This was a fun and quick read ... I can remember my parents reading me "The Owl and the Pussycat" when I was little and I wanted to find out more about its author. The edition I read had lots of notes about when and where each set of stories, poems and songs was written. I still don't know what a 'runcible spoon' is though!!

5 stars for The Owl and the Pussycat, the Jumblies, and Self-Portrait. 1-2 stars for almost everything else in this cursed book. You'd think "nonsense" would be more fun to read, but this was an absolute chore to finish. I have to confess, by the last 50 pages I was just skimming along, praying for it to end.

This elderly volume is a collection of limericks, songs, poetic renditions of things like the alphabet, and a whole host of amusing ink illustrations. I can't remember for sure why I wanted to read this book (other than an abiding fondness for nonsense), but I was very hopeful that I'd find some charming limericks to add to my collection. This form of poetry is much ignored. But it's books like this one that have made it hard for us to take limericks seriously. There was one that I found very clever, but most were not. Of course, this book was written during that age of children's literature when we assumed that children didn't want their books to be meaningful or heartwarming or problem-solving or powerful or magical. They just needed to be funny. In fact, they didn't have to even be good as long as they were fun for children to read aloud. And I honestly can applaud the idea of letting children enjoy their nonsense and not judging them for it. But I find it hard to fathom how anyone who's spent any time in the presence of a child can't understand how perceptive and empathetic a child is. While children love to be entertained, they also want to feel like what they do matters, and reading this book doesn't really matter.

I'll offer an honorable mention for the nonsense botany, which is a collection of fantastical illustrations with made-up Latin-sounding titles. This section is comically reflecting botany texts but offers such rare plants as the bubblia blowpipa and the armchairia comfortabilis. I admit to chortling a little whenever one of these collections came up.

The Complete Nonsense of Edward Lear

In this work 288 pages spread over 5 books dealing with different subject matter relating to nonsense.

Interesting read in a well laid out and easily accessible book, relating to nonsense with a particularly interesting Victorian theme.

The reader would have to prepare themselves with an open mind, and arguably some patience, that taken the work is clearly quite delightful.

Die perfekte Sammlung der Werke von Edward Lear, dem Erfinder des Limerick, wie wir ihn heute kennen. Witzige Verse mit herrlichen Illustrationen. Der englische Wilhelm Busch.

Und das Ganze in einer sehr hochwertigen Ausgabe der Folio Society. Absolut Toll!

This has been the perfect lighthearted bathroom reading for the past several months

Everyone needs a little nonsense and goofiness in his/her life. We all know a few good authors to go for that—Dr. Seuss, Shel Silverstein, Lewis Carroll. Before I️ picked up this book on a whim somewhere, I️ didn’t know Edward Lear belonged right alongside those other giants of fun and goofy children’s (and of course adults-who-haven’t-grown up) literature.

I started reading this at the beginning of the year with the intention of doing so by a page a day. The stories, rhymes, etc. are bite-sized so it was perfect for this kind of reading. And indeed I️ have more or less followed this practice since with great delight. It’s quite fun to have to start my day with a nonsensical rhyme rolling about in my head.

Great for kiddos. Great for adults who are actually kiddos.

Limericks and nonsense abound. From well loved verse like the owl and the pussy cat to the Jumblies, Edward Lear will delight and amuse both young and old alike.

Lessons Learned From Complete Nonsense:

Indulge in Some Nonsense - Not everything in life has to make sense. Reading works like Edward Lear's Complete Nonsense can be difficult for me. When I read anything--magazines, books, the nutrition facts on the back of my hazelnut Hershey bar--I automatically become a drilling rig, whose sole mission is to find pools of knowledge. I became frustrated while reading Lear's work. I felt lost. I could not extract meaning from what I was reading. I felt like the thirteen-year-old version of myself reading Sophocles' Oedipus Rex for the first time. Halfway through the book, I realized that not being able to find meaning in words right in front of me no longer bothered me. Instead, I solely focused on visualizing the eerie characters and scenes that I stumbled upon while reading. By the end, I found my precious pool of knowledge. Here is what I learned: Exposing yourself to literature that at first does not make sense to you can be daunting, but, there is much to gain from this experience. Reading Lear's work helped me gained new perspectives, provided me with multiple bursts of creative thinking, and taught me that sometimes, the joy we take away from what we read is all we need.

Somewhat like Thurber - suffers from age. But he was a unique talent that delighted many in the early 1900s.

It is interesting to read one of the first books for children that was not a morality book. These books were meant purely for fun. Lear has a catchy sing-song rhythm in his writing that makes you want to read the verse out loud.

An interesting look at children's literature from 150 year ago.

Nonsense in the best possible way!