The Raven

by Lou Reed, Lorenzo Mattotti (Artist), Gary Groth (Editor)

Created by Lou Reed as a musical adaptation of the writings of Edgar Allan Poe and produced on stage by Robert Wilson under the title POEtry, The Raven, in its latest and loveliest incarnation, now boasts another collaborator: the legendary cartoonist and illustrator, Lorenzo Mattotti, who brings out all the terror and beauty of this centuries-spanning masterwork.

In 2000, veteran rock 'n' roller Lou Reed, legendary director Robert Wilson, and a cast of singers and actors premiered Reeds musical POEtry in Hamburg's Thalia Theatre.

An ambitious combination of Edgar Allan Poe's poems and stories and Reed's reinterpretations of same (with a few classic Reed songs, such as Perfect Day and The Bed integrated for good measure), POEtry bridged the centuries to provide a unique vision of beauty and horror for the dawning 21st century.

In 2003, Reed released (under the title The Raven) a double CD reprising the musical, featuring an all-star cast of singers and actors including Steve Buscemi, David Bowie, Laurie Anderson, Willem Dafoe and the Blind Boys of Alabama, as well as an edited single-CD version focusing on the songs.

Now, for the definitive book version compiling the songs, verses and narratives that comprise POEtry / The Raven, Reed has personally commissioned legendary Italian illustrator and cartoonist Lorenzo Mattotti (Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Stigmata) to visualise this extraordinary collaboration.

Genres: Poetry, Music, Dyscalculia, Art, The United States Of America, Comics, Classics

163 pages, Hardcover

First published August 10, 2003

About the author

Lou Reed was an influential American rock singer-songwriter and guitarist. He first came to prominence as the guitarist and principal singer-songwriter of The Velvet Underground (1965-1973). The band gained little mainstream attention during their career, but in hindsight became one of the most influential of their era. As the Velvets’ principal songwriter, Reed wrote about subjects of personal experience that rarely had been examined in rock and roll, including bondage and S&M ("Venus in Furs"), transvestites ("Sister Ray" and "Candy Says"), drug culture ("Heroin" and "I'm Waiting for the Man"), and transsexuals undergoing surgery ("Lady Godiva's Operation"). As a guitarist, he was a pioneer in the use of distortion, high volume feedback, and nonstandard tunings.

Reed began a long and eclectic solo career in 1971. He had a hit the following year with "Walk on the Wild Side", though for more than a decade Reed seemed to willfully evade the mainstream commercial success its chart status offered him. One of rock's most volatile personalities, Reed's work as a solo artist has frustrated critics wishing for a return of The Velvet Underground. The most notable example is 1975's infamous double LP of recorded feedback loops, Metal Machine Music, upon which Reed later commented, "no one is supposed to be able to do a thing like that and survive." By the late 1980s, however, Reed had won wide recognition as an elder statesman of rock.

Reviews

[Laurent De Maertelaer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lou Reed bloemleest Poe. Dit is Bob Wilsons rockopera ‘POEtry’ (https://robertwilson.com/poetry) in boekvorm, gebaseerd op Reeds bewerkingen en songs. Die bewerkingen zijn niet altijd even geslaagd. Evenmin als de vertalingen van Thé Lau, die heel erg vrij en intuïtief zijn. Subliem als altijd zijn de bij momenten verbluffende illustraties van grootmeester Lorenzo Mattotti. Merci @anncatteeuw voor het cadeau 😘

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

By turns beautiful and disturbing, Lou Reed has adapted the poems and stories of Edgar Allan Poe as a musical, presented here as a book of lyrical poetry and prose. The illustrations by Mattotti are by turns dream-like and nightmarish, in both stark monochromes and vividly febrile colour.

This is the first time I've seen Mattotti's artwork, so I can't compare it to any of his others, but as an isolated example I have to say he's able to brilliantly express Reed/Poe at both their most wistful and most morbid.

Whether you're a fan of Reed, Poe or Mattotti, I don't see where you can go wrong with this book.

Second Reading : I enjoyed it even more thoroughly than the first time - add an extra half-a-star. I miss Lou Reed.

[Catalina · Rating 3 out of 5]

El corazón delator,
el aliento sofocado;
el deseo…

[Michaël Van Caeneghem · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mijn waardering geldt vooral de schitterende tekeningen van Lorenzo Mattotti. De teksten, gebaseerd op het werk van Edgar Allan Poe, zijn pseudo-mystiek en willen een een duistere sfeer oproepen, maar zijn uiteindelijk erg oppervlakkig.

[Thomas · Rating 3 out of 5]

A multi-format melange of poetry, song, theatre and visual art that is not quite the sum of its diverging parts but is nevertheless a fascinating exploration of both Poe's and Reed's work. The language the use compliment each other, showing the effect the imagery of writers such as Poe has had on the gothic and romantic elements of modern pop and rock, from Reed through the Cure and Placebo. It throws some fresh light on Poe's characters, and Reed's modernisation of the language adds a new twist, a more obvious eroticism and violence, to Poe's creations. The illustrations were not really to my taste but they complete the collection nicely. 5

[Lbkyle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gloomful and Doomtownish
If your into Mr. Poe, then you shall enjoy this little script of poetry

[Nina · Rating 5 out of 5]

szalone

[Stay Fetters · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you love Poe and Reed, then this is definitely for you. The illustrations are terrifying and mesmerizing. Sometimes very disturbing. But, they speak to you in a big way. Makes the poems so much more intriguing.
" I'd like to solve the mysteries of life...
by cutting someone's throat or removing their heart"
You can't get more imaginative then that.
RIP Lou Reed!

[Bettina · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are two different books made in to one.

The first book published in 2003 contains only the lyrics of the album the Raven.

The second edition is illustrated and translated. Even in Dutch.
Great book

But again two different books where made in to one

[Bernard Pauwels · Rating 3 out of 5]

Een beetje overbodig boek, ware het niet van de illustraties van Matotti.
Wie haalt het in zijn hoofd om een tekstbewerking te maken van een meesterwerk van Egard Allan Poe? Lou reed beter tegen een boom.

[Simon Sweetman · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good meeting of minds - Poe/Reed/Mattotti - makes me (almost) want to give the double-album another chance. Almost...

[Kayren mosurinjohn · Rating 2 out of 5]

Maybe I just don't get it.

[800GecsLover · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love lou reed

[Simon Sweetman · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like this a lot more now than I did when released. And I liked it quite a bit then — love the audacity of it.