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A review by wingsyuenanna
The Hatred of Poetry by Ben Lerner
4.0
"An art hated from without and within. What kind of art has a condition of its possibility a perfect contempt? And then, even reading contemptuously, you don't achieve the genuine."
I had always found poetry hard to understand. It both tries to be relatable but also precise, written for all but also for only you. In my head, it tries to do too much but is inaccessible and powerless. Ben Lerner gives a concise argument for good and bad poetry. Poetry with good structure and intentions can be both disliked and admired.
I think back to The Hill We Climb by Amanda Gorman. Her performance was shining and powerful. For the first time, I could imagine that poems can be powerful. They can be remembered and evoke a passion that units. So perhaps a good poem can make us empathetic for others and share emotions from other perspectives.
I had always found poetry hard to understand. It both tries to be relatable but also precise, written for all but also for only you. In my head, it tries to do too much but is inaccessible and powerless. Ben Lerner gives a concise argument for good and bad poetry. Poetry with good structure and intentions can be both disliked and admired.
I think back to The Hill We Climb by Amanda Gorman. Her performance was shining and powerful. For the first time, I could imagine that poems can be powerful. They can be remembered and evoke a passion that units. So perhaps a good poem can make us empathetic for others and share emotions from other perspectives.