Rimbaud and Jim Morrison, the Rebel as Poet

From Publishers Weekly Fowlie, a leading translator of Arthur Rimbaud and professor emeritus of French literature at Duke, here attempts to trace the aesthetic affinities between the French symbolist poet and '60s rock icon and Doors lead singer, Jim Morrison. Fowlie contends that both Rimbaud, the iconoclastic young poet who at the age of 20 forsook poetry for a peripatetic life as a merchant-adventurer and Morrison, the macho, nihilistic, self-styled shaman of late-'60s acid rock, refigure the boyish archetypes of the clown and the rebel; for Fowlie, both were restive, bohemian, visionary poets who attained an extraordinary, posthumous mythical status. He prefaces his readings of Rimbaud's and Morrison's "poetry" with a brief memoir stressing his pedagogical aims: to recruit readers of French poetry among jaded kids who can only deal with high culture in the context of familiar pop cultural icons. Missing from this study, however, is a critical perspective of the tawdrier aspects of Morrison's fame, which sprang, in part, from his talent for turning avant-garde and multicultural tropes into psychedelic cliches. Fowlie's style is lucid and highly personal, if humorless. Readers who are not fans of the Doors may roll their eyes at Fowlie's earnest attempts to explicate their lyrics in terms of Nietzsche, Antonin Artaud and ancient mythology. Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. From Library Journal Attempting to reconcile the life of a 19th-century French poet with that of an American rock star/poet of the 1960s can be a daring juggling act. In this dual portrayal of Rimbaud and Morrison, Fowlie (Duke Univ.) mostly succeeds in reconstructing their twinned stories, which are rich in uncanny symmetries, among them adventure, rebellion, a brief but rich career, public admiration, and the early death both cult figures experienced. Morrison read and admired Rimbaud, after whom he modeled his life. In this literary analysis, Fowlie seeks to bring out affinities and similarities in their poetry and lyrics. The result is an interesting if curious reading of Rimbaud and Morrison that would appeal to both Doors fans and readers of French symbolism. Recommended for large collections. Ali Houissa, Cornell Univ., Ithaca, N.Y. Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. From Booklist Rock singer Jim Morrison was a fan of nineteenth-century French poet Arthur Rimbaud. Well before he became a star, Morrison was so impressed by Fowlie's translation of Rimbaud that he wrote to him. Fowlie, a distinguished scholar of French literature, later became fascinated by the enigmatic emblem of 1960s youth culture, and especially by Morrison's fascination with Rimbaud. Ultimately, Fowlie became aware of an uncanny symmetry between the two men's careers. Rimbaud created a revolutionary body of alienated and visionary poems, then abandoned poetry at age 21. After a career as an arms trader in Ethiopia and a 20-year absence from France, he died of gangrene. Morrison pursued a self-consciously rebellious career in which he combined an abnormally high level of personal alienation with intense interest in poetry and produced a genuinely visionary body of songs, until his death at 27 from a heart attack, brought on, in part, by longtime substance abuse. Fowlie's unusual essay in comparative biography deserves its admittedly unusual place in libraries that have learned that Morrison is one rock idol whose fans can't read enough about him. John Shreffler