Negative Positive
Title: "I am perpetually awaiting a rebirth of wonder."
Review: I love Lawrence Ferlinghetti and I always have ever since a friend first read number 5 to me in college. It happens to be a wonderful allegory to Jesus and one of my favorite lines from it is "they stretch him on the Tree to cool." The author's language is exquisite although sometimes his wordsmithing manages to out-resonate his message. This is poetry at its best as it is both challenging and accessible. Practically every entry in "A Coney Island of the Mind" captures one's interest. Even the introductory phrase from this collection, "In Goya's greatest scenes we seem to see," is highly memorable. Some of the later poems are excellent such as the anti-materialistic "Christ Climbed Down" and "2" from Pictures of the Gone World. What Ferlinghetti offers up is life lessons along with a treasure trove of human feeling and description. I read poetry rarely but still savor the works of this twentieth century master.
Is the review positive or negative? 