of black America share his same distant bloodlines). One of Hughes's biographers said you cannot respect Hughes without respecting black American people and their culture in the U.S. To disrespect one is to do so to both. Hughes's black pride permeates his so-called race poems and poems of social protest from the 30s and the vast majority of his work in general.

Langston Hughes showed his anger and bitterness toward the injustices of racism as he sharecropped his way among many different genres of the arts as a proud and unflinching black American. His genius, and lesson, was that he did not allow this bitternerss and anger to cause him to hate or infuse his body of work with hate. He may not have liked some in gerneral, but he "never, never" hated. Hughes had to much humanity in him to reward hate with hate. Even in his anger, Hughes could be benevolent. Hughes did not hesitate to like anyone who showed respect and gestures of friendship to him and his people. His lesson to black artists was be proud of their heritage in their work and not run away from it for a quick profit and fame in catering to the prejudices of the larger community beyond that of black America. His lesson was also that they should not be

consumed with anger and bitterness even though they had a right to be angry because through their words a world could be enlightened and made better.

Here in THE VOICE OF THE POET: LANGSTON HUGHES, as other works by Hughes, a man is revealed who was often angry and bitter, but who never lost sight that there was some good in the world worth fightiing for. This makes him a writer to be universally admired by everyone regardless of race, religion, and whatever.

I am an author and a poet. Langston Hughes' style of poetry is simply amazing. This CD gives a historical rendition on the era of his childhood, school years, work experiences and poetic growth. His world travels certainly expanded his vision of life and impacted positively on his writings. The enlightenment of his trip to Africa resulted in the poem "My People." This poem has a fascinating view of Africa, the people, and Hughes' connection with them. His articulation of the poem "Mother to Son" is amazing. He shows another side of life and how one's vision influences the rearing of a child. One of the greatest poems on the CD is "The Negro Speaks of Rivers." This was written while taking a trip to Mexico to visit his father. In this piece he gives a visionary perspective and uses the art of personification to make the connection of his people, history, and life from a historical standpoint. The poem "Words Like Freedom' and "Tomorrow" will touch the heart of the reader. The stories on the CD are awesome. The reflection he gives of life during his younger years certainly is a distinctive comparison from then to now, especially highlighting how individuals were treated based on the color of their skin. This CD is a must have for one's poetry library. This is not just a CD of poetry it is also a CD of history. Also check "Trilogy Moments for the Mind, Body and Soul" with the new selection of Epulaeryu poems.

This is a terrific addition to the Voice of the Poet series. Langston Hughes doesn't just read his poems; he talks about their genesis and about his life. For all the ugliness of Jim Crow, he never sounds bitter, but he tells the whole truth, doesn't sugarcoat anything. My one tiny disappointment is that in the book the format was changed on a couple of poems due to space constraints. This CD is worth it just for his story of how he became a poet. I listen to lots of audio poetry and this is one of the best collections I've ever found. You can't miss.

The Voice of The Poet Series continues to deliver with the Langston Hughes collection which is engrossing and incredible.

This is a CD and Book package that spans the entire career of Langston Hughes's work that was recorded on tape in different settings throughout the years. The book is small, clean and well-presented making it easy for the reader to follow along with the disc.

Langston not only delivers some very straight-forward readings of his work, but does a fair bit of story-telling and warmly lapses into casual conversation in several spots. There is a lot of biographical information in between the poetry which is worth the cost of the set alone. I found this set warm and engaging from beginning to end and wished that there was more.

After looking around on the Internet, I've come to discover that these recordings have been repackaged on compact disc before but without the book and without some of the biographical musings, however, this is the set to buy without any doubt. The recordings are clear, crisp and without static, interference or fading, unlike some of the other products.

If you've never heard Langston Hughes's voice before, get this. If you've never heard him read aloud his poetry and tell parts of his life story, get this. If you've gotten any of the other offerings from 'The Voice of The Poet' series ... get this.

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HUGHES HAS BEEN RECORDED? That was my first reaction when I went to the library and found this CD. The pleasure I got listening to Langston Hughes reading his work in a relaxed non rehearsed atmosphere was one of the most thrilling experiences I'd had the pleasure of experiencing in months. I can't wait to share this with my family and discuss the contents. Any one who enjoys poetry, social commentary and history will enjoy this CD.