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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
15 of 16 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
A slim concise volume of Keats's letters and poems to Fanny Brawn, which I bought after seeing the film, wishing for some of the gaps to be filled in. Such a pity that none of Fanny's letters were preserved. His letters and poems are so intense, it is impossible to read more than one at a time. I had to put the book aside after each one. What a sad a beautiful man, i feel that if he hadn't died from consumption at such a young age, he would have been consumed by his own fire so ardently did it rage. One good thing it has led me to read more Keats, which oh shallow me, I probably would not have done so.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
John Keats is one of the best poets I have ever had the honor to read. Having died at the age of 25, John Keats may have lived a short life but his poetry and letters show he knew much more about love and life than most of us today. This book, in particular, serves as a companion to the 2009 movie "Bright Star", staring Abbie Cornish and Ben Whishaw. As the movie focuses on the doomed romantic relationship between John Keats and Fanny Brawne, this book offers selected poetry and letters that John Keats wrote to Fanny. Unfortunately, none of Fanny Brawne's letters have survived.
Despite the fact that all the letters included in this book are all from John Keats, you still are given a glance into his heart. After reading this book I was in awe at how deep and personal his letters and poems were. A few tears were shed, both of sadness and happiness. Even though Fannny Brawne did finally marry six years after Keats death you can not believe anything but that these two were soul mates in the highest sense of the word.
Despite the fact that all the letters included in this book are all from John Keats, you still are given a glance into his heart. After reading this book I was in awe at how deep and personal his letters and poems were. A few tears were shed, both of sadness and happiness. Even though Fannny Brawne did finally marry six years after Keats death you can not believe anything but that these two were soul mates in the highest sense of the word.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
12 reviews
26 of 26 people found the following review helpful
Luminous But Somewhat Lacking
30 Sep 2009
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Published as a companion to the motion picture of the same name directed by Jane Campion [The Piano], this is a collection of the love letters and poems written by John Keats to his beloved Fanny Brawne. For anyone who enjoyed the film, as I did, the book provides a glimpse at the inspiration and source material for Campion's work. Campion's introduction to the collection gives a history of Keats and Brawne's intense love for each other. The love letters are delightful, touching, painful and the poems are amongst the greatest of the Romantic era. One inexplicable exclusion from the collection is "Ode to a Nightingale," a poem of Keats' that figures in the film. The recitation of "Ode to a Nightingale" during the final credits by the actor who portrays Keats, Ben Whishaw, is reason enough to go see the film. Though readily available in poetry collections and on the internet, the absence of this beautiful and key poem from a collection centered around this tragic love story is a shortcoming and may disappoint those who want to savor its words in print.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Must-read for Keats fans
17 Feb 2011
I'm not fond of painful, tortured love stories in fiction, but when faced with someone's actual painful love story, I'm devastated. John Keats has been one of my favorite poets since forever, but this is the first time I've read any of his writing other than poetry. Keats died when he was only 25, and he died without getting to marry his only love, Fanny Brawne. This short volume contains his love letters to Fanny and concludes with several of his love-related poems.
In the letters, Keats keeps saying that he knows Fanny can't feel the same toward him as he does toward her. I haven't read enough of his biography to know if he's being coy and encouraging her to write more about her feelings, or if he actually doesn't think she cares as much for him. Mostly, it seems that he was very much concerned that she would fall for someone who had greater claims to prosperity and respectability. He was poor and without any real hope of advancement because, during his lifetime, his poetry was poorly received and didn't sell. One of the problems the letters keep bringing up is Keats' failing health. He spends so much of his time sick, and while he's convalescing he doesn't know if it would be better to see Fanny or not. Her presence encourages him, but it also saddens him because even if he were to recover, their situation is still hopeless.
Keats is not an entirely perfect man in his letters. He comes across as a bit proud; he's glad that the trifling cares of the world don't matter at all to him, but frustrated because he has to give some thought to worldly provisions if he's ever going to be with his beloved. He himself says that he knows he's not writing proper love-letters, and that he's being "ungallant". Though to a modern reader, his lovely articulate letters seem awe inspiring when we're used to text messages. "I consider it no mean Happiness to have lov'd you thus far" still sounds better than "I miss u, lol, kthxbye!"
After reading these heartbreaking letters, I have to think about their value outside of plain biography. Other than admiring the letters as historical documents or perhaps enjoying them as a tragic love story (again, I don't enjoy tragic love) what can we readers take away from them? First, I think about how John Keats labored in obscurity and wasn't able to make enough money to marry Fanny while they still had the time. I also think about how we should applaud and support excellence and beauty whenever we find them--if some influential patron had decided to support Keats and spread the word about his poetry, who knows how this story might have ended? The other more important lesson I glean from the Bright Star story is how we should appreciate our loved ones fully while we have them--we never have them as long as we think.
This book is a decent introduction to Keats himself, a perfect companion to the film, and a very good introduction to a famous literary love story.
In the letters, Keats keeps saying that he knows Fanny can't feel the same toward him as he does toward her. I haven't read enough of his biography to know if he's being coy and encouraging her to write more about her feelings, or if he actually doesn't think she cares as much for him. Mostly, it seems that he was very much concerned that she would fall for someone who had greater claims to prosperity and respectability. He was poor and without any real hope of advancement because, during his lifetime, his poetry was poorly received and didn't sell. One of the problems the letters keep bringing up is Keats' failing health. He spends so much of his time sick, and while he's convalescing he doesn't know if it would be better to see Fanny or not. Her presence encourages him, but it also saddens him because even if he were to recover, their situation is still hopeless.
Keats is not an entirely perfect man in his letters. He comes across as a bit proud; he's glad that the trifling cares of the world don't matter at all to him, but frustrated because he has to give some thought to worldly provisions if he's ever going to be with his beloved. He himself says that he knows he's not writing proper love-letters, and that he's being "ungallant". Though to a modern reader, his lovely articulate letters seem awe inspiring when we're used to text messages. "I consider it no mean Happiness to have lov'd you thus far" still sounds better than "I miss u, lol, kthxbye!"
After reading these heartbreaking letters, I have to think about their value outside of plain biography. Other than admiring the letters as historical documents or perhaps enjoying them as a tragic love story (again, I don't enjoy tragic love) what can we readers take away from them? First, I think about how John Keats labored in obscurity and wasn't able to make enough money to marry Fanny while they still had the time. I also think about how we should applaud and support excellence and beauty whenever we find them--if some influential patron had decided to support Keats and spread the word about his poetry, who knows how this story might have ended? The other more important lesson I glean from the Bright Star story is how we should appreciate our loved ones fully while we have them--we never have them as long as we think.
This book is a decent introduction to Keats himself, a perfect companion to the film, and a very good introduction to a famous literary love story.
6 of 7 people found the following review helpful
"When I have fears that I may cease to be...." *
3 Dec 2009
Format:Paperback
This slim 132 page book was published as a companion to the film "Bright Star" (2009) directed by Jane Campion, who also wrote the introduction. I did not see the movie, as it was shown in only a few theaters in this area for a brief period of time, and hardly any word of it was mentioned in the local newspapers. I understand that it will be out in DVD in January 2010.
Anyone who loves the poetry of the English Romantic Writers, e.g., Byron, Coleridge, Wordsworth, Shelley, et al, is already familiar with the poems of John Keats. It is interesting, though, that these poems and letters were the product of Keats's intense love for Fanny Brawne. Written in the last few years of his life, they are honest, open, touching, and full of life, love, and youthful optimism. They also hint of the tragedy yet to come.
A letter written on 27 February 1821 by Joseph Severn, the friend who accompanied Keats to Rome, recalls Keats's last moments:
"He is gone-he died with the most perfect ease-he seemed to go to sleep. On the 23rd, about 4, the approaches of death came on, 'Severn-I-lift me up-I am dying-I shall die easy-don't be frightened-be firm, and thank God it has come!' I lifted him up in my arms...he gradually sunk into death-so quiet-that I still thought he slept. I cannot say now-I am broken down from four nights' watching, and no sleep since, and my poor Keats gone."
(ENGLISH ROMANTIC WRITERS - David Perkins, Ed. p.1263)
How could I give anything less than 5 stars?
* The first line of "When I Have Fears" by John Keats (1818)
Anyone who loves the poetry of the English Romantic Writers, e.g., Byron, Coleridge, Wordsworth, Shelley, et al, is already familiar with the poems of John Keats. It is interesting, though, that these poems and letters were the product of Keats's intense love for Fanny Brawne. Written in the last few years of his life, they are honest, open, touching, and full of life, love, and youthful optimism. They also hint of the tragedy yet to come.
A letter written on 27 February 1821 by Joseph Severn, the friend who accompanied Keats to Rome, recalls Keats's last moments:
"He is gone-he died with the most perfect ease-he seemed to go to sleep. On the 23rd, about 4, the approaches of death came on, 'Severn-I-lift me up-I am dying-I shall die easy-don't be frightened-be firm, and thank God it has come!' I lifted him up in my arms...he gradually sunk into death-so quiet-that I still thought he slept. I cannot say now-I am broken down from four nights' watching, and no sleep since, and my poor Keats gone."
(ENGLISH ROMANTIC WRITERS - David Perkins, Ed. p.1263)
How could I give anything less than 5 stars?
* The first line of "When I Have Fears" by John Keats (1818)
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