John Keats
and over one million other books are available for Amazon Kindle .
Learn more
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
 Trade In this Item for up to £1.05
Get an extra £5 when you trade in books worth £10 or more until June 30, 2012. Trade in John Keats for an Amazon.co.uk gift card of up to £1.05, which you can then spend on millions of items across the site. Trade-in values may vary (terms apply). Find more products eligible for trade-in.
|
Frequently Bought Together
Product details
|
More About the Author
Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
Whitbread Prize-winning biographer Andrew Motion (Philip Larkin: A Writer's Life) aims to broaden our understanding of John Keats (1795-1821) by paying close attention to the historical context in which he wrote and the political opinions he voiced. The poet was "of a sceptical and republican school", Motion argues, and Keats's work reflected his experiences "not just as a private individual, but socially and politically as well." This bracing reinterpretation stresses the vigour of Keats's character as well as his verse, burying for good the sentimental cliché of a sickly dreamer concerned only with art for art's sake.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Product Description
Keats is the first major biography of the poet for some thirty years, and it differs from its predecessors in important respects. The outline of the story is well known - has become, in fact, the stuff of legend: the archetypal life of the Romantic genius, critically spurned and dying young.
What Andrew Motion brings to bear on the subject is a deep understanding of how Keats fitted into the intellectual and political life of his time. Important friendships with such anti-establishment figures as Hazlitt and Hunt are given their full due, and the closeness of his own spirit, as expressed in his poems, to the ferment all around is made clear. Many significant new facts about Keats's schooldays and medical training, in particular, enrich the picture. Keats emerges as a more political figure than he is usually portrayed, but his personal sufferings, too, come into closer focus. Most importantly, Andrew Motion - himself a distinguished poet - demonstrates how the poems continue to exert their power.
Inside This Book
(Learn More)
Suggested Tags from Similar Products(What's this?)Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product)
|
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
34 of 37 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Motion's biography was my first introduction into the life of Keats. I had encountered Keats's poetry in the past, but often at the fringes. Reading this book engendered a still thriving interest in one of the English language's finest poets. Perhaps because it was my first introduction to this marvellous life, this biography held and fired my interest. The telling of the life was laced with some literary criticism. I thought the criticism could have been more penetrating. If there was a flaw in this book, that was it. Keats's short life is revealed in his letters and poetry. For Keats, a criticism of his poetry becomes an essential part of his biography. Overall, it was an agreeable book with a wonderful story ably told.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I approached Andrew Motion's biography of John Keats with some apprehension - I am no expert, academic or poet. Having read and struggled through Richard Ellmann's biography of Oscar Wilde a few years ago, I did wonder if I was going to enjoy Motion's book at all.
I really need not have worried. This is a really approachable text, obviously within the parameters of its subject matter. Yes, it will probably help if the reader is already familiar with Keats' work, but I am sure that it would equally serve very well as introducing a new reader to the poet. I'm certainly not a Keats' scholar and although I was familiar with some of his work, mainly the sonnets, I hardly knew the longer poems, such as Hyperion, The Fall of Hyperion and Endymion. Motion amply discusses these poems within a biographical context. Those predominantly `literary' chapters are the hardest to get through, but they are certainly worth the effort, as I feel that I have now gained a general understanding of Keats' poetry and I feel ready to read them for pure enjoyment.
As for telling the story of John Keats, the man, Motion does a really amazing job, painting a thoroughly modern picture of Keats as a strong, independent young man, rather than the effeminate, delicate dreamer who, as Byron wrote shortly after Keats' death, `let himself be snuffed out by an article'. I am sure that the Keats described by Motion is the real John Keats; a man whose name was not, as his self-penned epitaph reads, `writ in water', but in eternity.
I really need not have worried. This is a really approachable text, obviously within the parameters of its subject matter. Yes, it will probably help if the reader is already familiar with Keats' work, but I am sure that it would equally serve very well as introducing a new reader to the poet. I'm certainly not a Keats' scholar and although I was familiar with some of his work, mainly the sonnets, I hardly knew the longer poems, such as Hyperion, The Fall of Hyperion and Endymion. Motion amply discusses these poems within a biographical context. Those predominantly `literary' chapters are the hardest to get through, but they are certainly worth the effort, as I feel that I have now gained a general understanding of Keats' poetry and I feel ready to read them for pure enjoyment.
As for telling the story of John Keats, the man, Motion does a really amazing job, painting a thoroughly modern picture of Keats as a strong, independent young man, rather than the effeminate, delicate dreamer who, as Byron wrote shortly after Keats' death, `let himself be snuffed out by an article'. I am sure that the Keats described by Motion is the real John Keats; a man whose name was not, as his self-penned epitaph reads, `writ in water', but in eternity.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I would recommend this book to anybody interested in Keats. I got a copy from the library and didn't want to give it back. I think it's very well written, informative, sympathetic, and gives a colourful representation of the life of the poet, his siblings, and all of the friends and associates who helped shape his life. It's also fascinating to anybody interested in the not too distant history of our country. You can look up names mentioned in the book and see what impact or contribution they had to society and the arts, or whatever.. Joseph Severn, for instance. I won't say how he was connected to Keats (spoiler), but his story alone is really interesting and worth a read.
Apart from that, Keats came over very well, extremely sociable, humorous, kind-hearted and dedicated to his calling, but the book doesn't gloss over the various problems that beset him during his short life.
I thoroughly enjoyed the book even though I knew there would be no happy ennding. Read the book, see Bright Star, then go to the house in Hamptead.
Apart from that, Keats came over very well, extremely sociable, humorous, kind-hearted and dedicated to his calling, but the book doesn't gloss over the various problems that beset him during his short life.
I thoroughly enjoyed the book even though I knew there would be no happy ennding. Read the book, see Bright Star, then go to the house in Hamptead.
Would you like to see more reviews about this item?
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Keats by Andrew Motion
Excellent service. Although we were notified that the delivery would have been after Christmas the book arrived before, which was a bonus.
Published on 20 Jan 2010 by C. Economou
A disappointment as far as entertainment is concerned.
While the book is well laid out and probably quite accurate, it did little to hold the attention with page after page of what could have been interesting facts about the poets... Read more
Published on 27 Mar 2001
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
|
|
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
|
