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105 sats \ 21 comments \ @tolot 1 Sep BooksAndArticles

Hi all,

I jump on here to ask these questions as a non-native english speaker and because I found myself increasingly reading this territory posts, rhymes and suggestions.

Now my questions are:

what's your best suggestion for someone that wants to start reading and studying american and english poetry?
Do you have a path in mind?
Some specific authors?

I've already gone through some Brodsky poetry because of my interest in russian literature. That's my starting point I guess.

Any suggestion about authors, specific collections, paths to follow or any of that is very welcome!

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10 sats \ 0 replies \ @Malachi17 1 Sep

I'd answer your questions as follows.

Begin at the beginning. Literature that is American starts with a lot of British predisposition but gradually grows into its own kind of voice. Beware the more modern stuff, unless that's your bag. If that's the case, don't worry about American poetry or English. Just slam nouns and verbs together and declare everything meaningless and you will have an advanced degree in no time!
Your second question is ambiguous. Yes, I have a path in mind that I tread. If you mean do I have a path in mind in relation to bullet point 1, then see my comments at 1.

It depends on what your goals are. The parameters of what you have defined here are too wide for me to usefully answer.

The path to follow is something you should all ready have some idea of. Start at the classics. Melville, Hemingway, etc. Even if you don't learn anything valuable there writing-wise, you learn something that defines the culture you have said you wish to understand better. Do that enough, and you will find a piece of literature or work that you "get" as being something iconic--at least to you. That is your first rung on the ladder to literary movement/advancement.

84 sats \ 2 replies \ @Undisciplined 1 Sep

The best I can do is tag our resident @plebpoet for you.

58 sats \ 0 replies \ @siggy47 1 Sep

I second this!

25 sats \ 0 replies \ @tolot OP 1 Sep

Thanks! I hope PlebPoet will take few mins and drop a comment here to give some suggestions, thanks!

42 sats \ 2 replies \ @siggy47 1 Sep

I think @StillStackinAfterAllTheseYears would be best suited to answer this question for you. His knowledge of English language poetry is extensive.

43 sats \ 1 reply \ @tolot OP 1 Sep

Thanks for the suggestion, in fact I looked extensively at his items and profile and he seems very grounded on that. I hope he'll take time to drop a comment here! Thanks

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @StillStackinAfterAllTheseYears 2 Sep

Sorry, I was mostly offline yesterday, but I think between the comments here and in #656300, most of the bases are covered. It's hard approaching poetry in a language that's not your native one, since emotion and imagery are the easiest things to lose in translation, but approaching a variety of poets and genres to see what clicks with seems like the best way to start.

100 sats \ 7 replies \ @plebpoet 1 Sep

Hi! I love the curiosity about poetry going on around these parts.

#656300 this came up on 8/20

It sounds like you want a comprehensive overview approach, and I like that, because looking at poetry explains much about human nature and our histories that you can't always get from other things. You could begin with Beowulf if you really want to go deep, that's where my British Literature course began. Other notable early writers would be Alexander Pope, Shakespeare. Get into T.S. Eliot and William Wordsworth for sure. For the Americans, you gotta look at Charles Bukowski, people love him. I love Billy Collins. I don't believe in a path, necessarily, because that's a little too academic for poetry, I think. So that's why my suggestion is get lost in a library, put your curiosity before you and sniff it out in books that you can touch. Oh pick up any issue of Poetry magazine or The Paris Review.

42 sats \ 0 replies \ @plebpoet 1 Sep

man I didn't mention any women....but shout out Sylvia Plath, that's my bitch

30 sats \ 5 replies \ @tolot OP 1 Sep

Love it. Being lost in an unknown section of a public library is why I still keep buying and reading paper books and I didn't completely surrender to ebooks and pdfs

Being lost in poetry is going to be hell of a ride, I'm looking forward to it. Thanks.

0 sats \ 4 replies \ @plebpoet 1 Sep

I would encourage to share what you like (or what you don't like) here! I should do that more

60 sats \ 3 replies \ @tolot OP 1 Sep

I always felt that a bit odd since my mother tongue is not english nor any other widely spoken language. I usually tend to read poetry in italian because it's what turns me on with regards to emotions and feelings. English always felt a bit of a technical-only language for me, at least until few months ago. I'm trying to deal with this at the moment, that's why I asked this here.

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @plebpoet 1 Sep

I would also highly recommend A Book of Luminous Things because each poem is translated to English from many different languages and it's an incredible book

0 sats \ 1 reply \ @plebpoet 1 Sep

Interesting! This is my all-time favorite poem, I wonder how it will come across to you.

20 sats \ 0 replies \ @tolot OP 1 Sep

Love the audio version, that's very musical I would say. A lot to digest :-)

21 sats \ 4 replies \ @Satoshi__Nakamoto 1 Sep

I am not a huge fan of poetry but you should buy some book 📙 and share with your friend reading poetry together is too interesting

21 sats \ 3 replies \ @plebpoet 1 Sep

that's a good idea! reading poetry together is super cool, just pick up anything and think about it/talk about it

20 sats \ 2 replies \ @tolot OP 1 Sep

Thanks for the advice, that's a good one. So the key is probably to jump on any bandwagon and see if that fits my taste or not.

21 sats \ 1 reply \ @plebpoet 1 Sep

Yeah! could look through a few of these lists to see if you like the general substance - romantics, beatniks, confessional, transcendentalists

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @tolot OP 1 Sep

Definitely jumping on these

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @Thereal 1 Sep

This is good