Reviews for A sinner of memory

The average rating for A sinner of memory based on 2 reviews is 4.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2008-01-15 00:00:00 Tim Kavanaugh This is my first book of Carpenter’s and not at all likely, given his Tolkien & Auden, to be my last. The man has a rather measured & efficient way of working through the weird, wild, and labyrinthine (not to mention LONG) life of one of those two literary magnificos whom Bob Dylan sings of as “fighting in the captain’s tower”. There is much of use in this book for the young poet generally, insofar as he may learn by BOTH the successes & failures of his forebears, but most significantly for the proper understanding of the Cantos, which are often utterly impenetrable on their own (& maybe this goes without saying, for they are largely autobiographical in nature). You may read it, lastly, if only to hear at the end the extraordinarily beautiful conversation between ole Ez & the young Allen Ginsberg, wherein the torch of poesy is effectually passed from one generation to the next. In that moment alone is the consummation of Poundian ideas belonging to different eras of his life: the top of the vortex, the making-it-new, the rose in the steel dust. He tried to write Paradise & believes that he couldn’t, but it’s more likely, I think, that he wound up living it himself.

Review # 2 was written on 2015-04-02 00:00:00 Andrew Pinon I got this book in a lot, and I'm glad I did. Pound is interesting from a psychology perspective, having spent about a dozen years at St. Elizabeths Hospital. This was part of being indicted for treason because he supported Mussolini, and broadcasting radio programs in Italy. He had attitudes towards minorities and women which would not be acceptable today. The book has some good descriptions of what his mind felt like (wasp nest, upper part of brain being replaced by fluids, mainspring busted). Pound was associated with many other writers, including Frost, Eliot, Hemingway, H.D. (a Freud tie in)and Joyce. Here (restated, as I love to do) are his five important things to teach his daughter: 1. Don't lie, cheat or steal 2. Don't ask inconvenient questions; all countries have different customs 3. If you're suffering, it's because you aren't understanding the universe; suffering exists to make people think 4. don't judge others, except understanding how what they are doing is part of a behavioral sequence figuring out whether she might do what they are doing 5. If you don't like something, blame it on either the universe or on yourself The information about how Pound and George Santayana got along is interesting. This will probably be a hard book to find reasonably priced, but worth the look.