The Maximus Poems

Rating:
Summary: olson's maximus
Review: "In the land of plenty, have
nothing to do with it"

olson was a large man & the maximus poems is some of what he got down on paper.

"he and I seeming
the only ones who know
what we are doing, where
we are going"

it is a big book that requires time and care of attention

it's also a reference, something that can be "dug up" to serve as signs or points. the lyric passages are often very low to the ground

"the forests,
behind, transparent
from the light snow showing
lost rocks and hills
which one doesn't, ordinarily,
know"

Rating:
Summary: Dear Dellaphon
Review: A masterpiece (and an ample illustration of Gertrude Stein's answer to "why there are so few of them"). One wonders how Jacob Dellaphon (reviewer from RI) could manage to come away from his reading having allowed himself to LEARN absolutely nothing. Don't let any initial impressions of Olson's difficulty (or his pretention, or the pretention of some of his more zealous readers) steer you away from what he has WITNESSED. "Polis is eyes."

Rating:
Summary: Dear Dellaphon
Review: A masterpiece (and an ample illustration of Gertrude Stein's answer to "why there are so few of them"). One wonders how Jacob Dellaphon (reviewer from RI) could manage to come away from his reading having allowed himself to LEARN absolutely nothing. Don't let any initial impressions of Olson's difficulty (or his pretention, or the pretention of some of his more zealous readers) steer you away from what he has WITNESSED. "Polis is eyes."

Rating:
Summary: Relief for Insomniacs - The "Poetry" of Charles Olson
Review: I was forced to read this dreck for an architecture(?) class. Although I love to read, and so usually approach unknown materials with an open mind, I quickly lost any illusion of interest once the first few pages were read. This "poem" is hard to follow, impossible to translate, boring to read.

Now if I could only find someone to take this book off of my hands.

Rating:
Summary: Please, Mr. Olson, There Are Ladies Present
Review: Now, don't get me wrong: I'm sure "Charles Olson...was good at a great many things; writing poetry happened never to be one of them. This book, which includes the better part of his life's work, is just plain silly; the text is written in strange spirals and turns, & it's nearly impossible to figure out what he's talking about half the time. It's reminiscent in some places of the work of Robert Pinsky, but without Pinsky's characteristic cleverness, wordplay, and lyricism. It resembles, in other places, the maritime verse of Samuel Sewell, but it remains far more elusive than Sewell would ever have allowed. And, while it brushes at times towards an almost Tolstoyan eroticism, it drops swiftly into the scatalogical -- rather tastelessly, one might add. I certainly don't recommend it for the squeamish, or anyone of delicate sensibilities.



Rating:
Summary: olson's maximus
Review: Olson's "Maximus" is not for everyone. However, for those brave souls who read poetry, it will prove to be an unforgettable experience. "Maximus" is one of the most expansive American long poems. In its scope, it rivals both "The Cantos" and "A". For those used to the polished verse inhereted from Europe, the journey through "Maximus" will be disorienting at first. But for those readers that are willing to take the leap, "Maximus" will prove to be a rewarding experience that will open new ways of reading and thinking. I suggest you buy it today and spend a few years traveling with Olson and Maximus of Tyre.