6 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
At the Barricades with the Poets' Corner, December 10, 2003
Marx said that if Byron had lived longer, he "would undoubtedly have become a reactionary bourgeois." Shelly was "a thorough revolutionary and would have remained in the van of socialism throughout his life."
Such is the thesis of "Red Shelly." This kind of rigorous intellectualism, often for it's own sake, harkens back to an earlier time when most compassionate political thinking revolved around the dismantling, or at least augmentation of the dog-eat-dog, Capitalist Work Ethic & attendant State
Not that long ago serious thought about the future could be discussed around the Joachim & Boaz like pillars of Existentialism vs. Marxism. No longer. Political thought today is Terminator vs. Consumer Protection (Nader). To me its like someone stood the United States on it's ear & all the brains drained out to Canada.
Anyway if you love Beatniks, Hippies, Roszak, Brautigan, "Stanyan Street & Other Sorrows" and a time when intelligence was viewed with some awe, this book may be pure Nostalgia for you. Otherwise, go back to sleep, wait for "Matrix, Revolutions" and be sure to vote for President Arnie.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No