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PARTISAN REVIEW
h as been deepl y in volved . The metaph ysica l crowds oul the socia l a nd
eventua ll y even th e persona l, ju st as dream tran scripti on supercedes
conversa ti on . The jo urna ls documenl the victory o f the reli g io us
imagin a ti on over the socia l.
The a ppea l o f G insberg in the six ti es lay in th e a ppea ra n ce h e gave
of seeing throu gh o r around o r beyon d the v(' il s and corru p tion s o f
o rdinary social thou ght. It was n o t then ev idenl . as it now is, tha t such
tran scenden ce was in fact a fa llin g sh on o f soc ia l rea lil Y, and lha t wha t
seemed in th e poetry a deeper pen etra li on inl o th e mysteri es o f bein g
was rea ll y a n arrowing o f emot ion a l ra n ge a nd a pa inful sh yn ess a bo ut
peopl e. We expect poetry tha t is suffi cientl y in spired lO lea p from one
plan e of meanin g to ano th er, to zoom upwa rd from sen sory da ta lo the
hi gher rea lms, bu t wh a t seem s like thrillin g p roph ecy when spo ken in
Biblical accents does n o t sa ti sfy in th e form o f a jo urn a l t'Iltry. Whi ch is
ano ther way o f say ing tha t the jo urna ls and most o f th e leit ers
to
Nea l
are intrinsica ll y uninteres tin g except for th e li ghl they sh ed on o ther
things tha t may ma tter to u s: G in sherg 's pOl' lry, or Amer ican socia l
hi story in the pos twa r decades .
So, I mu st cas t my p ra ise o f th es(, bo()ks in somewh a l nega ti ve
terms. T h ere is no reason fo r G in sberg nOl lo ha ve publi sh ed such
journa ls a nd letters, n o r to withh o ld the addili ona l ma lcri a ls whi ch
will soon be fo rth coming . Publi c sell-examin a li on o f thi s so rt is
a
ra re
and va lua bl e gesture, even when . as in lhi s case, th e soc ia l va lue o f the
ges ture fa r exceeds the intell ectu a l impacl o f wha t is aClua ll y discl osed .
Understanda bl y, a confess ion , even to onesel f. is a ba rga in struck wilh
the superego
to
permit some mo re diffi cult and com promi sin g know l–
edge to be withheld, tho ugh it is odd lO find such
a
case in whi ch
prima l fears a nd sexua l an xieti es a re la id ba re and
~oc i a l
rel ations
suppressed . But th a t reversa l is pa rt of th e a nlin omi a n mea nin g o f
Ginsberg 's life. He h as a lways done lhings diffn t'lltl y tha n th e res t o f
us.
MARK SHECHNER
