Product Description
Written to mark the centenary of Rimbaud's death in 1891, Reed's interpretation covers the crucial period in 1873 when Rimbaud was living out the writing of Une Saison en Enfer. Delirium is a book about what it means to go to the edge and risk everything. It is one poet's reading of another's heroic and subversive credo, by which imaginative truth is seen as the ultimate reality. To his exploration of Rimbaud's drug addiction, homosexuality, and violent liason with Paul Verlaine, Reed brings an enlivened understanding of Rimbaud's desire to shock the world by truth, reinvesting him with the precocity, near-madness, and vision essential to his genius. An imaginative - reconstruction of Rimbaud's life"" - TLS. ""The life of a tortured scamp who made history"" - David Hughes, Time Out. ""Has the merit of conviction"" - The Guardian. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

sunk under the weight of its own pretentions
I wanted to like this book, I really did. It's all artsy and rebellious, possibly like Rimbaud himself. But oh, it is pretentious! It's like Reed took a straight-up Rimbaud biography, a lot of half-baked hippie rants, some political and social arguements which would have probably left the real Rimbaud scratching his head, and stuffed it all in a blender. (Set on puree, dry to a paste, spread it on paper. Voila, this book.) This is more the author's screaming than anything relevant to Rimbaud. If you want an artistic representation of Rimbaud's life, watch "Total Eclipse". If you want a Rimbaud biography, pick any other; they're all better than "Delirium".

rimbaud himself would have loved this book
"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.

An Unintentional Breakthrough
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 chaosthat is the source of all poetry, it is a promethean breakthrough. I highlyreccomend it.

disappointing....
This book is certainly Reed's interpretation of Rimbaud.I found his interpretations to be a bit far reaching, and at times absurd.Reed often goes on into his own "poetic" rantings and all too oftendescribes what he see's to be comparisons between his own life and that ofRimbaud.I had to force myself to finish this book. It was verydisappointing.Any one interested in Rimbaud would do much betterreading - Rimbaud- by Enid Starkie, or -Rimbaud- by Pierre Petitfils. Both are excellent. ... Read more