synopsis:

a collection of fragments of prose and poetry, circulating around the central theme of rimbaud seeing himself as a 'white french nigger' (he called this book his 'livre négre', 'nigger book'), waiting for civilisation, law and religion to come and kill him. it's quite impossible to give a comprehensive synopsis of this book: we suggest you read it. for more on rimbaud's poetry in general, click here.

on this book:

A Season in Hell is Rimbaud's only work published in his own lifetime. At the time few read it; some estimates suggest that only six copies of the book sold. Rimbaud could not afford to pay the printer, and most of the edition stayed in the print shop cellar for nearly three decades.

Rimbaud became a significant influence on many key 20th-century artists, eventually infiltrating pop culture by way of Dylan and Van Morrison songs. Jim Morrison thought of himself as Rimbaud reincarnate. A Season in Hell inspired Kerouac, Ginsberg hers in the group, he took on the role of teacher, encouraging Kerouac and Ginsberg (see "And shocks of hospitals and jails and wars..." and "Moloch whose Soul is electricity..."), Burroughs and many of the Beats, who could certainly relate to the image of the artist as an irresponsible and unaccountable creative genius.see also: * "O witches, O misery, O hate..."