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Fearful Symmetry: A Study of William Blake (Princeton Paperbacks)
 
 
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Fearful Symmetry: A Study of William Blake (Princeton Paperbacks) [Paperback]

Northrop Frye (Author)
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Customers buy this book with The Cambridge Companion to William Blake (Cambridge Companions to Literature) by Morris Eaves Paperback £18.99

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Review

A magnificent, extraordinary book. . . . Several great poets have written of Blake, but this book is the first to show the full magnitude of Blake's mind. -- "The Spectator

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Published in 1947, Fearful Symmetry was Northrop Frye's first book and the product of over a decade of intense labour. Drawing readers into the imaginative world of William Blake, Frye succeeded in making Blake's voice and vision intelligible to the wider public. Distinguished by its range of reference, elegance of expression, comprehensiveness of coverage, coherence of argument, and sympathy to its subject, Fearful Symmetry was immediately recognized as a landmark of Blake criticism. Fifty years later, it is still recognized as having ensured the acceptance of Blake as a canonical poet by permanently dispelling the widespread notion that he was the mad creator of an incomprehensible private symbolism.For this new edition, the text has been revised and corrected in accordance with the principles of the Collected Works of Northrop Frye series. Frye's original annotation has been supplemented with references to currently standard editions of Blake and others, and many new notes have been provided, identifying quotations, allusions, and cultural references. An introduction by Ian Singer provides biographical and critical context for the book, an overview of its contents, and an account of its reception. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
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This book offers an explanation of Blake's thought and a commentary on his poetry. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Amazon.com:  7 reviews
84 of 89 people found the following review helpful
Judging the book by its cover . . . 9 July 2001
By A Customer - Published on Amazon.com
Format:Paperback
One disadvantage of browsing online bookstores is that you can't simply skim the cover blurbs; sometimes you just have to settle for the opinions of strangers like me. So it may be helpful to read the quotes on the back cover of my copy of 'Fearful Symmetry.'

"To say it is a magnificent, extraordinary book is to praise it as it should be praised, but in doing so one gives little idea of the huge scope of the book and of its fiery understanding . Several great poets have written of Blake, but this book, I believe, is the first to show the full magnitude of Blake's mind, its vast creative thought." -- Edith Sitwell, 'The Spectator'

"According as we agree or disagree with Mr. Frye's contention we shall decide finally on the supremacy of his book. In following the structure of Blake's total vision and relating it to the thought of his age he has triumphantly carried out a task which, given the giant shape of the material, cannot help being immense. His cadences, by sheer explanatory devotion, approach the sonorities of Blake's own." -- 'Times Literary Supplement'

"Frye conducts his ambitious study with unflagging energy, great enthusiasm, and immense erudition." -- 'Poetry'

"An intelligent and beautifully written critical interpretation of the poetry and symbolic thought of William Blake..." -- 'New Yorker'

My opinion: Northrop Frye's literary criticism manages to shift the ground underfoot in the same rare way Blake's poetry does. Frye was the first to crack Blake's code, remove from him the labels of Mystic and Nutcase, and reveal him as a poet who systematically recreates the world. Frye taught Blake to Jesuits, Communist organizers, deans of women, and angry young poets. He was continually pleased to encounter doctors, housewives, clergymen, teachers, blue-collar workers, and shopkeepers, all with a great and deep appreciation of Blake.

Frye's deep appreciation and admiration for Blake comes through on every page, six times over. I reread this book about every five years, each time coming away seeing the world upside down, inside out, and worth renovating.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful
searchlight 8 Oct 2008
By Mark A. Fitzgerald - Published on Amazon.com
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
I have a much clearer sense of Blake's writings now that I've read this book. I took a long time in finishing it, reading some major poems by W.B. at the same time. This is really an exciting book; it brings to life a whole universe - that lived in the poet's imagination. Blake is alive today (in the spirit of his artistic creations) I am convinced. William Blake had a great gift for describing aspects of real life in a way that was inspired by the Bible, and some other imaginative or visionary artists and poets; he was also highly opinionated. It's impressive how well Frye understood Blake's gift, and his personal life, which also makes a strand of this effort, which is a literary effort in it's own right. Anyone with an interest in Blake ought to read this book. It's a tool that allows one to approach Blake's creations of writing and visual artistry with an active (as well as open) mind.
37 of 44 people found the following review helpful
Best exposition of Blake 3 April 2000
By A Customer - Published on Amazon.com
Format:Paperback
Blake sets us in the middle of a rich mythological structure. This is the best book for explaining what that structure is and how Blake will come to an element and illuminate sometimes inconsistent characteristics of that element if viewed in a limited selection. And yet when Blake's work is examined as a whole an encompassing structure is revealed where each part has been carefully delineated and accurately described throughout. Since Blake's collected works are rather massive it is very helpful to have an overview of Blake's view of man when examining how any one particular image is dealt with in a poem. Else, one might think that Blake's portrayals are incongruent from poem to poem, while his vision is actually quite cohesive. Frye wrote another excellent essay on Blake, the title has something to do with the Fourfold Key. It shows the structural similarity between Blake, Marx and Freud.

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