Books like Babel

Upon finding this book tucked away in a dusty antique store many years ago, it felt like I had struck gold. A first edition, out of print, collection of Patti Smith's poetical works. I devoured neo boy, the son of a neck rilke, and the pseudo epic munich, but was unsatisfied by the overall collection. At least, initially.Recently I picked Babel up again and began to appreciate her work in the written form. I was unsatisfied initially by the way her words laid lifelessly on the pages, but this could not be further from the truth. My younger self simply could not appreciate Smith's written verse as my younger self had fallen head over tail in love with Smith performing these works on the stage. While yes, Smith would dazzle with the electrically charged words performed on stage she accomplishes the same feat here! Her unconventional presentation (consisting of lower-case titles in bold with sub-titles italicized and block paragraphs tied together with odd punctuation) strike the reader hard and fast; characterizing her words with this fantastic feeling of triumph and raw power. This collection is a triumph. The words that comprise her works are alive. One need only learn to read it in such a wayShe dedicated this book to the future, I wonder if the future let her down.