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Gaze Into the Abyss: The Poetry of Jim Morrison (Annotated): A Critical Analysis
"William Cook has written an admirable analysis of Jim Morrison’s poetry, taking us far beyond the sophomoric judgments of most music journalists and critics." - DAVID SHIANG, President at Open Sesame Marketing & Communications, also Sales & Marketing Consultant to the Big Data Consulting marketplace Experfy at the Harvard Innovation Lab, and generally recognized as the world's leading authority on Jim Morrison and The Doors.
"GAZE INTO THE ABYSS ... offers new and valuable insights into Morrison's writing. Jim's poetic gift was often ignored and certainly not fully appreciated while he lived and I, for one, am grateful for this in-depth look." - JAMES RIORDAN, author of "Break on Through: The Life & Death of Jim Morrison," called the most objective and definitive Morrison biography by the New York Times Book Review.
"No other rock poet went so deep into his soul. That is what separates Jim Morrison from the rest. Jim and his words were timeless and reached deep into those people who got it, turning them into worshipers. Even the new generations get it. This book by William Cook finally address the phenomena that was Jim Morrison the poet." - PAUL FERRARA, photographer and Doors intimate.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: William Cook lives in New Zealand and is best known as the author of critically-acclaimed macabre fiction. His books include the novel "Blood Related," the short story collection "Dreams of Thantos," and the poetry collection"Corpus Delicti."
"GAZE INTO THE ABYSS ... offers new and valuable insights into Morrison's writing. Jim's poetic gift was often ignored and certainly not fully appreciated while he lived and I, for one, am grateful for this in-depth look." - JAMES RIORDAN, author of "Break on Through: The Life & Death of Jim Morrison," called the most objective and definitive Morrison biography by the New York Times Book Review.
"No other rock poet went so deep into his soul. That is what separates Jim Morrison from the rest. Jim and his words were timeless and reached deep into those people who got it, turning them into worshipers. Even the new generations get it. This book by William Cook finally address the phenomena that was Jim Morrison the poet." - PAUL FERRARA, photographer and Doors intimate.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: William Cook lives in New Zealand and is best known as the author of critically-acclaimed macabre fiction. His books include the novel "Blood Related," the short story collection "Dreams of Thantos," and the poetry collection"Corpus Delicti."
- GenresPoetry
134 pages, Paperback
Published August 10, 2020
31 people are currently reading
51 people want to read
About the author
William Cook
32 books92 followersWilliam Cook was born and raised in New Zealand and is the author of the popular Psychological Thriller, 'Blood Related.' He is also the author of two non-fiction books: 'Gaze Into The Abyss: The Poetry of Jim Morrison' and 'Secrets of Best-Selling Self-Published Authors.'
He has also written many short stories that have appeared in anthologies and has authored two short-story collections ('Dreams of Thanatos' & 'Death Quartet') and two collections of poetry ('Journey: the search for something' & 'Corpus Delicti'). William writes Psychological Thrillers mostly, but also dabbles in Horror Fiction and, more recently, Non-Fiction.
He is currently hard at work on a sequel to his Psychological Thriller, 'Blood Related,' a second volume of 'Secrets of Best-Selling Self-Published Authors' and an exciting new Pulp Thriller Series all due out in 2016. Stay tuned!
William loves to stay in touch with his readers and interact on social media. You can find him via the following links:
Email: williamcookauthor@gmail.com
Twitter: @williamcook666
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WilliamCookW...
Grab a free copy of William's 250 pg collection, 'Dreams of Thanatos.' Sign up now for the VIP newsletter at: http://williamcookwriter.com/p/subscr... (just copy and paste into your browser).
His work has been praised by Graham Masterton, Joe McKinney, Billie Sue Mosiman, Anna Taborska, Rocky Wood and many other notable writers and editors. William is also the editor of the anthology 'Fresh Fear: Contemporary Horror,' published by James Ward Kirk Fiction.
Member of the Australian Horror Writers Association, SpecFicNZ & the SFFANZ.
"This man is simply scary. There is both a clinical thoroughness and a heartfelt emotional thoroughness to his writing. He manages to shock as well as empathize, to scare as well as acclimatize, yet beneath it all is a well read intelligence that demands to be engaged. I loved Blood Related. Ordinarily I hate serial killer stories, but William Cook won me over. He is a unique and innovative talent."
- Joe McKinney, Bram Stoker Award-winning author of Flesh Eaters and Dog Days
"William Cook tells a gruesome story with a sense of authenticity that makes you question with considerable unease if it really is fiction, after all."
- Graham Masterton, author of The Manitou and Descendant
He has also written many short stories that have appeared in anthologies and has authored two short-story collections ('Dreams of Thanatos' & 'Death Quartet') and two collections of poetry ('Journey: the search for something' & 'Corpus Delicti'). William writes Psychological Thrillers mostly, but also dabbles in Horror Fiction and, more recently, Non-Fiction.
He is currently hard at work on a sequel to his Psychological Thriller, 'Blood Related,' a second volume of 'Secrets of Best-Selling Self-Published Authors' and an exciting new Pulp Thriller Series all due out in 2016. Stay tuned!
William loves to stay in touch with his readers and interact on social media. You can find him via the following links:
Email: williamcookauthor@gmail.com
Twitter: @williamcook666
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WilliamCookW...
Grab a free copy of William's 250 pg collection, 'Dreams of Thanatos.' Sign up now for the VIP newsletter at: http://williamcookwriter.com/p/subscr... (just copy and paste into your browser).
His work has been praised by Graham Masterton, Joe McKinney, Billie Sue Mosiman, Anna Taborska, Rocky Wood and many other notable writers and editors. William is also the editor of the anthology 'Fresh Fear: Contemporary Horror,' published by James Ward Kirk Fiction.
Member of the Australian Horror Writers Association, SpecFicNZ & the SFFANZ.
"This man is simply scary. There is both a clinical thoroughness and a heartfelt emotional thoroughness to his writing. He manages to shock as well as empathize, to scare as well as acclimatize, yet beneath it all is a well read intelligence that demands to be engaged. I loved Blood Related. Ordinarily I hate serial killer stories, but William Cook won me over. He is a unique and innovative talent."
- Joe McKinney, Bram Stoker Award-winning author of Flesh Eaters and Dog Days
"William Cook tells a gruesome story with a sense of authenticity that makes you question with considerable unease if it really is fiction, after all."
- Graham Masterton, author of The Manitou and Descendant
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
September 18, 2015
The most common question of Doors fans is, what do Jim Morrison’s poems mean? Poetry is different from other writing. In a novel you have at least two hundred pages to leisurely take your reader to your meaning. However, poetry is like painting, you have to use the words thickly to color the poem with meaning and that is why poetry strikes fear into those unaccustomed to the cadences and codes of the symbols and imagery. Add to that Jim Morrison intentionally made his poetry obscure. William Cook in his new book “Gaze into the Abyss: The Poetry of Jim Morrison”, gives us a good starting place in understanding Morrison’s poetry.
“Gaze into the Abyss” starts where Jim Morrison’s poetry starts in his tyro works of “The Lords” and “The New Creatures”. The focus is mainly on “The New Creatures” since there is more to work with in that collection. “The Lords” is more a collection of aphorisms given a poetic context and taken by Morrison from a college paper he had written on film. As Cook promises early in the book he is successful in taking the myth of Jim Morrison rock star out of the equation to look at Morrison’s poetry nakedly.
The poetry of Jim Morrison can be examined from many different angles: auto-biographical, lyrics, the Rimbaud of rock and roll (The Beatles and Bob Dylan also embraced Rimbaud), Nietzche’s influence, LSD, alchemy, anthropology, and mythology, most of which Cook touches on quickly in this slim volume.
Cook takes on the obscurity of Morrison’s poetry and gives us a context and perhaps a Rosetta Stone of deciphering Morrison’s poems. Film. Morrison, of course was a film student so why wouldn’t he layer images upon each other in one medium and not in the other? Morrison also points the way when he said he“…was interested in film because, to me, it’s the closest approximation in art that we have to the actual flow of consciousness.” Another reason for the surreal imagery in Morrison’s poetry (aside from being influenced by surrealists such as Antonin Artaud) was Morrison’s experience of the world through the prism of the rock star may indeed be psychedelic. One who lived through the same experience, Robby Krieger, suggested any movie about The Doors be surrealistic.
William Cook’s “Gaze into the Abyss: The Poetry of Jim Morrison” seems like a primer for those who want to answer the question, what do Jim Morrison’s poems mean? This short volume did touch on the keys to help readers decipher Morrison’s poetry and I found myself wanting more, but there is a plenty of ground to cover with Morrison’s poetry. This will not be the last book on Morrison’s poetry, and is a great place to start.
“Gaze into the Abyss” starts where Jim Morrison’s poetry starts in his tyro works of “The Lords” and “The New Creatures”. The focus is mainly on “The New Creatures” since there is more to work with in that collection. “The Lords” is more a collection of aphorisms given a poetic context and taken by Morrison from a college paper he had written on film. As Cook promises early in the book he is successful in taking the myth of Jim Morrison rock star out of the equation to look at Morrison’s poetry nakedly.
The poetry of Jim Morrison can be examined from many different angles: auto-biographical, lyrics, the Rimbaud of rock and roll (The Beatles and Bob Dylan also embraced Rimbaud), Nietzche’s influence, LSD, alchemy, anthropology, and mythology, most of which Cook touches on quickly in this slim volume.
Cook takes on the obscurity of Morrison’s poetry and gives us a context and perhaps a Rosetta Stone of deciphering Morrison’s poems. Film. Morrison, of course was a film student so why wouldn’t he layer images upon each other in one medium and not in the other? Morrison also points the way when he said he“…was interested in film because, to me, it’s the closest approximation in art that we have to the actual flow of consciousness.” Another reason for the surreal imagery in Morrison’s poetry (aside from being influenced by surrealists such as Antonin Artaud) was Morrison’s experience of the world through the prism of the rock star may indeed be psychedelic. One who lived through the same experience, Robby Krieger, suggested any movie about The Doors be surrealistic.
William Cook’s “Gaze into the Abyss: The Poetry of Jim Morrison” seems like a primer for those who want to answer the question, what do Jim Morrison’s poems mean? This short volume did touch on the keys to help readers decipher Morrison’s poetry and I found myself wanting more, but there is a plenty of ground to cover with Morrison’s poetry. This will not be the last book on Morrison’s poetry, and is a great place to start.
January 18, 2016
William Cook takes the "Lizard King's" poetry and gives us the inside look on his thoughts. Morrison's poetry will always be remembered as memorable storms gazing over an open sky of pure imaginative.
As for me reading poetry is an enjoyment of the word choice to explain ones metaphors. From all styles; Dadaism, Stanzas, free verse, etc. It amazes me and keeps me looking for new authors everyday.
I went in reading "Gaze Into the Abyss" thinking it was going to be boring like trying to figure out a Robert Frost poem (like I did in High School for half a semester.) BUT! This was not that, William Cook has made me get a copy of Lords and New Creatures, as I only read Morrison's Wilderness collections. I will look back into this book for insight as I read Morrison's Lords and New Creatures. Thank You!
As for me reading poetry is an enjoyment of the word choice to explain ones metaphors. From all styles; Dadaism, Stanzas, free verse, etc. It amazes me and keeps me looking for new authors everyday.
I went in reading "Gaze Into the Abyss" thinking it was going to be boring like trying to figure out a Robert Frost poem (like I did in High School for half a semester.) BUT! This was not that, William Cook has made me get a copy of Lords and New Creatures, as I only read Morrison's Wilderness collections. I will look back into this book for insight as I read Morrison's Lords and New Creatures. Thank You!
January 3, 2016
Truly a gifted poet in the spirit of Arthur Rimbaud, Paul Verlaine, Antonin Artaud and the philosophical wherewithal of a Friedrich Nietzsche, whom he is closely, or has to be, compared to. Many deem his writings and stylings as merely sophomoric in nature. That should hardly be the rationale of those that read his works. A contemporary and friend of Steve Richmond and Michael McClure, his prose poems detailing cinema, sex, death, highways and altered states resonate the same messages that those two great poets espoused. He should be looked upon as something other than a rock and roll star, brought down in Miami on bogus charges of simulating masturbation on stage.
Ensenada
the dead seal
the dog crucifix
Ghosts of the dead car sun.
Stop the car.
Rain. Night.
Feel.
Ensenada
the dead seal
the dog crucifix
Ghosts of the dead car sun.
Stop the car.
Rain. Night.
Feel.
January 13, 2021
If you ever wondered what writing poetry while on drugs looks like - here it is. Nonsensical gibberish that would have been more clear if just one poem had a title.
50% of the book is obsessed with sexual metaphor and the other half is just lists of words or phrases, often with no link.
Possibly the worst poetry book I’ve ever read.
50% of the book is obsessed with sexual metaphor and the other half is just lists of words or phrases, often with no link.
Possibly the worst poetry book I’ve ever read.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews