Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #266451 in Books
• Published on: 1961-01-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 320 pages

Customer Reviews

Patchen Destroys "Books"
This "novel" is more of a primitive, surreal, hallucinatory, dream-like rage against WW2 & mankind's hatred in general than a standard book. Form gets tossed out the window, and this does make the book a bit of a struggle at times, but that's just the point. It shouldn't be easy to understand another man's feelings & it isn't easy getting Patchen's. This book is definately not for everyone, and I'd almost say "read the last half of the book first if you wanna get it from the get-go." It took me a few weeks to read this, reading several other things while mulling over parts of this "journal", but I'm glad I stuck with it & kept thinking about it. It's a very powerful work that crackles like a thundercloud. Just don't expect a straightforward novel. That ain't what this is...

An extraordinary, poetic, and challenging anti-war novel.
This novel contains some of the most compelling images I have ever read. It is a measure of Patchen's courage that he wrote it at the height of WWII--not a popular time for anti-war activism. The depth of his thinking about pacifism emerges in this novel on every level. Patchen was a lifelong scholar and student of the works of William Blake and it shows: "Moonlight" challenges us not only in content but in form as well, using metaphor and image to create a powerful non-linear world of story and thought. Kenneth Patchen's work is beginning to experience a resurgence, and I would suggest buying this novel (along with Kenneth's love poetry) if you want to discover this great American poet.

Has sustained me for decades
Like many reviewers here, I also read this book a LONG time ago. Yet there is one idea from this book that has stuck with me all these years. As a creative person, it has sustained me, encouraged me, and got me going again whenever doubt crept in: "If you are a maker, you will know that somewhere the thing you would do has already been done, and you will set about quietly to do it." That said, file my latest effort,Shake That Brain: How to Create Winning Solutions and Have Fun While You're At It,under "books on creativity."