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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Gilbert and Lish, December 12, 2004
This review is from: Monolithos Poems, 1962 and 1982 (Paperback)
Jack Gilbert was living in Greece, writing poems, and corresponding with Gordon Lish for almost twenty years. Lish had previously published a "Celebration of Jack Gilbert" in his magazine Genesis West in 1962 shortly after Gilbert's famous Yale Younger Poets book Views of Jeopardy hit the stands. Gilbert had worked as poetry editor for Genesis West until Lish had to let him go because he wasn't being nice to the other poets submitting poems for publication. Gilbert soon escaped to Greece. During their correspondences, and without Gilbert's permission, Lish began publishing a few of his poems here and there, and before you know it, Lish had a new book to publish with Knopf in 1982 called Monolithos. Lish borrowed from Views of Jeopardy to reintroduce Gilbert to the public and construct the opening segment of the book, and then followed with the brilliance of the Greek island poems called Monolithos. This book, in my opinion, makes for the very best poems America has to offer. Although Wallace Stevens and Emily Dickinson have given us many great poems to enjoy, Gilbert beat many of them with his very best from Views of Jeopardy, which are found in this book. Poems like "The Abnormal Is Not Courage", "Perspective He Would Mutter Going To Bed", and "Don Giovanni On His Way To Hell II" will live forever, or at least, as long as there is humanity.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Jack Gilbert- Monolithios, December 8, 2000
This review is from: Monolithos Poems, 1962 and 1982 (Paperback)
This is one of the most beautiful books of modern poetry out there. I am so sad that it's out of print. The poems, which span a period of time in which Jack Gilbert got a divorce and moved to Greece, are extreemly emotional and expertly crafted.
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5.0 out of 5 stars
Hammered Into the Sun, October 7, 2008
This review is from: Monolithos Poems, 1962 and 1982 (Paperback)
Monolithos is a moving and enigmatic series of poems. Divided into two parts, the first largely written in the 60s, and the second, far larger part, written in the intervening years; the two sets of poems contrast each other. The second part appears to be a long mediation on the failed aspects of the poet's life, including his marriage. There is an ever narrowing quality to the themes, as the expectancies of the narrative voice grow less secure as time passes. The scenes change from place to place: Denmark, Northern California, Japan, Greece, as if the voice of the poet has been set lose upon the world, to scavenge its themes here, there, everywhere. The collection ends at a beginning of sorts, with the poem "Threshing The Fire," where the poet is back in the Pittsburg of his youth walking "the mean streets of Pittsburg/ knowing their leafy summer. Let him make sure the dreams are loose before the fire gets it all/ And I am hammered into the sun."
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