First published in 1930 to a storm of protest due to its frank approach, this biography of the Scottish poet, Robert Burns, deliberately seeks to shake the image of Burns as a romantic hero. It exposes the sexual misdemeanours, drinking bouts and waywardness that is often overlooked. The book also brings to life the personality of this man, showing him to be passionate, hard-living, generous, melancholic, morbid and triumphant.
The Life Of Robert Burns (Canongate Classics)
and over 1.5 million other books are available for Amazon Kindle . Learn more
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Did you know you can trade in your old books for an Amazon.co.uk Gift Card to spend on the things you want? Visit the Books Trade-In Store for more details. Special Offer until June 30, 2013: Receive an additional £5 promotional Gift Certificate, when you trade-in at least £10 worth of books. Learn more. |
Book Description
Frequently Bought Together
Product details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
More About the Author
Discover books, learn about writers, and more.
Inside This Book
(Learn More)
Browse and search another edition of this book.
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
Browse and search another edition of this book.
Explore More
Concordance
Browse Sample PagesConcordance
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
It is astonishing that this book was first published in 1930. Its frank and unblinking assessment of the virtues and glaring faults of a great man make it one of the most impressive biographies to come out of the 20th century. Burns' dilemma as impoverished peasant ploughman and (temporary) darling of the polite salons of Edinburgh is beautifully brought out, perhaps because Catherine Carswell was aware of parallels in the life of her friend D.H.Lawrence. Her explicitness about Burns' promiscuous sex-life makes it no surprise to learn that she was fiercely attacked by the 'unco guid' of her day, just as Burns was. Then, as now, people with a distorted understanding of religion turn it into an instrument of condemnation.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
By bobo
Format:Paperback
An excellent read, with just enough references to make it feel convincing. The author has created a credible story of his life, which may use authors licence in places, (I am no Burns Authority). It gives good insight into the period and the lives of many sections of society at the time. I don't understand the above comment that is is unreadable - it is standard English. Thoroughly recommended.
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
A perfect addition to my collection of Robert Burns books. I have no hesitation in recommending this supplier and would use again.
By gille liath
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
I felt a bit depressed on finishing this. Burns' end may have been miserable and premature, but his work is so full of life that you feel he must have enjoyed himself most of the time. Catherine Carswell's Burns, though, is a man who - having elevated himself by his talent above the simple folk he grew up with - spends the rest of his life desperately battling against loneliness and financial ruin. Caught between classes, and unable to find people - particularly women - who are his equals intellectually without considering themselves distant superiors socially, he gradually becomes disaffected by virtually the entire human race, and dies defeated.
Undoubtedly the model for this portrait was Carswell's friend DH Lawrence, who had a similar life in certain ways (although in his case, it was more that he couldn't find anyone he didn't think himself superior to). In reference to Burns, it is a highly conjectural one; Carswell uses a novelist's freedom in relating thoughts, feelings and sometimes even events with complete confidence, even where there can be no way of knowing for sure what they were. She's like a child skipping along a line of posts in a playground. Her footing is firm at the most important points, maybe, and the direction of travel is clear; but the exact nature of the ground in between could as easily be rock or quicksand, according to how she imagines it.
This easy objectification of her writer's instincts is one mark of Lawrence's tutelage; a preoccupation with the sensual - the whole physical side of life - is another. Her comparative frankness about sex would be unusual in a biographer now and must have been deeply shocking when this was first published, especially since it extends as much to her women 'characters' as the male lead.... Read more ›
Undoubtedly the model for this portrait was Carswell's friend DH Lawrence, who had a similar life in certain ways (although in his case, it was more that he couldn't find anyone he didn't think himself superior to). In reference to Burns, it is a highly conjectural one; Carswell uses a novelist's freedom in relating thoughts, feelings and sometimes even events with complete confidence, even where there can be no way of knowing for sure what they were. She's like a child skipping along a line of posts in a playground. Her footing is firm at the most important points, maybe, and the direction of travel is clear; but the exact nature of the ground in between could as easily be rock or quicksand, according to how she imagines it.
This easy objectification of her writer's instincts is one mark of Lawrence's tutelage; a preoccupation with the sensual - the whole physical side of life - is another. Her comparative frankness about sex would be unusual in a biographer now and must have been deeply shocking when this was first published, especially since it extends as much to her women 'characters' as the male lead.... Read more ›
0 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Such a tragedy that this is written in such dated language as to render it
pretty much unreadable.Needs to be re-written or withdrawn.
pretty much unreadable.Needs to be re-written or withdrawn.
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
|
|
Look for similar items by category
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.
|
