Customer Reviews

The Sophist

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

 

 

bernstein is an interesting fellow. his poems show that he,in terms of theory and criticism, knows what he is talking about, perhaps more than other poets of his time and generation. he knows the (under)score more than most poets writing in america today. but i've read this and "all the whiskey in heaven." honestly, neither one is that interesting, even conceptually. the language he uses is often to get at the politics embedded in language itself. but this isn't enjoyable, and, frankly, there are better ways of doing this (say being a linguist or a politician, or a professor of rhetoric). i don't believe all art should be pleasing or disturbing, aesthetic. but his vocabulary comes from instruction manuals and soemtimes is arranged raNDomLy in TErms oF cASe or

linebre

aking.

it's just not that interesting. it wears its theory on its sleeve. and my problem is "why not just write theory?" its not very poetic. it is certainly "language-art," not as interesting as say the formalism of ron silliman or the plucky and humorous (yet still politcally informed and theory-conscious) poetry of rae armantrout. bernstein is a great spokesman for innovative poetics, but as a poet he just doesn't have sensibility and to go on pure intellect and politics alone makes for boring reading, boring thinking, even when he is trying to be coy.