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A scholarly, in-depth analysis of the whole range of Bob Dylan's lyrics both early and late from one of the most distinguished literary critics of our time, the man W.H. Auden called "exactly the kind of critic every poet dreams of finding."
Bob Dylan's ways with words are a wonder, matched as they are with his music and verified by those voices of his. In response to the whole range of Dylan early and late (his songs of social conscience, of earthly love, of divine love, and of contemplation), this critical appreciation listens to Dylan's attentive genius, alive in the very words and their rewards.
Dylan's is an art in which sins are laid bare (and resisted), virtues are valued (and manifested), and the graces brought home. The seven deadly sins, the four cardinal virtues, and the three heavenly graces: these make up everybody's world-but Dylan's in particular. Or rather, his worlds, since human dealings of every kind are his for the artistic taking. Pride is anatomized in "Like a Rolling Stone," envy in "Positively 4th Street," Anger in "Only a Pawn in Their Game" . . . But, hearteningly, Justice reclaims "Hattie Carroll," Fortitude "Blowin' in the Wind," Faith "Precious Angel," Hope "Forever Young," Charity "Watered-Down Love."
In the New Yorker, Alex Ross recently wrote that "Ricks's writing on Dylan is the best there is. Unlike most rock critics-'forty-year-olds talking to ten-year-olds,' Dylan has called them-he writes for adults." In The Times, Bryan Appleyard maintained that "Ricks, one of the most distinguished literary critics of our time, is almost the only writer to have applied serious literary intelligence to Dylan."
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| $99.99 | Digital |
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Johnny Pecker
reviewed Dylan's Visions of Sin on February 21, 2008
Dylan's Visions of Sin
I appreciated that Ricks doesn't ask the same silly questions that many do when they approach Dylan's songs. Don't ask me who Isis is, or why his Bob-ness would make her wedding date the fifth day of May. I don't give a hoot, and Ricks doesn't seem to either. He sticks to wordplay. (Although I could have used less wordplay at times. He didn't need to spend so much ink punning on lyrics. You are very well read, it's well known.)
I liked the way Ricks would bring in Keats or Shakespeare or Beckett to underline how Dylan can capture an idea. Not that he means "Dylan's just as good a poet as Shakespeare!" But it helps to show that Dylan knows his craft and uses some of the same tools that give power to those canonical works. Observant, poetic minds are of course capable of using the same tools and words to describe the same subject without being familiar with one another's work. (Not that Shakespeare could have heard Dylan's songs, granted. Dylan may only have been too busy listening to Hank Williams and Charley Patton. Or not.)
Most importantly, the book made me think differently about the songs, and it shows that Dylan is not (or not only) the rambling beatnik he's often made out to be. Thanks to Ricks, I can never again ignore "The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll." In fact, I'm now ashamed that I ever did. That's way better than being told that Edie Sedgwick might be the target of "Like a Rolling Stone."
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Add Dylan's Visions of Sin, A scholarly, in-depth analysis of the whole range of Bob Dylan's lyrics both early and late from one of the most distinguished literary critics of our time, the man W.H. Auden called exactly the kind of critic every poet dreams of finding. Bob Dylan, Dylan's Visions of Sin to the inventory that you are selling on WonderClubX
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Add Dylan's Visions of Sin, A scholarly, in-depth analysis of the whole range of Bob Dylan's lyrics both early and late from one of the most distinguished literary critics of our time, the man W.H. Auden called exactly the kind of critic every poet dreams of finding. Bob Dylan, Dylan's Visions of Sin to your collection on WonderClub |
