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Self-Portrait in a Convex Mirror: Poems (Poets, Penguin)

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Through a Glass Murky

A confounding, self-indulgent collection by America's master of Poetica Obscura.

As a teacher of literature and a poetry lover since childhood, I've read thousands upon thousands of poems from a number of poets of a number of languages, and I'll be blasted if this is not the first time I got absolutely NOTHING out of reading a book of poems. In fact the only line from this one that I recall is "I let a guy blow me once."

It is this personalization of verse (to the extreme, where "feeling" becomes more important than meaning) that has destroyed poetry as a popular art form in this country. (One can scarcely imagine asking someone to memorize and recite anything from this book.)

Give me Richard Wilbur or even Sarah Teasdale any time. Shoot, I'll even take Rod McKuen at this point.

A Pulitzer for this? Say it ain't so, Joe!

A Classic Worth Your Time
John Ashbery is probably the most famous and most productive of the Post-Modernists & the New York School of poets. His career has been long and productive. He remains to this day very visible, frequently publishing his poems in the New Yorker. It was, in fact, within the pages of the New Yorker that I first encountered Ashbery in my youth. I hated his work immediately. In fact, it took years for me to discover the incredible beauty and intellectual stimulation within Ashbery's poetry. Over the years I have come to appreciate Ashbery's more recent, or later work most of all. Although I appreciate the greater simplicity of his earlier work, and the great, convoluted anguish of his middle work, it is the vision of his later work that engages me most.

Self-Portrait in a Convex Mirror belongs primarily to his middle period. It, of course, famously won many awards, including the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry. I own this edition of the work and it has held up well with multiple readings, both the actual paperback, and the text. When I initially read this volume I found it strangely troubling and thought-provoking. I felt almost physically anguished as I read it over and over again. When I first encountered it I surrendered nearly a complete month to repeatedly devouring Self-Portrait in a Convex Mirror. However, in the end I found that it is still not my favorite of his works. Also, I must confess that I found the short poems in the volume much more engaging than the long, title poem.

As a poet, myself, for years I have found endless inspiration within Ashbery's writing (as well as the writing of many others, including the particularly noteworthy Charles Simic). I think for those first approaching Ashbery's work, this is probably the best place to start. I believe you will find that you either love or hate his work. If you discover that you love it, move on to other works such as The Mooring of Starting Out - a 1 volume edition of his first 4 volumes of poetry, or Where Shall I Wander - one of his latest works...or, there are so many others to choose from, all good, solid works of poetry. If you've already read other works by Ashbery, but have not read this work, you need to get yourself a copy and get to it. I am convinced that it would be a mistake to overlook this very important and engaging work.

Sashimi of Post-Modernity
This collection of poems, especially the title poem, is jarring and bewildering in its swiftness and complexity, and in the crossed-paths of struggle, you will encounter spectacular images and conclusions. The images like "now from the unbuttoned corner moving out" and "recurring wave of arrival" are vividly childlike and nostalgic but also remind me of nothing I have encountered before. Ashberry's images sometimes bang against each other like the organized chaos of bumper cars. If you find yourself lost, keep reading and re-reading, no one needs to point out subtlety. Stick around, the confusion and overlapping delay the release at the end of his movements, which rival T.S. Eliot, in their polite, mythic send-offs.

Explosive, subtle; redefines American poetry.
John Ashbery with "Self-Portrait in a Convex Mirror" redefines American poetry by shattering syntax and "meaning" into a million facets. Even cliches and conversational speech take on the tone of epic poetry in Ashbery's gaze. His indirect mannerism leaves the reader haunted by images that are unique in American writing. Though drawing heavily from modern French poetic technique, Ashbery lives up to Pound's dictum, "...make it new" and Rimbaud's decree that "...one must be absolutely modern." Above all, his portraits of stream-of-consciousness always surprise with their cinematic, sleight-of-hand, air of freshness. Along with Kenneth Koch, and Frank O'Hara, Ashbery remains the ringleader of the New York School of poetry.

Deluxe Sushi of Post-Modernity
This collection of poems, especially the title poem, is jarring and bewildering in its swiftness and complexity, and in the crossed-paths of struggle, you will encounter spectacular images and conclusions. The images like "now from the unbuttoned corner moving out" and "recurring wave of arrival" are vividly childlike and nostalgic but also remind me of nothing I have encountered before. Ashberry's images sometimes bang against each other like the organized chaos of bumper cars. If you find yourself lost, keep reading and re-reading, no one needs to point out subtlety. Stick around, the confusion and overlapping delay the release at the end of his movements, which rival T.S. Eliot, in their polite, mythic send-offs.