Status
Available
Call number
Publication
Berkley/Windhover Book (1975), Paperback
Description
William Bonney, a.k.a. "Billy the Kid," killed his first man when he was twelve. By the time he was twenty-one he had, by his own reckoning, slain nineteen more. In the intervening years he had become "Billy the Kid," bloodthirsty ogre and outlaw saint. Drawing on contemporary accounts, period photographs, dime novels and his own fund of empathy and imagination, Michael Ondaatje traces Billy's passage across the blasted landscape of 1880 New Mexico and the collective unconscious of his country. The Collected Works of Billy the Kid is a virtuoso synthesis of storytelling, history, and myth.
Media reviews
Der Mensch William Bonney, seine Zeit, seine Umgebung, die Menschen, die sein Leben kreuzten, die Umstände seiner fortwährenden Flucht, schließlich sein Ende - all das wirkt ungefilter und direkt, so dass das Buch zu einer Art chronistischer Collage geworden ist, was in diesem Fall wertvoller
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und intensiver ist als eine faktenreiche Biographie. Und dieses Buch ersetzt seine Verfilmung, da es bei der Lektüre Bilder im Kopf des Lesers evoziert - im Gegensatz zu dem Roman, der diese Bilder meist komplett mitliefert. Show Less
User reviews
LibraryThing member edwinbcn
I also just finished reading [The Collected Works of Billy the Kid] by [[Michael Ondaatje]] the day before yesterday. I think the charm of the book is that it evokes a kind of feeling, somewhere between romance, smut and violence, around a character little is known about for fact. I think everyone
I did not find [The Collected Works of Billy the Kid] representable of [[Ondaatje]]s work. In the afterword it is explained that this was his first work, and is based on his youth fascination with the Wild West.
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has heard of Billy the Kid, but no-one knows much about him or his story, and very little is known from reliable sources. Much of what appears to be known is just conjecture or legend. The book seems to operate well on that edge of the poetic imagination.I did not find [The Collected Works of Billy the Kid] representable of [[Ondaatje]]s work. In the afterword it is explained that this was his first work, and is based on his youth fascination with the Wild West.
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LibraryThing member lriley
An interesting fictionalized rendering of the life of the american outlaw Billy the Kid. Using photographs from the period, newspaper accounts, dime novels and remembrances of some of those who knew Mr. Bonney Ondaatje recreates the myth and legend of this one-man crime wave. Interspersed amid all
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of that at times is some remarkable Ondaatjian poetry. It's a short and unsentimental book--Ondaatje's first work of what you might call fiction (that I know of anyway) and gives of a very tangy southwestern flavor. Well worth reading. Show Less
LibraryThing member veevoxvoom
William Bonney, otherwise known as Billy the Kid, was an infamous outlaw in the Old West. He killed his first man when he was twelve and died at twenty-one, an explosive life. In this collection of experimental poetry and poetry-prose, along with photographs and news reports, Ondaatje recreates the
An absolutely visceral piece of work. I went into it knowing near to nothing about Billy the Kid and his legend, but coming out of the work I feel like I’ve had a long conversation with him. I don’t know how close to the true Billy Ondaatje has come, if the personality quirks he’s captured are right, but I don’t think that’s really the point. Ondaatje’s language reveals an intelligent, thoughtful, doomed young man who has no regrets about what he has done, and whose everyday life is filled with such violence that it surprises me.
Ondaatje’s language is obviously the best part of the collection. His poetry is sharp and stinging, perfectly suiting his less than rosy subject. While those who are looking for a plot won’t find much of one, those who are looking for a bloody life told in searing verse will be certainly pleased.
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life of Billy the Kid from his own words.An absolutely visceral piece of work. I went into it knowing near to nothing about Billy the Kid and his legend, but coming out of the work I feel like I’ve had a long conversation with him. I don’t know how close to the true Billy Ondaatje has come, if the personality quirks he’s captured are right, but I don’t think that’s really the point. Ondaatje’s language reveals an intelligent, thoughtful, doomed young man who has no regrets about what he has done, and whose everyday life is filled with such violence that it surprises me.
Ondaatje’s language is obviously the best part of the collection. His poetry is sharp and stinging, perfectly suiting his less than rosy subject. While those who are looking for a plot won’t find much of one, those who are looking for a bloody life told in searing verse will be certainly pleased.
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LibraryThing member janeajones
The Collected Works of Billy the Kid is a series of vignettes -- poems and prose poems -- that brutally brings the reader into the last year or so of Billy the Kid's life as he encounters, eludes and finally is killed by Pat Garrett. The descriptions of the New Mexico desert are unflinching as are
White walls neon on the eye
1880 November 23 my birthday
catching flies with my left hand
bringing the fist to my ear
hearing the scream grey buzz
as their legs cramp their heads with no air
so eyes split and release
open fingers
the air and sun hit them like pollen
sun flood drying them red
catching flies
angry weather in my head, too
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the matter-of-fact accounts of those gunned down in the duel between the lawmen and the outlaws. We see Billy and Garrett in multiple views -- their own, each other's and from some of the women they encountered. It's a spare, but multi-layered account of survival on the edges of civilization where only amorality exists.White walls neon on the eye
1880 November 23 my birthday
catching flies with my left hand
bringing the fist to my ear
hearing the scream grey buzz
as their legs cramp their heads with no air
so eyes split and release
open fingers
the air and sun hit them like pollen
sun flood drying them red
catching flies
angry weather in my head, too
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LibraryThing member whitewavedarling
As someone who's read most of Ondaatje's other works, I have to say that this one--except in rare moments--just doesn't measure up to the level. The experimentation here does work--between fact and fiction, legend and history, poetry and prose--as perhaps we'd expect it to for Ondaatje. And the
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language, as ever, is often both poetic and memorable, worth lingering over and rereading. What ends up being less successful and making the work fall short compared to Ondaatje's other works are the characterizations. Whether there are simply too many characters included here to support Ondaatje's usual focus on detail, or whether the more detached nature of the work simply pushes us too far from their individual beings within the book, the reader can't quite become connected to the figures here, and the story itself is too disjointed for that to provide a narrative drive. So, in the end, while I enjoyed various points of the work, it did leave me disappointed in comparison to Ondaatje's other works (poetry & prose), and there's no reason that I finished the work in one sitting, outside of length and convenience. Readers of Ondaatje will find moments here that are as masterful as ever, but shouldn't expect too much more than those moments, and entertaining scenes of legend to bring it all together. Show Less
LibraryThing member elissajanine
a profoundly interesting book. I enjoyed the prose more than the poetry, but the way it all came together was quite nice.
LibraryThing member librarianbryan
Mr. Bonney's poetic interior monologues are a bit too well formed for this to ring true, but a great book nonetheless. I would give it more "stars" but I was never enamored with the American West.
LibraryThing member MSarki
Made it about half way through. The book just did not connect with me. I did not believe it, hard as I tried. However, I am a big fan of the legend of Billy the Kid, but this work left me disappointed and adrift. After looking now at two of his books, it is clear I am not an Ondaatje fan even if he
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is an anointed one. Show Less
LibraryThing member Bcushman
This book for me was just ok. I found the style of writing to be disjointed. Maybe you just have to be more of a poetry lover than I am to enjoy the whole thing. There were some very enjoyable passages and short narratives but its all a little hard to follow.
LibraryThing member rrainer
This is my favourite book in the world. This is the book I give copies of to people I adore. I read it for the first time as part of a university course in, I think, 1996, and it has only grown on me since.
LibraryThing member sherrienf
This book is a study of the American outlaw, Billy the Kid and weaves fact and fiction, poetry and prose to form a lyrical and violent story of what his life might have been like. An engrossing read, a book of contrasts with vivid imagery at once dreamlike and harshly realistic.
LibraryThing member blanderson
Beautiful and surreal, phantasmagorical and beautifully visceral.
The prose sections of the book were much more interesting and enjoyable. The poetry, at times, seemed to try way to hard to be 'edgy' or 'strange' whereas the lumpy prose sections seem to tell the same odd stories in a more fitting,
Definitely a unique and interesting book, though my favorite part is probably Ondaatje's Afterword, where he describes the writing process he underwent.
The prose sections of the book were much more interesting and enjoyable. The poetry, at times, seemed to try way to hard to be 'edgy' or 'strange' whereas the lumpy prose sections seem to tell the same odd stories in a more fitting,
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and effective, matter of fact style. Personally, I have never cared for Ondaatje's verse, but love his fiction, so that might be the reason for my appraisal.Definitely a unique and interesting book, though my favorite part is probably Ondaatje's Afterword, where he describes the writing process he underwent.
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LibraryThing member pennsylady
The collected works of Billy the Kid (1970)
by Ondaatje, Michael
This brief work is a compilation of storytelling, history, and myth, about William Bonney, a.k.a. "Billy the Kid, " (1859-1881)
Speculative and fanciful, we're privy to Billy's "mind and motives" as he (Billy) narrates.
You'll find tall
Ondaatje reminds us of the work's design.
"I was fascinated by the mind and imagination and motive of someone like Billy ...
There was a need to create a world where Billy could breathe and act in total freedom."
by Ondaatje, Michael
This brief work is a compilation of storytelling, history, and myth, about William Bonney, a.k.a. "Billy the Kid, " (1859-1881)
Speculative and fanciful, we're privy to Billy's "mind and motives" as he (Billy) narrates.
You'll find tall
Show More
tales, poetry, prose, songs, photographs and eye witness accounts from the period.Ondaatje reminds us of the work's design.
"I was fascinated by the mind and imagination and motive of someone like Billy ...
There was a need to create a world where Billy could breathe and act in total freedom."
Show Less
LibraryThing member libbromus
I knew nothing about this book before I picked it up. I had recently read "In the Skin of a Lion" and that book left me dumb with awe. First few pages in and I'm thinking - Wow, William Bonney was quite a wordsmith. Avant-garde. 1/3 the way through and I'm thinking - hold on, what am I reading
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here? So then I look it up on Goodreads and figure out this is fiction. But not just any old fiction, it's poetry, and not just any old poetry. No shit!, I say to myself, this is GLORIOUS! It's indescribable, but I'll try anyway. Ondaatje inhabits Bonney. He becomes corporeal, alive, wet, dirty, brutal, and human. So very human. 2 for 2, Ondaatje has struck me dumb. Show Less
LibraryThing member Carrie_Etter
Interesting hybrid work of fiction, poetry, interview, etc. on the life of Billy the Kid. Refreshingly original and consistently engaging.
Subjects
Awards
Governor General's Literary Award (Finalist — 1970)
Language
Original publication date
1970
Physical description
7.8 inches
ISBN
0425029573 / 9780425029572
Local notes
OCLC = 912
Google Books
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