The Portable Henry Rollins is an anthology of Rollins poems, essays, short stories as well as his diary entries and occasional rants.This is a book that is easy to read in one, quite emotional, session. But to me this has been a book to savor and devour in small doses, whenever my mood was right, and in need, for a comfort read such as this.This was not a joyful read but a morbid, dark journey into words I often fell in love with every cell in my body as much as it was a journey into words I fell in hate with every cell of my body.Some of the pieces were so powerful that I was not sure should I curl up in the fetal position while shedding all of my tears over it, because it so completely and utterly gets it. I was not sure should I spread my kisses all over the pages as an expression of an admiration, because it so completely and utterly gets it. Some of the pieces were so weak, it was almost embarrassing to let them lie between the soft covers of this mind shattering work. But my disliking never overshadowed my respect towards the intellection, the thought process behind Rollins writing. Weep. Wreck. Repeat. Weep. Wreck. Repeat. One of those books. One of those rare books. Weep. Wreck. Repeat.Perfect setting, and a setting this book deserves, for a reading session would be:- fireplace, and a gloom of an candle light- expensive, high-quality whiskey- big, fat cigar Weep. Wreck. Repeat. Also posted at http://hfk.booklikes.com/
Henry Rollins is my savior. I understood Henry Rollins before I understood myself. I picked this book because it contains excerpts from many of Rollins' other books. I have read Get In The Van by Rollins and that book saved my life. I respect Henry Rollins very much. He is a very smart man. My favorite quote from the book is: “I'll never forget how the depression and loneliness felt good and bad at the same time. Still does.” I love this quote because it so true and I can relate to it very well. I have feelings and thoughts very similar to those of Henry Rollins and that is why I love reading his works. As always, Rollins' writing style is amazing. I feel as though I am not ENTIRELY alone in the world; feel as though there is actually some reason behind all these bullshit feelings and bullshit thoughts. Henry Rollins is the closest thing I have to a God in my life. I wouldn't recommend this book to everyone. Not all people understand the feelings which Henry Rollins talks about in his writing. If you do not hate something or are not angry, reading anything by Henry Rollins is not a good idea. If you have a strange and burning hatred towards everything, Henry Rollins is an excellent gateway to finding some humanity.
Do You like book The Portable Henry Rollins (1998)?
At times there were shimmers of something good to read. The writing quickly got old fast however.Now don't get me wrong, I am a fan of Mr.Rollin's music and spoken word. I find both excellent and equally honest and gritty.With this book however, it was too much of a "WELCOME TO MY SICK SAD WORLD" and whether or not it holds true to the author himself, I could care less. It was overall just a monotonous experience. With the one track mind Henry has shown through his poetry, diary entries etc over the years of his published works there has been very little development.Now I understand how he feels but regardless this was just a snooze-a-thon in the end and I struggled to get to the end. On the flipside, I speculate whether or not my morals are in the right place on a day to day basis. I also wonder if anyone can see the grimness that I feel inside despite my smiles and courtesy "Yes, I've had a pretty good day." THANKFULLY Henry reminds me that is all good and I am yet to sink to the true level of socially inept depravity others have made their goal to wear like a cowl.You keep on despising Henry, I'll keep on paying your bills.
—Gabriel Strange
Not what I was expecting...thought this was going to be more of an autobiography, but it's much more than that. He is definitely angry as a young man. Some of the book confused me - probably because I know nothing about Henry Rollins, Black Flag or Rollins Band. Some of the writing is great, some is strange (couldn't tell if certain parts were real or imagined). I like the Solipsist section the best-some of what he described there really spoke to me. (I think if I were to read any other Rollins, I'd start there.) I never imagined I could relate to Henry Rollins on a personal level but some passages really resonated with me.
—Jamie
Great compilation of Rollins' work. Ranging from the early works of the Black Coffee Blues -a classic by itself- to Solipsist. Going from short tales, to running diaries on the road with Black Flag. To recall, Rollins was the vocalist and frontman of the extinct hardcore punk seminal metal band of the 80's. Other essays are included, such as the Iron, which was published originally for a body building magazine. Insightful through the whole range of emotions that we all experienced but seldom talk about. Especially to other people than ourselves.
—GoMonroy
