Scan barcode
hollysbookcornerx's review
5.0
I have read a chapter of this as part of my English degree (the long reading lists), and found it extremely thought-provoking. His words are inspiring and I intend to read more of Terry Eagleton’s work!
spacestationtrustfund's review
4.0
When Nabokov said, "I cannot separate the aesthetic pleasure of seeing a butterfly and the scientific pleasure of knowing what it is," that's kind of how I feel about poetry. Knowing intimately the form and structure of something allows you to better appreciate the effort and craftsmanship that went into its creation.
woolfardis's review
1.0
Misleading title. You read a poem using your eyes and whatever it is that makes your heart go boom.
castlerocktronix's review
2.0
Very self-indulgent writing. Was hoping for a layman, rather than an academic introduction as this was how it was billed. Felt more like the author was trying to impress me with his wit and intellect more than he was trying to help me enjoy poetry
aimiller's review
informative
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
I enjoyed this a lot, though I think it needs quite a bit of reorganization. Or at the very least: this is not as straightforward as <em>How to Read Literature</em> felt. I can see someone picking this up and putting it aside quickly because it takes several chapters, including a whole chapter on Russian Formalists, to get to the material “how” of reading a poem. As a person who has read Eagleton’s other literary studies books, I think it fit in nicely (sure wish the Formalism chapter existed in <em>Literary Theory: An Introduction</em>!) into that larger collection of work.
All of that said, I did once again learn a lot, and I think the strongest chapters probably are the last two, where he stops kind of retreading previous ground (if you’ve read his others books—if you haven’t, it’s all new!) and gets into the meat of things. He suggests reading the chapters out of order, but I wonder why it was this specific order he went with. Still good, solid explanations, funny, just not my favorite of Eagleton’s.
All of that said, I did once again learn a lot, and I think the strongest chapters probably are the last two, where he stops kind of retreading previous ground (if you’ve read his others books—if you haven’t, it’s all new!) and gets into the meat of things. He suggests reading the chapters out of order, but I wonder why it was this specific order he went with. Still good, solid explanations, funny, just not my favorite of Eagleton’s.