British & Irish Books - Page 2

The Collected Poems of W.B. Yeats

William Butler Yeats

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Total reviews: 20 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

The Collected Poems of W. B. Yeats includes all of the poems authorized by Yeats for inclusion in his standard canon. Breathtaking in range, it encompasses the entire arc of his career, from luminous reworkings of ancient Irish myths and legends to passionate meditations on the demands and rewards of youth and old age, from exquisite, occasionally whimsical songs of love, nature, and art to somber and angry poems of life in a nation torn by war and uprising. In observing the development of rich and recurring images and themes over the course of his body of work, we can trace the quest of this century's greatest poet to unite intellect and artistry in a single magnificent vision.

Revised and corrected, this edition includes Yeats's own notes on his poetry, complemented by explanatory notes from esteemed Yeats scholar Richard J. Finneran. The Collected Poems of W. B. Yeats is the most comprehensive edition of one of the world's most beloved poets available in paperback.

The Canterbury Tales (Modern Library)

Geoffrey Chaucer

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Editorial Review:

It would be impossible to overstate the influence of Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales. A work with one metaphorical foot planted in the Florentine Renaissance literary tradition of Boccaccio’s Decameron and the other in works ranging from John Bunyan, Voltaire, and Mark Twain to the popular entertainments of our own time, The Canterbury Tales stands astride the cultures of Great Britain and America, and much of Europe, like a benign colossus.

Beyond its importance as a cultural touchstone and literary work of unvarnished genius, Chaucer’s unfinished epic poem is also one of the most beloved works in the English language–and for good reason: It is lively, absorbing, perceptive, and outrageously funny–an undisputed classic that has held a special appeal for generations of readers. Chaucer has gathered twenty-nine of literature’s most indelible archetypes–from the exalted Knight to the bawdy Wife to the besotted Miller to the humble Plowman–in a vivid group portrait that captures the full spectrum of late-medieval English society and both informs and expands our discourse on the human condition.

Presented in these pages in a new unabridged translation by the esteemed poet, translator, and scholar Burton Raffel–whose translation of Beowulf has sold more than a million copies–this Modern Library edition also features an Introduction by the well-known and widely influential medievalist and author John Miles Foley that discusses Chaucer’s work as well as to his life and times.

Despite the brilliance of Geoffrey Chaucer’s work, the continual evolution of our language has rendered his words unfamiliar to many of us. Burton Raffel’s magnificent new translation brings Chaucer’s poetry back to life, ensuring that none of the original’s wit, wisdom, or humanity is lost to the modern reader.

Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats, Illustrated Edition

T. S. Eliot

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 58 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

It's about cats, cats, and more Cats. 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

I had read this book before and loved it, but when I met Boris, a real, live version of Rum Tum Tugger, I had to buy a copy to show his owner.
It is amazing how little had to be done to turn these poems into a great musical comedy. I am, of course, talking about Cats. Most of the poems went directly into the show without any change whatever in their wording, and only three songs were added. Let's give full credit to Mr. Webber, It took a musical genius to do that, and one of the added songs, Memories, could stand alone as a masterpiece in any company, but most of the delight of the show comes from the wonderful feline characters created in this book.
Jennyanydots, Old Deuteronomy, Gus the theatre cat, Spindleshanks, Bustipher Brown, McCavity, Mr. Mistofflees, Mungo Jerry, and Rumpleteaser all moved effortlessly from page to stage with no changes. That has to be some sort of record. If you loved Cats (the show) you need to read this book. If you love cats (the critters) you'll want to read this book. If you like poetry, you should read this book. If you like dogs, read the battle of the Pekes and the Pollicles. (You can skip over the part about the intervention of the great rumpus cat.)
It was written for his godchildren, but it's a great read for everyone. It's not expensive, so get it to read to your children, but read it for yourself first.

Editorial Review:

EliotÂ’s famous collection of nonsense verse about cats-the inspiration for the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical Cats. This edition features pen-and-ink drolleries by Edward Gorey throughout.

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight: A New Verse Translation

Simon Armitage

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 9 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Falls on the ear with the percussion of hoof beats 5 out of 5 stars.
4 of 5 people found this review helpful.

Every age produces its own version of Arthur and Camelot. The alliterative poem Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is separated from us by over 600 years but by even more from any putative historical Arthur. Its imagery belongs to the late medieval period rather than anything the post-Roman Dark Ages might have looked like. The juxtaposition of Christian and mythical elements is disconcerting and the real subject of the story (quite apart from the fantastic adventure elements) is far from obvious. It is actually about the conflict between Gawain's aspiration to impossible perfection and his recognition of his frail human reality. He feels that fear for his life has made him fail in his test. Yet Arthur's court and the Green Knight see him as an exemplar of chivalry and indeed the best of knights because protecting his life and knowing fear he manages to overcome it. What makes human success valuable is the possibility of shame. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight opens a window into a time when knighthood was a living institution and courtly love was the subject of much literature.

I first read Sir Gawain many years ago in the definitive JRR Tolkien translation, more out of an interest in Tolkien, than in Sir Gawain. The original text ranges from the somewhat comprehensible (Bot Arthure wolde not ete til al were served) to the completely unintelligible (Forthi, iwysse, bi yowre wylle, wende me bihoves). The translation is therefore everything. This new and remarkable alliterative verse translation by Simon Armitage is unexpected and amazing. The preface explains that in Germanic languages (like English) the accent is usually on the first syllable of a word, while in Romance languages (French, Italian, etc) the tonic syllable falls towards, or at the end, of words. Therefore, traditionally Germanic poets highlighted the beginning of words with alliteration whereas romance poets highlight the ends of words with rhyme. The alliterative style disappeared in the English language under the influence of French (Norman) poetry and so is alien to modern readers.

Gawain, however, was written in the alliterative style and Armitage's translation maintains this approach. The result is amazing. The poem falls on the ear like the percussive of hoof beats of Gawain's steed (Spiked with the spurs the steed sped away / with such force that the fire-stones sparked underfoot... lines 670-1). Good as the translation is one need only scan the original on the facing page to appreciate the achievement of the unknown author. The alliterative metrical pattern (a a/a x) is impeccable. It may be that over the centuries our language has grown less poetic.

Armitage displays his own particular genius, however. "...so the house and its hall were lit with happiness / and lords and ladies were luminous with joy (lines 48-9)", evokes images of merriment lit by torches and flickering firelight, without actually saying any such thing. Notice also the alliteration and read the words out loud. Contrast this scene with the imagery of Gawain's winter trek: "clouds shed their cargo of crystallized rain / which froze as it fell to the frost-glazed earth (lines 727-8)". We can feel the cold in our bones.

This is a wonderful and accessible translation of Sir Gawain and a must-read for those interested in medieval poetry. I wish I could hear it chanted by a bard.

Editorial Review:

"Compulsively readable....Simon Armitage has given us an energetic, free-flowing, high-spirited version."—Edward Hirsch, New York Times Book Review, front-page review

lready a classic of modern translation, this fresh, vibrant work by dynamic British poet Simon Armitage updates the late fourteenth-century poem for a new generation. The story of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, in its depiction of Arthurian landscapes, dreamlike castles, and violent winter journeys, demands a peerless storyteller, and, "like the Gawain poet [himself], Armitage is some storyteller" (The Guardian). The work is an unparalleled masterpiece of alliteration and rhyme, and "[Armitage's] version inventively recreates the original's gnarled, hypnotic music...but also has a free-flowing, colloquial twang that allows the poem to partake of the energies of contemporary speech" (Financial Times).

Paradise Lost & Paradise Regained

John Milton

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Total reviews: 25 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Amazing book, Terrible book quality 1 out of 5 stars.
4 of 4 people found this review helpful.

The star rating is given purely for the edition of Paradise Regained published by First World Library. This book is every bit as fascinating as its predecesor Paradise Lost, however I highy dissuade you from buying this particular edition because the words are in size 14 Times New Roman, thus extremely difficult to read, and it is much too expensive for an edition of its quality.

Rise and fall! 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

First off, let me say that we're not talking here about the famous Qi gong instructor named John Milton. We're talking about the famous 17th-century English poet who wrote _Paradise Lost_ and _Paradise Regained_, two of the most wonderfully overlong Christian poems in the history of Western literature.

Your English teacher will tell you that _Paradise Lost_ "narrates the story of Adam and Eve's disobedience, explains how and why it happened, and places the story within the larger context of Satan's rebellion and Jesus' resurrection." And you know that can't be far wrong, because SparkNotes says the exact same thing.

But the main reason everyone should read Milton's grand epic is that it contains certain secrets about prayer.

In PL, Milton reminds us how important it is, when we pray, to be absolutely specific. The Lord has a strange, often disturbing, sense of humour (PL, books I-XII). If you leave Him wiggle room, He will answer your prayer in a way you never intended, and then say it was your own damned fault, because your prayer contained seven types of ambiguity.

John Milton writes from experience. Example: Almost every time a good-looking woman passed within view of John Milton, he suffered an involuntary erection. Daniel of the Old Testament might well have suffered such a condition without complaining, but John Milton found it onerous. John was both a Puritan and a student of Saint Augustine. He was not happy when he suffered an erection, he hated it, and he especially resented the women who made that thing happen to him.

In a Latin letter to his friend, George Wither, John Milton reports that, in his youth, he would sometimes see a pretty woman even in his dreams at night, and suffer, not just an erection, but the whole nine yards, up to and including a nocturnal emission; which he trained himself to handle according to Scripture, thereby to purify himself (Deut. 23:10); but sometimes he was unable to wait that long before he handled it, which filled his soul full of Puritan remorse and self-reproach.

At age 33, the poet took to wife a 16-year-old lolita named Mary Powell; and you may already have guessed the reason why, which is that she gave him an erection -- more accurately, she gave him "one damned erection after another," without remission. (Giving John Milton an erection was not the girl's conscious intent, but it just happened to him, every time they met.) And since Christian marriage is Saint Paul's only approved method whereby to deal with that kind of torment, John Milton (being an honourable man) thought it best to marry the girl (1 Cor. 7:9).

Frailty, thy name is woman! After two years of marriage - after just two years of witnessing those insufferable erections that could not be beaten down, or at least, not for long - the poet's young Puritan bride ran away and skipped back home to live with her mother, Mrs. Anne Powell, who likewise gave John an erection; which is why John Milton resented his mother-in-law as well as his estranged wife.

Those were the hardest years of the poet's life - nothing but a daily struggle against involuntary erections, yet here he was, trapped in a loveless marriage to a barely pubescent teenager who lived with her entirely-too-attractive mother. Which is partly why John Milton wrote those four revolutionary Christian pamphlets, correcting Moses' and Jesus' hardline policy on divorce (Mark 10:11-12).

In his Latin correspondence, some of which is preserved in the Bodleian Library, John Milton reports that he was fine when alone in his study, or when hobnobbing with Parliamentarians, or even when having a hasty pudding, or a figgy one, over at the Inns of Court; but let just one good-looker cross his path, showing good ankle between the hem of her dress and the top of her shoe, and it was boing! - instant erection, just like a spring-loaded mechanical device; causing John to exclaim bitterly, "Oh, God, please, not again! Save me from this penal fire!"

It even happened to him once when Oliver Cromwell's wife, Elizabeth Bourchier Cromwell, bent over to pick up a handkerchief that had fallen to the floor. On that occasion there was a lamentable accident ("an hard mishap" [verbatim quote]) with John's ordinarily modest codpiece - an incident so humiliating that John never even wrote a poem about it, although he did apologise, profusely, to Oliver Cromwell, and to Mrs. Cromwell, who saw the whole thing, and then fainted. (John at the time was employed as Cromwell's Latin secretary.)

By the way: It was modesty, not arrogance, that moved John Milton, after that embarrassing incident, to wear a baggy codpiece, with plenty of wiggle room.

Which brings me back to the beginning, when I was explaining why you should give the Lord no wiggle room when you pray: John Milton took his problem to the Lord in prayer, stating in his journal, "Father, I pray Thee, let me not suffer a stiffe joynt when I see a beautifull woman."

And here's how the Lord answered that prayer, in 1651: He struck John Milton blind.

At first, John thought that his blindness was a punishment for his own bad behaviour - which is how that whole thing got going, in Anglo-American Christianity, about how, if you are a boy who does what John Milton used to do, it could make you go blind. But God revealed to John, by means of a dream, that his blindness was actually an answer to his own prayers ¬- because the poet had said, "Father, let me not suffer a stiff joint when I see a beautiful woman."

John Milton then said, "Lord, that is not what I meant, at all" - but it was too late to change the outcome, because the prayer was already answered.

The erections that John Milton suffered in the years 1651-1674, and there were many, even after the Lord answered his prayer, were not from seeing a beautiful woman, it was actually because John had a condition that modern physicians call PSAS ("Persistent Sexual Arousal Syndrome"). So the chronic "stiffe joynt" problem was not really the women's fault, and it never was; but John Milton never knew that. Even when he wrote Paradise Lost (by dictation, from 1652-1667), John was still under the impression that women, seen or unseen, were to blame for his condition; which is why he makes all of those snide remarks in blank verse about your mother, Eve, in Books IV-V and IX-X of Paradise Lost. Because whenever he pictured Eve in his mind's eye, it was boing! - the same old problem. And there would come no more blank verse to his head for the next twenty minutes or so, until things settled down. John Milton hated that.

But it all turned out for the best: if God had not answered John Milton's prayer in that unusual way, by blinding him, Paradise Lost might never have been completed, and sold to the publisher, Sam Simmons, in 1667, for £5 - which was a tidy sum for a religious poem during the decadent Restoration era.

It was while writing the early books of Paradise Lost that John was introduced to Katherine, a ship captain's daughter, a fat woman whom he had never seen (because he was blind); whom he nonetheless married in 1656, but not for the same old reason as before: John asked fat Kate to marry him (a.) because he needed secretarial assistance with Paradise Lost, and (b.) because Katherine did not have the same pernicious effect on him as Mary Powell and her mother Anne had done. John could dictate blank verse to Kate all night long without feeling so much as a tingle down there.

Kate's surname was Woodcock. Beelzebub made a little joke about that: he said, "The Lord finally gave John Milton just what he always wanted."

- L.

Editorial Review:

Here in one volume are the complete texts of two of the greatest epic poems in English literature, each a profound exploration of the moral problems of God's justice. They demonstrate Milton's genius for classicism and innovation, narrative and drama-and are a grand example of what Samuel Johnson called his "peculiar power to astonish."

Edited by Christopher Ricks
With a New Introduction by Dr. Susanne Woods

In His Own Write

John Lennon

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Total reviews: 55 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

LENNON IN HIS OWN WORDS 4 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

ITS A SHAME THAT YOKO ONO DARED TO "WRITE A FOREWORD" TO A BOOK WRITTEN LONG BEFORE SHE FORCED HER ENTRANCE INTO J LENNON'S LIFE. SHE SEEMS TO BE SAYING," IM THE OWNER OF ALL HIS PROPERTIES". THE BOOK AS TO LENNON, IS A JEWEL.

lennon at his best 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

A side of Lennon we never see. My 13 y.o son read and craked oop. Really mangles the English language.

Quite abstract and random stuff 1 out of 5 stars.
0 of 5 people found this review helpful.

Its all random and abstract things.
Frankly, I didn't understand much in this book.

better than joyce 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 1 people found this review helpful.

One reviewer noted the seeming joyce-lennon connection.
whale their is a skimmilkararity between the towel,i doobieleaf that lennon's is better as it is easier to decypher;finnegan's wake is so dense and deep that it took me a half hour to read the first page-there are so many permutations...i liked "ulysses" much better...in fact i never could get throwup FW...i hop too sum weight...there is availhonestabel ant annotated quay to FW that probably would help unlock it's miseries.
lennon wrote some of his first book while he was steal in high school-the second was a knock-off in part to feed the publicity (writing,literary beatle myth).
i think had lennon not been a beatle-he would have ended up a bum or a literary lion like joyce (prob. both) and if he had been born 40 yores eagerly,he wood half been a great radio comedian.
lennon has inspirated me to no end... for over 40 yores; i loaf him now more than ever and i miss having him around-Griffnose wot he'd think of the whirled toadie. and our decrepresident the twisted shrub ( a bush) and hiss wart in iraq.

Editorial Review:

About The Awful

I was bored on the 9th of Octover 1940 when, I believe, the Nasties were still booming us led by Madolf Heatlump (who only had one). Anyway they didn't get me. I attended to varicous schools in Liddypol. And still didn't pass -- much to my Aunties supplies. As a member of the most publified Beatles my (P, G, and R's) records might seem funnier to some of you than this book, but as far as I'm conceived this correction of short writty is the most wonderfoul larf I've every ready.

God help and breed you all.

Chaucer: The Canterbury Tales (Landmarks of World Literature (New))

Winthrop Wetherbee

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Total reviews: 84 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Not the complete Canterbury Tales 3 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

Please note: The Bantam version (translated by Hieatt) only contains the most popular of the Tales. (Use the "Inside this Book" feature to check the table of contents, as I, alas, did not.) The facing page translation is just what I was looking for, but really wanted the complete set.

canterbury tale review 4 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

What would it be like if you had to make a very long journey on horse back? Pretty boring, right? But what if someone had the brilliant idea of telling stories on the way there? That would make the trip go a lot faster. This is the premise of the Canterbury Tales. There are a lot of people who all want to go to the shrine of St. Thomas a Becket at Canterbury Cathedral. They all met at a pub when the pub owner said that they should all tell one story on the way there and one on the way back. The version of the Canterbury tales only consists of four of the one hundred twenty eight that were told.
The first story that is told by the Nun's priest. This story is about a poor widow who lives on a farm. As you get further in this story it starts retelling the story of a chicken and a hen. This chicken had many wonderful hens around him. "This noble rooster ruled over seven hens, whose work it was to please him. They were his sisters and his wives." (pg. 20) But there was one hen named Lady Pertelote that he liked the most. One night he had a dream about a fox eating him. The next morning he told Lady Pertelote and she thought it didn't mean anything. A couple of days later a fox tricked him to shut his eyes and then the fox snuck up behind him and snatched him in his mouth. He was saved by the widow.
The next person to tell was the pardoner. His story was about greed. There were three people who were searching for death because they heard of all the horrible things he had done and wanted to kill him. While on their way they met an old man who told the men, "If you're so anxious to find Death, turn up this crooked road. I left him in that grove, under a tree and there he'll stay." (pg. 41) So that's what they did. When they got there they saw a sack full of gold and decided not to chase after Death but take the gold by night. They decided for one of them to go into the city and get wine to celebrate. The person that went was the youngest of them all. While he was gone the two thought up a plan to kill the third one so that they only had to split the money between them. The third boy wanted the money all to himself so he poisoned two of the bottles of wine and left one free of poison for himself. As he got the tree the two men killed him and they celebrated by drinking the wine and they died too. In the end they all got there wish. They met Death.
Those two were my favorite and the next two are by the Wife of Bath and the Franklin. The wife of Bath is about a man who threatens the life of another if they don't tell him what women want. The franklin's tale is about women who loved a man who left her and she was very sad. Nothing could make her feel better. If you want to know what happens at the end of these stories you'll have to read the book.
Historically this book is very good. It is based in the year of 1386. It show the life style of people who lived in the middle ages. It taught me that not all people were rich back then. It is historically spot on but the thing about this book is because it was written in the middle ages all the living conditions are right but it's very whimsical. Chickens can't talk, and Death isn't a person. In a way it shows how people thought back then. It tells us that some people might have wanted to meet death. Maybe in a physical way because they wanted to die or they just wanted to see someone death took away from them.
The reason I liked this book was because of the old English. I like taking in the metaphors and deciphering it. If you like Shakespeare then you'll most likely like this book. It is very whimsical and magical. It shows the people in the middle ages in a very metaphorical way. This book shows how life can be mystical and great even when you don't except it.

Editorial Review:

Placing the Canterbury Tales in the context of the crisis in English society in the fourteenth century, this guide examines the social diversity of Chaucer's pilgrims, the stylistic range of their tales and psychological richness of their interaction. It emphasizes the language of the poem, as well as the role of Chaucer in literary tradition, and devotes an entire chapter to the General Prologue widely studied in undergraduate courses. Finally, the volume includes a chronology of the period and an invaluable guide to further reading. First Edition Hb (1989): 0-521-32331-2 First Edition Pb (1989): 0-521-31159-4

Imagine

John Lennon

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Total reviews: 81 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Dream is over 4 out of 5 stars.
0 of 1 people found this review helpful.

When this film was first released, it was quite interesting, introspective and entertaining. Now on DVD it almost seems like an afterthought with the release of The Beatles Anthology DVD set. It still holds up well, but sometimes the anti-war Lennon gets boring. Makes you wonder how great his solo career may have been had he concentrated on his music more than his politics & causes. A nice addition to any Beatles or Lennon fans collection.

A worthy documentary 4 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

John is my favorite Beatle, so I really enjoyed watching this documentary about his incredible life. Although by now some of the film footage has been issued in other films (this was after all made in 1988), not everyone has seen all of the films and documentaries made about John or The Beatles, and it's always a treat regardless to see interviews and film footage you haven't seen before. Among the great moments are the confrontation with cartoonist Al Capp during John and Yoko's bed-in, John's heated argument with a female journalist who thought turning in his MBE was some empty protest, interview footage with John's aunt Mimi, and the bonus feature of an interview with John's former schoolmaster. The film is also loaded with great songs, many of them accompanied by videos, like "Strawberry Fields Forever," "Mother," "Imagine" of course, "Jealous Guy," and "God" (a song that always gives me chills).

As great as the documentary is, though, and as priceless as the film footage is, I kind of wish there had been more balance given to the different parts of John's life. I know that the original first cut was massive (20 hours), and that obviously it had to be edited down a lot to be shown in theatres, but another hour or so wouldn't have hurt. It seemed like most of the focus was on John's life in the Seventies, which in itself could be the subject of several films. It would have been nice to have given equal time to his childhood, early adulthood, and Beatle years in addition to mostly his solo years. While most fans already know his pre-1970 life backwards and forwards, particularly the Sixties, it still could have been expanded a bit more. When you're getting just John's perspective on the Beatle years, it's a slightly different experience than learning about them as a collective group. Other than that, I thought the film was fantastic, and with a number of nice extras.

Editorial Review:

Fully orchestrated XG MIDI file and sheet music for XG compatible instruments and devices including: the Clavinova digital piano * the Disklavier piano * portable keyboards.

Now We Are Six

A.A. Milne

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 17 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

A must for all libraries 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

A.A.Milne's "Now We are Six" is a must for all chldren. Read it over and over, and son the child will learn favorite poems and can look at the words and read along. It is good that children learn the Real Pool characters rather than Disney's idea.

Children's classic 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

Book was in excellent condition and not readily available elsewhere. It arrived promptly.

Wonderful Classic! 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

We have the complete works of Milne. My 5 year old son and I absolutely LOVE Pooh collections. We enjoy our special time together reading Now We Are Six...and this book is not just to be enjoyed by a child...but for all of us who are still kids at heart and enjoy real literature of substance. Silly, heartwarming, fun and clever are just a few words I would use to describe this book! Disney's version of Pooh (books, movies, cartoons) is far inferior!

And as I sign off, I will leave you with one of my favorite poems from this book. Found on page 1 in my handed lovingly down 1950 edition. And after reading the poem, I ask you...who doesn't still feel like this from time to time? 6 or 106...this is a timeless classic!

Solitude

I have a house where I go
When there's too many people,
I have a house where I go
Where no one can be;
I have a house where I go
Where nobody ever says "no";
Where no one says anything-so
There is no one but me.

(AA Milne page 1 of Now We Are Six)

Editorial Review:

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The Waste Land (Norton Critical Editions)

T. S. Eliot

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Editorial Review:

The text of Eliot's 1922 masterpiece is accompanied by thorough explanatory annotations as well as by Eliot's own knotty notes, some of which require annotation themselves. For ease of reading, this Norton Critical Edition presents The Waste Landas it first appeared in the American edition (Boni & Liveright), with Eliot's notes at the end. Contexts provides readers with invaluable materials on The Waste Land's sources, composition, and publication history. Criticism traces the poem's reception with twenty-five reviews and essays, from first reactions through the end of the twentieth century. Included are reviews published in the Times Literary Supplement, along with selections by Virginia Woolf, Gilbert Seldes, Edmund Wilson, Elinor Wylie, Conrad Aiken, Charles Powell, Gorham Munson, Malcolm Cowley, Ralph Ellison, John Crowe Ransom, I. A. Richards, F. R. Leavis, Cleanth Brooks, Delmore Schwartz, Denis Donoghue, Robert Langbaum, Marianne Thormählen, A. D. Moody, Ronald Bush, Maud Ellman, Christine Froula, and Tim Armstrong. A Chronology and Selected Bibliography are included.

About the Series: No other series of classic texts equals the caliber of the Norton Critical Editions. Each volume combines the most authoritative text available with the comprehenive pedagogical apparatus necessary to appreciate the work fully. Careful editing, first-rate translation, and thorough explanatory annotations allow each text to meet the highest literary standards while remaining accessible to students. Each edition is printed on acid-free paper and every text in the series remains in print. Norton Critical Editions are the choice for excellence in scholarship for students at more than 2,000 universities worldwide.