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The Hatred of Poetry
The Hatred of Poetry | Ben Lerner
No art has been denounced as often as poetry. It's even bemoaned by poets: "I, too, dislike it," wrote Marianne Moore. "Many more people agree they hate poetry," Ben Lerner writes, "than can agree what poetry is. I, too, dislike it and have largely organized my life around it and do not experience that as a contradiction because poetry and the hatred of poetry are inextricable in ways it is my purpose to explore." In this inventive and lucid essay, Lerner takes the hatred of poetry as the starting point of his defense of the art. He examines poetry's greatest haters (beginning with Plato's famous claim that an ideal city had no place for poets, who would only corrupt and mislead the young) and both its greatest and worst practitioners, providing inspired close readings of Keats, Dickinson, McGonagall, Whitman, and others. Throughout, he attempts to explain the noble failure at the heart of every truly great and truly horrible poem: the impulse to launch the experience of an individual into a timeless communal existence. In The Hatred of Poetry, Lerner has crafted an entertaining, personal, and entirely original examination of a vocation no less essential for being impossible.
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emilyesears
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Bailedbailed

This is only an 86-page book, so you‘d think I‘d be able to get through it without much trouble. However, I got through 20 pages and was so bored I gave up. I flipped forward to find the parts about Emily Dickinson and Walt Whitman and then after I skimmed those I put it down. For a book claiming that poetry is for everyone, the book didn‘t seem very accessible.

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Natasha.C.Barnes
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Pickpick

First book of 2018 down!! And by book I mean single essay published in its own little volume. 😆 Id like to try to describe the arguments the author (a poet I might add) puts forth in this piece, but it would require too much space. Suffice to say it was a fun way to kick of my #poetrychallenge2018 because it addressed the things we tend to expect poems to be and do. Now, on to the poetry! 😋

Natasha.C.Barnes I would like to add though that it isn't particularly in-depth or revolutionary in it's thinking, it's more of an interesting lark. 6y
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Natasha.C.Barnes
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This is a very interesting essay! #poetrychallenge2018 #poetrychallenge

TaylorMay Lol my kind of poem. Funny, because I had to do that same assignment in 8th grade as well 6y
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Natasha.C.Barnes
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Well, folks--all our 2018 plans and reading challenges start tomorrow! In preparation for hosting and participating in #poetrychallenge2018 I'm reading The Hatred of Poetry right now, to explore why so many people (myself included) both love and hate poetry at the same time. 😆 #newyearsreadathon #poetrychallenge

readinginthedark 👍🏻I‘m excited! 6y
Natasha.C.Barnes @readinginthedark Me too! ☺️🤓 6y
Liz_M Oh! You should also try the tagged book! She presents a poem, interprets it, and sort of demonstrates how/why she found that particular meaning. (I didn't always "get it"). 6y
Natasha.C.Barnes @Liz_M Thanks for the suggestion! 6y
68 likes4 comments
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iamliterate
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Mehso-so

Just finished the third book of my #24in48. The flowing essay style was not my favorite form, but I appreciate what Lerner is getting at.

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seatea
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Pickpick

Future/current/former English majors, if you really love or really hate poetry, this is a fun lit crit essay. That's right, LIT CRIT ESSAYS CAN BE FUN. Sometimes. 🤓

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seatea
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In NYC this weekend and made my very first trip to the Strand Bookstore. I bought a million things but here's a few. Can I just live there and never come home? @strandbookstore 📚😍🤓

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Thndrstd
Hatred of Poetry | Ben Lerner
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Pickpick

Poet/novelist Lerner writes an essay about why people hate poetry, using this antipathy as a defense of it. Citing numerous poets and critics, classic and contemporary, Lerner demonstrates a keen grasp of poetry and its history and he writes convincingly and smartly about what poetry should or should not “do.” As someone who actively reads poetry much more than I used to, I found the essay interesting and enlightening, if not exactly conclusive.

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BookishFeminist
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Pickpick

Beautifully written essay about the complicated nature of poetry. Why are we so quick to proclaim we hate it or dismiss poets when poetry is also the very essence of showcasing our humanity? Lerner writes excellent critique of poets here with astute observations from Walt Whitman to Claudia Rankine. It will expand your mind & the way you think about poetry, lyric, & verse. It's a tiny book under 100 pgs. Great stocking stuffer for lit lovers. ✍🏼

Shortstack Well now I obviously have to read this one. #damnitlitsy 7y
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[DELETED] 546088815 Sounds great! 7y
the.bookish.valkyrie Thanks for the recommend! 📚💕 7y
ReadingOver50 Sounds like something I should read. I try to avoid poetry 😄 7y
AliBG Wow. This is definitely diff than an earlier discussion about this book--maybe I should take another look. 7y
115 likes18 stack adds7 comments
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katrrosee
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I can't watch the debate tonight, I'd just get too angry. So library run, and some new choices to keep me company! Where should I start?

ReadingEnvy Oh gosh the start of We the Animals is memorable. I love Euphoria too. 8y
Lissa00 I loved Euphoria! I am also hiding from the debate with a pile of books. 8y
Notafraidofwords We the animals ! I met Justin Torres a few years ago and loved him ! 8y
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katrrosee @Notafraidofwords I think I'll do We The Animals next...it's the perfect size to fit into my purse for lunch breaks! 8y
katrrosee @Lissa00 Exactly! I'm hiding from all social media tonight, except for my lovely #littens! 8y
katrrosee @ReadingEnvy Memorable in a good way or bad? Wait, no spoilers. 😬 Can't wait to start it! 8y
cariashley I was thinking the same thing until I remembered my Twitter feed is the cleverest place on the Internet. Would NOT go near Facebook though! 8y
cariashley Just to add, my Twitter is clever but Litsy is everything ❤️ 8y
ReadingEnvy @KatrinaRose no spoilers but look for the KCRW Bookworm interview with the author, he reads a bit from it. After that I heard all of it in his voice. 8y
katedensen I went crazy on Twitter while I watching the debates. I regret everything. 8y
katedensen *was watching 8y
Cobscook Euphoria on audio was excellent 8y
102 likes12 comments
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katedensen
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And finally, my complete #bookhaul from my #ReadABookDay #bookstorehop.

LeahBergen 👍🏼👍🏼 8y
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Tara
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Pickpick

Arguably, Lerner isn't saying anything new here, but this is a breezy, earnest essay that made me want to get into poetry again.

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OffTheBeatenShelf.com
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I've been quiet lately because I'm on vacation (again, haha), but look what I picked up at the Book Mecca (aka @strandbookstore ) today! Hearing people say they don't like poetry just makes me melancholy, so I'm going to find what makes those folks tick & direct them to some poetry they'll like. 💜

kgriffith Please do let me know what you find out, I am one of those people! 😳 8y
ReadingOver50 I actively avoid poetry 8y
Lindy I don't understand why people say they hate poetry. I want to read this! 8y
42 likes3 stack adds3 comments
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Lettters
Mehso-so

Easy reading as far as criticism goes, but don't mistake this for anything other than criticism. Lerner's gifts with language make it a pleasant 80-page essay, but his thesis (there has never been a perfect poem because our expectations for poetry are impossible) isn't the most profound of insights.

zembla My partner writes poetry, and we both rolled our eyes at that thesis. Pompous stuff like that is why normal people don't read poetry 😂 8y
Mayread Pfft. I can think of at least 20 perfect poems right now! 8y
Lettters Not to undersell the value of poetic criticism that has any level of general appeal. Plus, he does make some good points throughout. 8y
32 likes3 comments
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Lettters
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"The fatal problem with poetry: poems."

Zelma Lol! Great quote. 8y
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Keegz63
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I, too, dislike it.
Reading it, however, with a perfect
contempt for it, one discovers in
it, after all, a place for the genuine
- "Poetry" by Marilyn Moore

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Kenny
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THESE ARE MY BRILLIANT ESSAYS OF POETIC CRITICISM, HUMAN. GO AWAY.

Kenny Herbert, I don't even think you can read. 8y
Kenny STILL MINE BYE 8y
JanuarieTimewalker13 Herbert is so handsome!!!! 8y
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Ambam Beauty and brains?! That cat has it all. 😉 8y
NewWorldLibrary Tuxedoes are always very well-read. 8y
ErickaS_Flyleafunfurled I suspect if Herbert could speak he'd have an accent like Mr Bottomtooth from "Family Guy" ? 8y
Soubhiville What a looker! 8y
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Lettters
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And if we do not? Yet still don't really read it? What then, Mr. Lerner? I look forward to discovering your reply in this slim and well reviewed pamphlet.

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vincentscarpa
Hatred of Poetry | Ben Lerner
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Pickpick

I think with this book Lerner has opened up a space for a really interesting and important conversation to take place (to continue). And his analytic mode is so precise and exact, a marvel to watch as it processes, pushes, refutes, refuses.

shawnmooney Wow... 8y
shawnmooney I just came across this. Maybe you've already seen it. http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/2/bd939a60-1d45-11e6-a7bc-ee846770ec15.html 8y
7 likes2 stack adds2 comments