Delirium: An Interpretation of Arthur Rimbaud

"delirium" is nothing less than a work of creative genius, and i personally would be reluctant to criticize it for being 'self indulgent' when reading it is the linguistic equivalent of dropping acid or shooting up. it is that intense. after you finish it you immediately want another book by reed, or at least i certainly did. the source of poetry is free subjectivity and imagination, and there are parts in this book that are truly transcendent poetically. reed is interested in rimbaud when he was the 'god of adolescence', the period in his life of total rebellion and artistic frenzy. he does a near flawless job of showing that while verlaine and his somewhat cruel and hateful companion may have had a physical and shallow emotional bond, rimbaud was far above him on the spiritual and intellectual plane. this is a necessity for any admirer of rimbaud and surrealism.

Although this study of Rimbaud is, admittedly, a trifle self indulgent, it is, nevertheless, a poem in itself. Maybe not in the sense that the author had intended, but in terms of its unadulerated representation of the chaos that is the source of all poetry, it is a promethean breakthrough. I highly reccomend it.