GENRE: Poetry
HONORS: none that are official
REVIEW: Teen readers who were enthralled of Kerouac's On the Road are most likely to discover Ginsberg's HOWL in the niche of Beatnik lit. The cultural references to this book are also difficult to avoid, such as in The Wimpy Kid Movie where the a female character appears from under the bleachers holding the distinctive booklet. So curiosity will lead one to read a subversive classic that had a major impact in the poetry scene in the U.S. HOWL is broken up into four parts, where each part expresses a unique theme. The first glorifies his friends and their suffering, the second talks about oppression by the government, war, pollution, etc, and the third expresses his empathy for his friend in the insane asylum, Carl Solomon. The fourth is a footnote that glorifies Buddhism and the beauty of things.
OPINION: HOWL is not only musical in nature, but an autobiographical account of an icon who was in the center of this era in American history. Even though the poem is written disjointedly, it fits his subject matter and captures the energy and madness of his experiences. This is definitely a book that will often end up missing on the shelves.
IDEAS: A iconic piece that would be a good example about the impact of words in a poetry or spoken word workshop.
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