This biography of W.H. Auden, one of the best-known English poets of the century, is not only a study of his life and ideas, but a commentary on the wars, ideologies and attitudes of his times. Auden saw his life as a quest, and his journey took him from Edwardian middle-class boyhood in Birmingham and precocious poetic brilliance at Oxford in the 1920s to bold sexual and psychological experiments in Weimar Berlin and radical politics in 1930s Britain, followed by a searching self-reinvention and grave and unpopular revision of his work after settling in the USA in 1939. Davenport-Hines describes how Auden always pushed himself to surmount new tests and ordeals in his quest, and argues that his life reached its pitch of emotional excitement and intellectual integrity in the 1940s and 1950s.
Auden (Vintage Lives)
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An intelligent and enlightening book which-makes you eager to re-read the work of a superbly skilled and moving poet -- Mail on Sunday
Literary biography at its best -- Sunday Telegraph --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.
Literary biography at its best -- Sunday Telegraph --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.
Book Description
'A refreshing and convincing all-round portrait of the greatest English poet of this century, warts and all' Independent on Sunday (20020220)
--This text refers to an alternate
Paperback
edition.
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5.0 out of 5 stars
3 reviews
12 of 12 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent biography!
22 Mar 2002
By Geoff Puterbaugh
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Hardcover
This is a very well-done life of W. H. Auden, a man who may well turn out to be the finest English poet of the twentieth century. It is a fascinating work, which traces Auden's literary and poetical development in tandem with all the events in his real life in this real world. The most important of them (for Auden) was his life-long love of Chester Kallman, which became quite complex over time -- Auden reported feelings of paternal solicitude, jealousy, and erotic rivalry -- all occurring at the same time! Unusually, for a major biography of a major poet, there are scenes from the poet's cottage at Fire Island, which help to situate Auden in a very real New York social world.
But none of this is what set Auden apart -- not his romances nor his politics. Unlike some other poets, Auden worked at his craft unceasingly, probably becoming a leading world expert on poetic meter.
And he worked at his art. Anyone who has ever practiced any sort of craft or art -- ballet, writing, whatever -- knows well just how hard it is to make things seem effortless. And so Auden could produce such "effortless" things as the opening to his "Lullaby" ---
Lay your sleeping head, my love,
Human on my faithless arm;
Time and fevers burn away
Individual beauty from
Thoughtful children, and the grave
Proves the child ephemeral:
But in my arms till break of day
Let the living creature lie,
Mortal, guilty, but to me
The entirely beautiful.
If that looks easy to you, just have a go yourself! :-)
In summary: a very good biography of a major poet. Highest recommendation!
3 of 4 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Auden a biography by Richard Davenport-Hines, 1995
4 July 2008
By Douglas Jewett
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Paperback
This is splendid literature in it's own right. Davenport has gotten deeply into Auden's life and argues for it's unrelenting energy and pervasive sense of purpose. This might be missed in a life story which sometimes seems almost wearying in it's social and intellectual complexity. It is deeply and knowingly appreciative of Auden, bringing the poetry itself into loving focus, and sending the reader back to read it in a new, stronger light.
5.0 out of 5 stars
very good
9 April 2013
By alberto.leoni
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
The product arrived quickly and in excellent condition.
this biography is one of the few published until now Auden. It is complete and compelling.
Davenport-Hines presents an intimate portrait of Wystan Hugh Auden.
Davenport-Hines make this book an challenging and well-documented study of Auden's life.
this biography is one of the few published until now Auden. It is complete and compelling.
Davenport-Hines presents an intimate portrait of Wystan Hugh Auden.
Davenport-Hines make this book an challenging and well-documented study of Auden's life.
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