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Book of the Week: Haiku U

 

 

With so many of us confined to quarters, or even to dimes and nickels, it may be time to recall those great books we were asked to read as unwilling freshmen, and David F. Bader is here to help us with his 2005 book, Haiku U: From Aristotle to Zola, 100 Great Books in 17 Syllables. David’s delightful Foreword might be regarded as adequate revenge on the authors he sends up, but the ‘haiku’ themselves compound the felony many times over.
Enjoy our latest Book of the Week!

 

The Canterbury Tales

Pilgrimmes on spryng braecke—
roadde trippe! Whoe farrtted? Yiuw didde.
Noe, naught meae. Yaes, yiuw.

 

Pride and Prejudice

Single white lass seeks
landed gent for marriage, whist.
No parsons, thank you

 

Principia Mathematica

Cherry blossoms fall
with Force equal to Mass times
Acceleration.

You can read the entire book in the THF Digital Library.

Do you have a chapbook published 2010 or earlier you would like featured as a Book of the Week? Contact us for details.

Haiku featured in the Book of the Week Archive are selected by THF Digital Librarian Garry Eaton, and are used with permission

This Post Has 8 Comments

  1. you have got to be kidding.this is the worst tripe in print since
    rod mckuen or haiku pretender billy Collins.

    1. I agree – just what I had in mind to say. It has nothing to do with real haiku – it’s just a clog of hycoo. I despair at the rubbish that passes for haiku using the form but with absolutely no idea what haiku is about.

      1. There was no pretense at seriousness in this selection. I found this book amusing, and am glad I am not afflicted with the kind of puritanism that prohibits a smile at someone else’s good clean fun.

        1. It could be said that the only ‘affliction’ here is an ignorant support for ‘tripe’ that assumes the name of ‘haiku’ and further debases it – there’s far too much of that around.

  2. Sorry folks. Looks like I farted in church. There was a mix up about copyright, so this one will not appear. Look in again next week.

    Garry

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