- Paperback: 176 pages
- Publisher: Harvard University Press; New edition edition (2 Nov 2001)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 067400664X
- ISBN-13: 978-0674006645
- Product Dimensions: 19.2 x 12.9 x 1.2 cm
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 966,819 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Review
"[Ashbery] has chosen [the six poets] for the inconsistency in the quality of their work, often due to turbulent lives, and often the cause of their obscurity. But he unearths their shining moments, examples of their best, most lasting poems. He untangles their lives from their work, their obscurity from their talent and their importance to us from their obscurity." -Susan Salter Reynolds, Los Angeles Times Book Review; "Other Traditions is an entertaining and shrewd little book. To begin with, the life stories of the six poets he discusses are all amazing. Ashbery is an accomplished raconteur... The lectures also provide abundant hints about Ashbery's own method. As he readily admits, poets when writing about other poets frequently write about themselves." -Charles Simic, New York Review of Books
Susan Salter Reynolds, Los Angeles Times Book Review
"[Ashbery] untangles their lives from their work, their obscurity from their talent and their importance to us from their obscurity."
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20 of 23 people found the following review helpful
Unusual perspective on poetry
2 Oct 2000
Format:Hardcover
Instead of offering predictable comments on well-known poets, John Ashbery has chosen to explain his preference for seemingly eccentric figures like John Clare and Raymond Roussel. While Ashbery is a difficult poet, his prose is reader-friendly; this book, then, provides insight into Ashbery's own unique poetic sensibility, as well as into the poets and writers he has chosen.
This book provokes thought about issues of literary value. Why does Ashbery find supposedly "minor" figures more inspiring of his own writing? Are his arguments for the value of these figures ultimately convincing? Do marginality and eccentricity have an intrinsic value for him? Before reading this book I did know something about Laura Riding, Raymond Roussel, and John Clare; the other writers came as revelations to me. I am not convinced that every figure treated is of equal interest, but I am fascinated by Ashbery's own responses to these practically unknown "cult authors."
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
a doorway
29 Sep 2002
Format:Hardcover
Every once in a while, I come across a book that opens up new doors for me. They introduce to me to areas of life that I otherwise might never have encountered. Other Traditions by John Ashbery is just such a book.
I have always had a love for, but limited knowledge of, Poetry. It was Edward Hirsch's great book How to Read a Poem and Fall in Love with Poetry that first introduced me to Ashbery's work. He is, in my opinion, one of the greatest living poets. Therefore, I jumped at the opportunity to read Other Traditions.
Other Traditions is the book form of a series of lectures given by Ashbery on other poets. Ashbery writes about six of the lesser-known artists who have had an impact on his own life and work. All of them are fascinating. They are:
-John Clare, a master at describing nature who spent the last 27 years of his life in an Asylum.
-Thomas Lovell Beddoes, a rather death obsessed author (he ended up taking his own life) whose greatest poetry consists of fragments that must often be culled from the pages of his lengthy dramas.
-Raymond Roussel, a French author whose magnum opus is actually a book-length sentence.
-John Wheelwright, a politically engaged genius whose ultra-dense poetry even Ashbery has a hard time describing or comprehending.
-Laura Riding, a poet of great talent and intellect who chose to forsake poetry (check out the copyright page).
-David Schubert, an obscure poet who Ashbery feels is one of the greatest of the Twentieth Century.
The two that I was most pleasantly surprised by are Clare and Riding.
Clare has become (since I picked up a couple of his books) one of my favorite poets. He is a master at describing rural life. I know of no one quite like him. Ashbery's true greatness as a critic comes out when he depicts Clare as "making his rounds."
Riding, on the other hand, represents the extreme version of every author's desire for the public to read their work in a precise way--the way the author intends it to be read. Her intense combativeness and sensitivity to criticism is as endearing as it is humorous.
Other Traditions has given me a key to a whole new world of books. For that I am most grateful.
I give this book my full recommendation.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Gem of Oddities
7 Dec 2006
Format:Paperback
This book is much smaller than I thought it would be, but this only enhances its gem-like charm; from its rich cover to its finely homespun interior. I thought at first I had heard it all before from Ashbery, in his short Schubert and Roussel essays, and in comments dropped in Reported Sightings; but even when covering the same ground he subtly brings forth new worlds. It's refreshing to hear him talk of these beloved poets, like a tour through the comfortable rooms of his mind, which of course also offers countless insights into Ashbery's own career of poetic journeys. I recommend this book to both literary scavengers of the past and arcane poets of the future, but especially to the intriguing combination of both living a dream right now.
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