A Life in Letters
Product ID: 70169037
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William Wordsworth is usually remembered as the quintessential Victorian Poet Laureate: a dull, worthy, establishment figure, with impeccable middle class, Tory, Anglican credentials, whose moralistic poetry has been required reading for generations of yawning school children. Yet there is so much more to Wordsworth than Daffodils and The Prelude . This selection of letters and autobiographical fragments introduces us to the real Wordsworth: the rebellious schoolboy, who vandalised his family portraits, became a supporter of the French Revolution and fathered an illegitimate daughter in France; the radical poet whose flouting of the conventions of the day attracted the ridicule of the reviewers and forced him to endure thirty years of rejection, obscurity and financial hardship before achieving belated critical and popular success; the devoted brother, husband and father who could still write passionate love letters to his wife after ten years of marriage and the birth of five children; and, finally, the revered patriarch whose poetry formed the hearts and minds of a generation, whose opinions were sought by writers, politicians, churchmen and educationalists throughout the English speaking world, but who thought nothing of vaulting walls, skating on the Lakes or climbing Helvellyn even in his seventies. Review: One to plough through! - A departure from Juliet Barker's usual easy going style. Still remarkably informative like The Bronte's but feel this is rather heavy going. Review: An excellent biography - This is very readable and informative. It interweaves his life and poetry very effectively. My only criticism of this edition is that the print is very small and a strain upon the eyes.
| Best Sellers Rank | 365,930 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) 834 in Criticism on Poetry & Poets 1,628 in Biographies on Novelist & Playwrights 2,541 in Essays, Journals & Letters |
| Customer Reviews | 4.4 out of 5 stars 27 Reviews |
M**Y
One to plough through!
A departure from Juliet Barker's usual easy going style. Still remarkably informative like The Bronte's but feel this is rather heavy going.
M**N
An excellent biography
This is very readable and informative. It interweaves his life and poetry very effectively. My only criticism of this edition is that the print is very small and a strain upon the eyes.
D**E
Brilliant
A fantastic piece of work. It brings the poet truly to life.
B**L
Five Stars
Very good book
D**S
Attractive book
Interesting
H**S
first-rate, but beware that paperback is ABRIDGED
This is a splendid narrative, but be alert that the Penguin paperback is "abridged for paperback publication." And it doesn't say just how much is abridged, or what. Research scholars will want the hardback; general readers can probably do with the paperback.
P**S
Excellently Researched and an Excellent Readable Work
Research over several years has resulted what is a very readable biography of over 800 pages (which was published in 2000), plus another 100+ pages of notes, so the sheer size alone may not be something that the faint hearted are looking for. Wordsworth himself may well have used an analogy in terms of the reading of this book being like an ascent of Scafell Pike, a hard slog, but well worth it for the perspective and views achieved. I know the English Lake District and western Cumbria well and I think this helped me personally enjoy many passages of this book to the full extent, but the book is so well written in such great detail, I doubt anyone will fail to appreciate it. The earliest parts of the book which deal with the subject’s childhood and then his more radical years where certainly my favourite parts of the biography. On first discovering ‘the lakes’ as a child in the 1960s I was in awe of the mountainous areas and my imagination ran wild, so it was good to find that I had this in common with the young Wordsworth. If anyone begins to read this work thinking of Wordsworth as a rather boring character they will soon have reason to alter this perception having read about his more radical youth, time spent in revolutionary France where he falls in love and a child is the result. The fact that Wordsworth has this child in France has implications for him until and after the end of his life. Later there is the friendship with Coleridge and this is dealt with in detail throughout and having read of the early association between the two men (The Making of Poetry by Adam Nicolson 2019) I was pleased to read as to how this developed over time. Numerous other associates and family members are dealt with in some detail throughout, not least of course being his sister Dorothy. In a book of this size there are bound to be a few dry pages but overall the reader is kept interested. I did eventually find the constant reminders and intricate detail about the family financial concerns a wee bit wearisome. Despite financial problems it did not prevent the subject’s many tours of parts of the UK and Europe and again these are written of in some detail as are details of family life at Dove Cottage and Rydal Mount. Many names of visitors crop up with which most readers will be familiar. Family troubles and sorrows occasionally touch the heart. Wordsworth’s later life is dealt with in detail and we see him change from radical young man and often criticised poet to conservative elder and revered Poet Laureate I had read the author’s biography of the Brontes some years ago, so when looking for a good biography of William Wordsworth I was drawn to this one and it did not disappoint, although perhaps it did not reach the heights of the former work. Definitely recommended as an exceptional biography of a great poet, but whilst much of Wordsworth work is quoted in the text, do not come to this book expecting extensive critical comment of his work as this is most certainly not the focus of this book and for me it benefited from that.
P**A
A Wonderful and Complete Biography
Rarely is a biography so good that you cant put it down but this in parts like that--very well written. Not dry at all. Also presented about as accurate a picture of William and Mary and Dorothy Wordsworth as could be given and was entertaining without resorting to made up guesses. Everything said was either supported by letters from the time or a cogent argument was made for Ms Barker's conclusions. I particularly like it for the view it gave of life in that time period and how the Wordsworths were in a constant struggle to cope with finances and with the illnesses of their children-- for which they had no effective treatments. And the mourning that was always a part of life when so many were dying of cholera, TB , measles, whooping cough , scarlet fever etc. and the huge drain there was on the females like Dorothy and mary who had to nurse the ill family members and friends.
L**D
Great transaction
Great copy & arrived quickly
T**L
Nice flow to the writing
This is a very well written and well researched book. Nice flow to the writing. It is obvious the writer has visited the places described in the book.
A**E
Great Life. Great Poet
It is hard to beat Wordsworth as s poet, and now I have his biography to read in addition to his poetry.
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