Delve Into We Are Nothing And So Can You Illustrated By Jasper Bernes Accessible As Paperbound
book reads like somethings happening but you just missed it, like when you get a text its going down but your not sure what and when you finally have the energy to overcome your hangover and get out of bed you arrive at an empty scene, only cops and a couple broken windows so you go home to and listen to an npr story bout the dow jones or something else with numbers you dont understand.
but not in a bad way, the whole thing is deeply resonant, Ummmmmmm, I don't know. There were some beautiful sentences and phrases in here but overall it made me feel absolutely nothing, I guess I understand what Bernes was trying to do Some sort of post/midapocalyptic landscape paired with a call to arms It felt too futuristic to me, half atomic and half peopled.
It couldn't keep my interest I almost gave up on it more than once, and it's a short book,
That said, it did get me writing, so I can thank him for that I've heard the other Commune Editions are better, so I'll try for political poetry elsewhere.
exciting and interesting.
looking forward to reading more by bernes, Some books are just not for you and this was not for me, I read a review discussing how this text handles theory and I think thats why I didnt like it, This collection was dense and if someone knows a lot about theory and enjoys reading about it, this book is for you, I did love the way they played with space and form in the poems/prose, But other than that, this writing just wasnt for me, Fantastic collection of poetry. Did a fun collective reading of these poems and discussed them and there is alot there for reflection and appreciation,
truly loved the poem set in the Louvre and the final poem in this collection, Highly recommended. More theory ideas, less emotions FYI before you start, Just a fantastic exploration of a whole lot of emotions and experiences before, during, and after a global riot with the context of state socialism.
We Are Nothing and So Can You is an epic poem of revolt against capitalism past, present, and future, In alternating passages of rhapsodic verse and speculative prose, Jasper Bernes's long poem plots the dynamic movement of history, both irreversible and recursive, moving forward directly and by twists and turns, in lines and sentences.
This is a communist poetics for the twentyfirst century,
Jasper Bernes teaches in the English department at the University of California, Berkeley, Previous works include a book of poems, Starsdown, and widely read essays on contemporary anticapitalist struggle at the New Inquiry, the Los Angeles Books, and Endnotes.
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