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Product Description
Product Description
The most famous, beautiful and spiritually moving poems of the twentieth-century, read by the most famous poet. Historic recordings of the cream of Eliot’s poetry.
From the Back Cover
It is always something of a revelation to listen to a poet reading his own words, and these tapes are no exception. Eliot clearly and evenly characterises and reveals the voices of some of his most important works in this excellent reading.
'The Waste Land' caught the imagination of the age with its powerful emotional impact. Eliot felt that the modern Western city had become a sterile desert wasteland, and in it life had become a sham pretence, with no content but stale conventionality.
The 'Four Quartets' express the poet's whole-hearted acceptance of the Christian faith. Each poem describes a meditation which leads to a reconciliation with the burden of the past.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
32 of 33 people found the following review helpful
I used to listen to The Four Quartets on 12" vinyl, read by Eliot. Apart from the wonderful poetry, his very voice has echoed in my mind these past 30 years since I last heard the recording.
There are phrases which, in his reading, have stayed with me: "human kind can not bear very much reality", "all shall be well and all manner of things shall be well." "We shall not cease from exploration and the end of our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time."
They say that Paul Scofield's reading is magnificent. I don't know: I've not heard it. But, however good, it cannot compare with the author himself reading this work. It is, in a word, sublime.
And - BONUS TIME! Amazon's listing has it that this is an audio cassette edition. Not so - it's CD! I was getting all worked up about having to get the cassettes copied to CD but note: 'HCCD 1164' [Harper Collins] is a 2-CD set. So 4 Quartets can go straight into my Sony MP3 player. Magic.
There are phrases which, in his reading, have stayed with me: "human kind can not bear very much reality", "all shall be well and all manner of things shall be well." "We shall not cease from exploration and the end of our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time."
They say that Paul Scofield's reading is magnificent. I don't know: I've not heard it. But, however good, it cannot compare with the author himself reading this work. It is, in a word, sublime.
And - BONUS TIME! Amazon's listing has it that this is an audio cassette edition. Not so - it's CD! I was getting all worked up about having to get the cassettes copied to CD but note: 'HCCD 1164' [Harper Collins] is a 2-CD set. So 4 Quartets can go straight into my Sony MP3 player. Magic.
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
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I came across Eliot when I was about 14, and though I didn't understand a lot of it (and still don't), I found the weirdness and beauty of the writing utterly compelling. Then I got a vinyl LP of Eliot reading the poems himself, which I pretty well wore out. I've heard others reading Eliot, but they don't compare. If you want probably the greatest poetry in the language, and the best reading of them, look no further. And I doubt that even I will wear out the CDs.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
As an undergraduate, I discovered Eliot (1888-1965) tangentially; one my lecturers, a tall, red-headed inspiration who looked as I imagined Hereward-the-Wake to have looked, used this line "human kind can not bear very much reality" in one of his lectures and it penetrated deeply. On investigation, he revealed the source.
Later, I discovered "The Four Quartets" on 12" vinyl, read by Eliot; his high, lilting and lugubrious voice came as a complete surprise to me, just as WB Yeats reading his work had been a surprise. (I do not know exactly what I was expecting as his voice, but its American undertones softened by many years living in this country, the clipped tones and deliberate articulation were not it. However, like meeting the archetypal Englishman, a cheery, sociable and out-going friendliness playing the part at a cocktail party and later discovering - over canapes - there was more to the apparently superficial, polite and mandatory smile, I soon became willingly immured in its soft resonances.)
There are other recordings, e.g. Paul Schofield and Ralph Fiennes, but Eliot's reading is essential for anyone interested in his work or serious students. Accomplished actors performing these poems will undoubtedly be good but having Eliot reading his own work is like having Beethoven conducting his "Eroica" - the timing, phrasings and emphasis are the creators. (I know not every writer is a suitable reader of his own work but Eliot is an exception.)
"We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time."
T.S. Eliot -- "Little Gidding" (the last of his Four Quartets)
Readers of his work who listen to this anew with his voice will "know the place for the first time" and delight in the discovery.
Later, I discovered "The Four Quartets" on 12" vinyl, read by Eliot; his high, lilting and lugubrious voice came as a complete surprise to me, just as WB Yeats reading his work had been a surprise. (I do not know exactly what I was expecting as his voice, but its American undertones softened by many years living in this country, the clipped tones and deliberate articulation were not it. However, like meeting the archetypal Englishman, a cheery, sociable and out-going friendliness playing the part at a cocktail party and later discovering - over canapes - there was more to the apparently superficial, polite and mandatory smile, I soon became willingly immured in its soft resonances.)
There are other recordings, e.g. Paul Schofield and Ralph Fiennes, but Eliot's reading is essential for anyone interested in his work or serious students. Accomplished actors performing these poems will undoubtedly be good but having Eliot reading his own work is like having Beethoven conducting his "Eroica" - the timing, phrasings and emphasis are the creators. (I know not every writer is a suitable reader of his own work but Eliot is an exception.)
"We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time."
T.S. Eliot -- "Little Gidding" (the last of his Four Quartets)
Readers of his work who listen to this anew with his voice will "know the place for the first time" and delight in the discovery.
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