annkitsch's review against another edition
3.0
These poems felt like that one audio u hear on tiktok/ Instagram reels where Beyoncé’s crazy in love instrumental plays and someone is going “Ammeyrican dreamm, best countrayy”
zarahzoe's review against another edition
4.0
I read the penguin classics edition of this and was a bit unsatisfied to find out that it was not the final version that Whitman published. It does not contain O Captain, my Captain and When Lilacs last in the Dooryard Bloom'd, and it made me sad..
Still! Those Words! hot damn this was beatiful! I have never read a poem that was 120 pages long but I loved every verse of it.
Still! Those Words! hot damn this was beatiful! I have never read a poem that was 120 pages long but I loved every verse of it.
jayrinehart's review against another edition
inspiring
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
5.0
fluffernutterfriday's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
sad
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
5.0
NOTE: I read a 600-page version from 1930 that captured pretty much everything he's ever written, so my reading experience was definitely different.
I mean, it's Walt. Fully worth the hype, though I'll need to parse back through and really drink these poems up, slowly, one by one, when I'm not spending so much attention and curiosity on graduate school. The autobiographical piece at the end was a perfect little bow on the work. I loved hearing what he wanted to do, and itnresonated deeply with my own purpose as a writer.
I mean, it's Walt. Fully worth the hype, though I'll need to parse back through and really drink these poems up, slowly, one by one, when I'm not spending so much attention and curiosity on graduate school. The autobiographical piece at the end was a perfect little bow on the work. I loved hearing what he wanted to do, and itnresonated deeply with my own purpose as a writer.
rebeccazh's review against another edition
i only read song of myself and i sing the body electric but i loved how celebratory they were of life and the human body. he was reveling in the simplest of pleasures, like a blade of grass or a lover's touch, but also so appreciative of the sublime
aceface's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
inspiring
reflective
medium-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
4.25
moseslh's review against another edition
5.0
Whitman's introduction to the original Leaves of Grass was honestly quite difficult to get through. He came off as arrogant and full of himself, but after reading "Song of Myself" I decided his self-congratulatory air was, perhaps, deserved. Whitman's hopeful optimism about all America is and all it has the potential to be, as well as his ability to find the beauty in everyone without shying away from critiques of our nation's evils, is refreshing to read in 2020. Whitman was not naive to America's flaws or the country's divisions, which were arguably as bad when this was published in 1855, half a decade before the Civil War, as they are now. However, he manages to somehow embrace diversity and find unity within it. Most of his poetry is in the first person, but he identifies as different individuals or archetypes between lines or verses, bringing out the common experiences and values that tie together seemingly disparate groups. I loved reading these and now might have to read Whitman's (much longer) final edition of Leaves of Grass.
dw_hanna's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
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.