Summary
The essays here, collected posthumously, were mostly written during the period after Brodsky was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1987. Included is his groundbreaking title essay on Robert Frost, in which Brodsky interprets the terror inherent in Frost's prosody; an inspiring graduation address given at the University of Michigan; and pieces about Thomas Hardy and other poets.
Customer Reviews
Review this book!
Media Reviews
"For this essay on Frost, for an equally probing one on four poems by Thomas Hardy, for 'Homage to Marcus Aurelius', for half a hundred pages on an English translation of a poem Rainer Maria Rilke wrote in German 90 years ago, and for the many scattered felicities, this collection is an occasion for gratitude. It is rare for someone so advantageously situated, within poetry but both within and outside of American speech, culture, and experience, to confide in us with such pedagogic confidence." -- Hugh Kenner
-- New York Times Book Review
"A magisterial volume of essays....But no, 'magisterial' is too settled and august a term for what Brodsky had ventured. Though he was laden with all the public honors...the writer remains vital and volatile in the best ways." -- Sven Birkerts
-- Boston Sunday Globe
Bibliographic Details
Publisher: Farrar Straus & Giroux
Published date: 1995
Size: 6 x 8.75 inches
Weight: 1.5 pounds
Pages: 484
Publisher's Notes
On Grief and Reason is the second volume of Joseph Brodsky's essays, and the first to be published since he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1987. In addition to his Nobel lecture, the volume includes essays on the condition of exile, the nature of history, the art of reading, and the idea of the poet as an inveterate Don Giovanni, as well as a homage to Marcus Aurelius and an appraisal of the case of the double agent Kim Philby (the last two were selected for inclusion in the annual Best American Essays volume). The title essay is a consideration of the poetry of Robert Frost, and the book also includes a fond appreciation of Thomas Hardy, a "Letter to Horace", a close reading of Rilke's poem "Orpheus. Eurydice. Hermes", and a memoir of Stephen Spender. Among the other essays are Mr. Brodsky's open letter to Czech President Vaclav Havel and his "immodest proposal" for the future of poetry, an address he delivered while serving as U.S. Poet Laureate. In his Nobel lecture, Mr. Brodsky declared that "verse really does, in Akhmatova's words, grow from rubbish; the roots of prose are no more honorable" - but his own prose's flowering in these essays gives us thought and language at their noblest.
Other Editions
Similar books
Essays of the Masters
by
The Siren and Selected Writings
by Giuseppe Tomasi Di Lampedusa
Exile and Pride
by Eli Clare
In interconnected essays, Clare links her life to the "rednecks" and clearcuts she grew up among, the "freak shows" of the nineteenth century, and the "transgender warriors" of today. Her intelligence and wit shine through her ruminations on cerebral palsy, child abuse, and her love of nature, and the connections among the histories of disabled people, women, and gay/lesbian/bi/trans people.
Stolen Words
by Thomas Mallon
The definitive book on the subject of plagiarism (The New York Times) is updated with a new afterword about the Internet. What is plagiarism, and why is it such a big deal? Since when is originality considered an indispensable attribute of authorship? Stolen Words is a deft and well-informed history of the sin every writer fears from every angle. Award-winning author Thomas Mallon begins in the seventeenth century and pushes forward toward scandals in publishing, academia, and Hollywood, exploring the motivations, consequences, and emotional reverberations of an intriguing and distressingly widespread practice. In this now-classic study, Mallon proves himself to be one of our most versatile, original, and delightful writers.
Finding a Form
by William H. Gass
From the author of The Tunnel comes a new collection of essays, his first in eight years, on art, writing, nature and culture. This book is by one of the most important and briliant thinkers at work today.
|
0 items in cart
Muze Inc. For personal non-commercial use only. All rights reserved. Some content for books is owned by Baker & Taylor, Inc. or its licensors and is subject to copyright and all other protections provided by applicable law.
