- Hardcover: 500 pages
- Publisher: Faber and Faber; First as Such edition (1 Feb 1998)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 057117227X
- ISBN-13: 978-0571172276
- Product Dimensions: 23.9 x 17.8 x 6.1 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 471,185 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
John Keats
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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.
Product Description
The outline of the story of John Keats's life is well known: the archetypal life of the Romantic genius, critically spurned and dying young. This biography aims to enrich the facts with an understanding of how Keats fitted into the intellectual and political life of his time. It includes detailed examination of significant friendships with anti-establishment figures such as Hazlitt and Hunt, and the closeness of Keats's own spirit to the ferment all around, as expressed in his poems. The book also presents information about his schooldays and medical training.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
33 of 36 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A welcome insight into the life a marvellous poet,
By A Customer
This review is from: Keats (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.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Not Only For The Keats' Scholar,
By
This review is from: John Keats (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.
16 of 29 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
A disappointment as far as entertainment is concerned.,
By A Customer
This review is from: John Keats (Paperback)
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 life. As a text book it is probably ideal, but do not look for entertainment here. I found the writing dull and when I look back on the content, it could have been oh so different if presented a bit more cleverly. A struggle to read and a disappoinment.
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