Rating: 
Summary: dogmatic
Review: a good guide to western literature. Pound is his usual dogmatic self, telling you exactly what you should and shouldn't read and how to interpret it.
This is a witty and informative guide, though i am not sure that is its exact intention.
Worth it just for the exasperation Pound expresses.
Rating:
Summary: A golden book to lead us out of the fog.
Review: ABC OF READING. By Ezra Pound. 206 pp. New York : New Directions, 1960 (1934) and Reissued. ISBN 0-8112-0151-1 (pbk.)Ezra Pound's 'ABC of Reading' is an attractive work. In contrast to the pompous and rarified nonsense of a deracinated French intelligentsia which has spread like a deadly virus through academia and is busy wrecking young minds everywhere today, Pound's thought, to borrow the words of Gary Snyder, is like "drinking cold snow-water from a tin cup" while taking in the view through crisp mountain air. The aim of the book is very ambitious, and has been stated as follows : "It is a primer for the reader who wants to maintain and cultivate an active, critical mind, to become increasingly sensitive to the beauty and inspiration of the world's best literature." In other words, it teaches what good literature is and how to appreciate it. But just as life's aim - that of continuing in life - is also highly ambitious, and yet can be fulfilled by the simplest of means - pure water and a bit of wholesome food - Pound's ABC gives the reader all she or he really needs to be able to think clearly about literature, and to distinguish between the mere chatter of poseurs and the truth that every real artist brings. Reader : What is literature? EP : Literature is language charged with meaning. Reader : What is great literature? EP : Great literature is simply language charged with meaning to the utmost possible degree (p.28). In contrast to the Lacans and Derridas and Gadamers and their groupies, men who "play endlessly with ideas spun from their own entrails," with "soft bodiless conceptions which are squeezed and molded," and whose passion is the pursuit of various private agendas, Pound's thoughts have been "hacked out by strength and courage from the hard stuff of reality," and the agenda he pursues is open and freely acknowledged (Maccoby). Pound was passionately committed to the twin causes of clear thought and good literature, to civilization-sustaining as opposed to civilization-wrecking values. What is literature? EP : "Literature is news that STAYS news" (p.29). Should we study its critics? EP : "If you wanted to know something about an automobile, would you go to a man who had made one and driven it, or to a man who had merely heard about it?" (p.30). Here we see the great danger to the status quo of men such as Pound, bearers of perfectly simple and self-evident truths in contrast to those who becloud the mental landscape with the thick fog of their pseudo-thought, and then charge a handsome fee to act as our guides. EP : "Good writers are those who keep the language efficient. That is to say, keep it accurate, keep it clear.... The fogged language of the swindling classes serves only a temporary purpose" (p.33). How do we charge language to the utmost possible degree with meaning? Read Chaper 8, which takes up a whole page and a half. Note also that Pound does not merely confine himself to TELLING us what good literature is. As an artist he knows that SHOWING is even more important, and in the second half of this small book he has assembled a collection of EXHIBITS, passages of literature both great and less than great, a sort of mini-anthology of exercises to test our new-found wits. Pound's 'ABC of Reading' is a golden book that should be read by everyone who cares about literature, and certainly by all students of literature. It is studded with valuable thoughts you will never forget, and in its brief compass provides us with a total aesthetic. It is also both easy to read - as is all clear and genuine thought - and hugely enjoyable. Gallic tripe may safely be ignored. Pound's ABC will lead you out of the fog.
Rating:
Summary: Pound is not Dogmatic, but definitely Stillmatic*
Review: At the outset, it's important to note that Mr. Pound offers ABC of Reading as a "text-book that can also be read 'for pleasure as well as profit' by those no longer in school; by those who have not been to school; or by those who in their college days suffered those things which most of my own generation suffered". We're all duly welcomed to Mr. Pound's class. However, once the door is shut, he throws harsh (and gut-bucket funny) criticism at snobbishness, poor preparation, and laziness -- especially targeting the teacher who, by any of these vices, would lead any student away from the very personal road of discovery, i.e. away from critical thought that is no respecter of persons, even great persons. Too many jabs to count, but here are a couple of his friendliest (and well-placed) shots: 1. Anybody who is too lazy to master the comparatively small glossary necessary to understand Chaucer deserves to be shut out from the reading of good books for ever. 2. It would take a bile specialist to discover why the Oxford Book of Verses includes the first five strophes (of John Donne's "The Ecstasy") and then truncates the poem with no indication that anything has been omitted. On this "no slackers" context he elaborates a simple core message: Look at a work for what it is and for what the author intends; then, learn by comparing it to worthy counterexamples. One example of Pound's guidance on this point: "The way to study Shakespeare is to study it side by side with something different and of equal extent. The proper antagonist is Dante who is of equal size and DIFFERENT. ...You can't judge any chemical's reaction merely by putting it with more of itself." Pound also dares you to either study languages or remain ignorant to the weight of timeless literature. "There is no use...in my publisher asking me to make English literature as prominent as possible. I mean, not if I am to play fair with the student. You cannot learn to write by reading English." (Also, Read p. 35, par. 2 for the MOST telling and eloquent statement on this fact.) In sum, Mr. Pound is far from dogmatic. No man who issues a fair challenge can be considered so. He told you as much: "My lists (of poems) are a starting-point and a challenge. This challenge has been open for a number of years and no one has yet taken it up. There have been general complaints, but no one has offered a rival list." Calling him dogmatic thus becomes a wimp-out on an invitation to hard study and thought. That said, it should not be lost on anyone that Pound's invitation is nearly the equivalent of the boxing critic being challenged to a round by Muhammad Ali in his prime. Nevertheless, as students of literature and life, we should be willing to run Pound's gauntlet long before offering up any dogma on Pound himself or the work in question. Our only recourse, though, is it's own reward since we are free to fearlessly question even Mr. Pound along the way. As a bonus, I believe any reader will gain even more by taking up the opening invitation to read the book "for pleasure as well as for profit". Do this times over and with a lens much wider than the literary. ABC of Reading then reads as a solid treatise on living and learning. *NAS, Stillmatic 2001-2. "You want beef? I hope you got yourself a gun." Pound says no less. Come ready.
Rating:
Summary: Wish I'd read this earlier
Review: Ezra Pound is fantastic. The most common criticisms that I hear leveled at him are that he was "dogmatic" and "arrogant"; but I say that a man possessing the gifts of Ezra Pound is entitled to a little dogma and arrogance. At worst these are biases to be recognized and dealt with while reading. At best, however, these traits make for some really enjoyable evenings. So what if you throw the book against the wall in frustration a couple of times. Thats what reading and thinking are all about! Forget what you know about diplomacy and dive in. Feel free to grab a little dogma and arrogance for yourself while your at it; with Pound there is plenty to go around!
Rating:
Summary: Pithy and passionate
Review: Ezra Pound said what he meant. In this book, he is completely frank about what the state of poetry was when he wrote, and what literature of the past is worth reading. His bluntness is refreshing beyond belief, esp. compared to the sorts of obfuscation one finds in critics today who try to tell us what they like to read. There are some startling opinions in here, but I highly recommend giving Pound his due. He is in love with literature as an art, as a profession, as a process, and as a way of life, and this book is a beautiful introduction to his passions. For me, he still sets the standard for clarity and candour in writing about literature.
Rating:
Summary: Poet's Primer.
Review: Many who teach creative writing claim they teach "close reading." Their idea is that one can't improve as a writer unless one is able to correct mistakes, and one can't correct mistakes unless one notices them. Pound's book is about noticing. Whether one acts on what one notices is a matter of style, and there's no arguing with that; but there's also no arguing that Pound covers most of the elements of style that anyone--writer or reader--will need. (Karl Shapiro's Primer covers the rest.) This book changes the way one looks at literature, writing and life. Most books about writing aren't worth reading; this one is essential, particularly for those who judge literature on the basis of their own social values.
Rating: 
Summary: move on, move on
Review: pound seems to go out of his way to sound academic and to make as little sense as he can (it's almost as if he's writing in sound bytes). this book is a sad disappointment from a man who really contributed a lot the the world of literature. i say pass on this one.
Rating:
Summary: Rantings of Correctness
Review: Pound was an angry, noisy man whose honesty--and the extent to which the volcano of his personality burns through his prose--is convincing and, when it comes to literature, correct. I can think of no one I'd rather have read anything I've written & say: damn good. He's dead & that's not going to happen. But we can still get the brash truth about literature, in easy-to-remember pithy comments such as "Literature is news that STAYS news" or comparisons of writing to making a table (don't matter which leg you start with so long as it stands upright when you're done) or to writing a check (the writing of a bad check is a criminal act). He also tells us why, say, Milton was a lousy poet & Homer a great one. The all-embracing, subjective, if-someone-likes-it-then-it's-good parts of us will reel against some of Pound's fascistic judgements, but the arbiter of taste in each of us, the madman or woman who fumes at how ad. copy is deadening our linguistic nerves, will stand proud at owning, reading, & quoting--often--The ABC of Reading.
Rating:
Summary: Rantings of Correctness
Review: Pound was an angry, noisy man whose honesty--and the extent to which the volcano of his personality burns through his prose--is convincing and, when it comes to literature, correct. I can think of no one I'd rather have read anything I've written & say: damn good. He's dead & that's not going to happen. But we can still get the brash truth about literature, in easy-to-remember pithy comments such as "Literature is news that STAYS news" or comparisons of writing to making a table (don't matter which leg you start with so long as it stands upright when you're done) or to writing a check (the writing of a bad check is a criminal act). He also tells us why, say, Milton was a lousy poet & Homer a great one. The all-embracing, subjective, if-someone-likes-it-then-it's-good parts of us will reel against some of Pound's fascistic judgements, but the arbiter of taste in each of us, the madman or woman who fumes at how ad. copy is deadening our linguistic nerves, will stand proud at owning, reading, & quoting--often--The ABC of Reading.
Rating:
Summary: Read this book with a pen in your hand
Review: Read this book with a pen in your hand because you are going to want to underline the dozens of amazing sentences and little paragraphs, as well as scribble complaints and disparaging comments next to the rash and just plain faulty ones.
This book will astonish and anger a thoughtful reader. It is not a coherent essay that moves logically from point to point - it is a jarring, manic kaleidoscope.
Since I am a typical American and only understand one language (English, modern) some of this volume was lost to me - but this book is well worth the time you will spend reading it. Highly recommended for all striving writers and people who would like to read more earnestly.
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