thesaltiestlibrarian's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
1.0
leagllrd's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
2.0
Finally! I've rarely been this happy to finally be done with a book. This 400 page monstrosity can only be described as excruciating. The only interesting and entertaining thing in this whole rant was getting a look at the influence that other European languages had on English back then.
Whitman's style is much more messy and way less impressive than I had been led to believe by what I had heard of it. He loves listing things, and most of the time it feels as though he really needs the reader to know how much he knows about the topic, or how many words he knows, or it feels like he's filling a blank his inspiration hasn't provided anything for.
Most of this entire book treats of four topics
1) how much he really loves war, especially the American Secession war (although he will not tell you whose side he was on) and how hot camaraderie is
2) how great America is now that white people are in charge
3) how nature is [add a list of five to ten adjectives he constantly recycles without ingenuity]
4) how much he wants to sleep with everyone
He's also fully incapable of seeing Black people as humans, and he was against banning slavery so, while I can't from the book and this one thing I do know tell you what side of the war he fought on, I think we can do a little bit of inferring here.
It is so incredibly sad to see this average work be heralded as a shining beacon of literature simply because Americans struggle with the concept of anything that's over 100 years old and no one but old white dudes were allowed to write back then.
Don't waste your time, instead find one of the hundreds of brilliant poets that have a true story to tell and true talent to tell it.
He gets a second star for the few poets (out of hundreds) that are actually good, and for giving me insight into the evolution of English in America.
Whitman's style is much more messy and way less impressive than I had been led to believe by what I had heard of it. He loves listing things, and most of the time it feels as though he really needs the reader to know how much he knows about the topic, or how many words he knows, or it feels like he's filling a blank his inspiration hasn't provided anything for.
Most of this entire book treats of four topics
1) how much he really loves war, especially the American Secession war (although he will not tell you whose side he was on) and how hot camaraderie is
2) how great America is now that white people are in charge
3) how nature is [add a list of five to ten adjectives he constantly recycles without ingenuity]
4) how much he wants to sleep with everyone
He's also fully incapable of seeing Black people as humans, and he was against banning slavery so, while I can't from the book and this one thing I do know tell you what side of the war he fought on, I think we can do a little bit of inferring here.
It is so incredibly sad to see this average work be heralded as a shining beacon of literature simply because Americans struggle with the concept of anything that's over 100 years old and no one but old white dudes were allowed to write back then.
Don't waste your time, instead find one of the hundreds of brilliant poets that have a true story to tell and true talent to tell it.
He gets a second star for the few poets (out of hundreds) that are actually good, and for giving me insight into the evolution of English in America.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Racism
Whitman was very much against the end of the slavery. He's obsessed with the american Civil War and despite his half-assed attempts, it's glaringly obvious that he is incapable of viewing black people as humans, let alone equals.diegoup's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
domireads2023's review against another edition
challenging
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.0
dorothy_gale's review against another edition
2.0
FOR POETRY, IT DIDN'T SUCK! For a non-poetry person to give more than one star, I think that says something. And especially a non-poetry person who prefers material written in the 20th century or later, it says a lot! (This was published in 1855). Way to go, Whitman. It may have been the first time I heard "negroes" in a poem, in addition to a few other choice words. This book had twelve of his poems, but the more I heard, the more it sounded like the reading of lists to me. Just like randomly listing things off. I did catch the famous "I contain multitudes" line, which I believe is now a book title. The narrator of my Audible version, Sam Torode, was pleasant to the ears.
hstapp's review against another edition
1.0
Whitman's leaves of grass is a boring venture into the mind of a man who believes himself divine. He tries to convey that it is not just him that is divine, but everyone. However, his obvious feelings of superiority, due to his having discovered the divine nature that resides in everyone, and being the only one, or one of the few who has discovered it he pushes away his readers with his egotism.
Whitman speaks of a few other things America, sex, wars. He fails to mention them in any interesting manner, however. His stories are boring and uninteresting when he has them. His style is very strong. It consists mainly of endless lists one after another, sometimes with no connection between them.
With these long lists spanning broad areas Whitman comes off as knowing little about what he is writing about whether or not he does.
He also uses wordy "Poetic" language, that is hard to follow, even for experienced readers. If for some reason you have to read Whitman other than for assigned reading stick to drum-taps. It is the most interesting section of the book which isn't saying much.
From a literary standpoint there is nothing here, but it does have a small amount of historical, and philosophical merit that might make it worth study in those fields.
Whitman speaks of a few other things America, sex, wars. He fails to mention them in any interesting manner, however. His stories are boring and uninteresting when he has them. His style is very strong. It consists mainly of endless lists one after another, sometimes with no connection between them.
With these long lists spanning broad areas Whitman comes off as knowing little about what he is writing about whether or not he does.
He also uses wordy "Poetic" language, that is hard to follow, even for experienced readers. If for some reason you have to read Whitman other than for assigned reading stick to drum-taps. It is the most interesting section of the book which isn't saying much.
From a literary standpoint there is nothing here, but it does have a small amount of historical, and philosophical merit that might make it worth study in those fields.
pooja_12's review against another edition
inspiring
relaxing
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.25
astrobrite's review against another edition
5.0
Leer Hojas de hierba ha marcado un punto importante en mi proceso del conocimiento de mis determinaciones
blakehalsey's review against another edition
5.0
Unprescendented American poetry, plain and simple and jam-packed with the richness of life. Whitman makes you want to take a deep breath and watch the ocean for hours or watch people withe greater attentiveness or just go for a walk. At least for me, Whitman makes me want to live a little fuller everyday and we all need that kind of inspiration.