A collection of the nonsense writings of prolific Victorian artist and author Edward Lear. Lear’s wonderful brand of absurdism, his arresting artwork, his skill and playfulness with words, have made him an iconic figure for a host of writers from Eley Williams and John Ashbery to Donald Barthelme, Edward Gorey, and W. H. Auden. Lear’s unique blend of quirk, whimsy and strange melancholy, has been part of my literary landscape since I was really young, and ever since lines and images from his nonsense songs have a tendency to suddenly pop up in my head: the Jumblies with their blue hands and green heads, the vast hat of the Quangle Wangle. But now I’m not so sure Lear’s work’s well suited to child readers, despite his marvellously eccentric alphabets and furiously comical images, there’s a vein of deep, almost unbearable, sadness that surfaces from time to time, as in my favourite song, the haunting tale of longing and thwarted desire “The Courtship of the Yonghy-Bonghy-Bo.” It’s a song so weighed down with intense emotions that I found it difficult to deal with when I first encountered it. Revisiting these as an adult it’s hard not to wonder how much the overwhelming loneliness, the sense of futility that pervades characters like the Yonghy-Bonghy-Bo reflects Lear’s own experiences and inner world: almost certainly queer but without a means of embracing that; grappling with long-term illness, and endless money worries. Lear’s most intimate friendship seems to have been with his beloved cat Fop - who features here in a series of beguiling sketches. I still love his work in all its forms, it’s not uniformly great but when it succeeds, I think it’s pure genius.

Victober 2022 Challenge - poetry

This children's book is composed of 4 originally-released as individual separate books:

(1) A Book of Nonsense (1846) - composed of several funny 4-line 1-stanza poems accompanying hilarious pictures

(2) Nonsense Songs, Stories, Botany and Alphabets (1871) - composed of longer poems, several short outrageously funny stories, pictures of out-of-this-world plants and alphabets whose individual letters are accompanied with silly meanings.

(3) More Nonsense Pictures, Rhymes, Botany, etc. (1872) - basically the same as #2

(4) Laughable Lyrics: A Fresh Book of Nonsense Poems, Songs, Botany, etc. (1877) - more of poems and they are supposed to be sung but I don't recognize any of them.

The following are my favorites:

Nonsense Rhyme:

n  There was an Old Man who said, "Well!
Will nobody answer this bell?
I have pulled day and night, till my hair has grown white,
But nobody answers this bell!"n

Nonsense Song:"The Owl and the Pussycat" for their love affair and the lines: "O lovely Pussy, O Pussy, my love, / What a beautiful Pussy you are, / You are, / You are! / What a beautiful Pussy you are!" There is also the poem (song) entitled "The Daddy Long-Legs and the Fly" and it struck me because I know there is a children's book about Daddy Long-Legs. So, that one came from this work by Edward Lear?

Nonsense Story: "The History of the Seven Families of the Lake Pipple-Popple" is my favorite because it is easier to read and has more funny pictures. "The Story of the Four Little Children Who Went Around the World" is also nice and it felt related to what Edward Lear dreamed when he was still alive: go around the world. Even if this is a children's book, you can still see how the poems and stories are actually based on the author's thoughts, experiences and even dreams.

John Ruskin, author of The King of the Golden River, also a very recent read, has this to say about this book: "Surely the most beneficent and innocent of all books yet produced is the "Book of Nonsense," with its corollary carols, inimitable and refreshing, and perfect in rhythm. I really don't know any author to whom I am half so grateful for my idle self as Edward Lear. I shall put him first of my hundred authors." Coming from an author who wrote a nice novel about wind toppling the vicious brothers and some kind of powerful hermit-king turning the river into gold, adds credibility to this book. This is a nice funny book especially if you have nothing to do and you just want to enjoy simple poems with rhymes that you normally see posted on the kindergarten room's walls.

Edward Lear (1812-1888) was an English artist, illustrator, author and poet, and is renowned primarily for his literary nonsense, in poetry and prose and especially his limericks, a form that he popularised. So, there is really a genre or sub-genre for literary nonsense. Cool, I have at least one book friends who always talks nonsense but he is funny. We don't always want to be serious, right? Besides, it is easier and more enjoyable and more beneficial to health if we laugh more in between serious matters.

What is also noteworthy here is the genius of Edward Lear as an illustrator. Brilliant. Even if the figures were more than a century old, they still look fresh as if they were conceptualized by Lear only yesterday.

How Pleasant To Know Mr Lear! Indeed: what a privilege to be in his runcible world. Best well known for his limericks, this book includes his letters, drawings, musings and longer poems too. What a wonderful, nonsensical, scroobulous world Lear made.

It was fun to read between the rhymes, not just lines. Unfortunately, the more I read this utter nonsense book, the more I realise that I am really not into poetry books. While I found most of the first book (yep, Complete Nonsense is a bundle of Lear’s Nonsense books) amusing, I had to skip through the pages because things just seem too over the top here.

The drawings (especially the nonsense botany) and the songs (e.g., The Owl and the Pussy-Cat) are Lear's best stuff. Many of the limericks are painful. I shouldn't have been surprised by this, but my 4-year-old, when she listened, enjoyed Lear more than I did. Also, if you didn't know that Lear's primary work was drawing birds for ornithology books, please take a few minutes to check out that stuff. It's amazing.

"Here is every line of every nonsense book written by Edward Lear. In a single volume you get 'A Book of Nonsense,' 'Nonsense Songs,' 'More Nonsense Songs,' 'Laughable Lyrics,' and 'Nonsense Songs and Stories.' No other lo9w-price edition offers this complete collection.

...

"It has been a hundred years since Edward Lear, the advocate of illogic, first became known to a wide public. Children who begged to have his verses read to them have grown up to read Lear to their own children -- and to discover that his whimsy, imagination, and originality have their attractions for the adult mind as well."
~~back cover

I mixed up Norman Lear with Edward Lear, and it was the former I wanted to read. The humor and whimsy of the latter aren't my cuppa, unfortunately.

A fascinating insight into the eccentric life of Edward Lear who was famous for his nonsensical works of verse and limericks which he wrote for children and adults alike. His illustrations were a true imagery that delighted all who saw them. Although on a personal level, he managed to keep himself apart from most folk, he nonetheless still had his finger on the pulse of man's humanity which allowed him to capture with daring the ineptness and subtleness of the many faces of man. His use of animal comedic style made it all the more acceptable his hilarious and yet sometimes cruel barbs on society in general. A much loved figure in his time and from generations after, Edward Lear's work is still highly regarded even now. Highly recommended.

DNFd @ ~30%. Lear might have popularised limericks but the vast majority of these are dire: repetitive (>80% end with the same pattern), lazy (self-rhymes), and uninspired. Kids might like some of the illustrations but definitely not one I’ll be going back to. One to get from the library, if curious.

Sin sentido???Pues para mí sí que tiene, y mucho!!hay que encontrarle el sentido al sin sentido...

Creo que es libro más original que me he leído nunca, mezclando poesía, narrativa, dibujos, abecedarios, canciones, recetas de cocina....increíble!!Leeré más de Edward Lear; dejaré que me sorprenda aún más!

Great introduction to poetry for kids. The little poems are funny in their absurdity but also at times give food for thought, intentionally or not. Cool illustrations from over 150 years ago from the author. Overall a super enjoyable book to read with kids.

The poems (which make up most of the book) are great fun, but the nonsense tales have not dated well. The one with the seven baby birds, fish, guinea pigs etc where they all get killed then their parents all commit suicide was horrendous - what on earth was going on in his life to make him write that?! I was reading this to try to cheer myself up and then he sprang that on me!

The limerick about the person from Cromer really tickled me. Not sure why that is my favourite, but it is.

مثل ماقلت من قبل، أدب التفاهة حاجة غريبه وجميلة وممتعة!
أفكار كثيره عجيبه تُخلط وتتحرك وتخرج بسلاسة وكأنها تحدث كُل يوم.
شخصيات لا تفكر بإمكانية تحويلها لأبطال قصص تجدها ترقص وتسافر في مغامرات طويله لا معنى لها.
حبيت إدورد لير من هالكتاب. حس الفكاهة عنده جداً عالي ومميز.