Reviews - The Waste Land and Other Poems

You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.

655 reviews for:

The Waste Land and Other Poems

3.5, tentatively on the 3 side

--

This was all right. Maybe I'm not enough of a literary snob to "get" many of Eliot's poems--and that's fine. There's certainly nothing wrong with writing poetry so engorged with references to a specific (non-mainstream) text that the average, non-academic reader hasn't a chance in hell to fully understand it. If that's what you wanna do, by all means, and if that's what you enjoy, cool. I'm more of the mind that poetry and literature is at its most impactful when it's accessible. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I did enjoy the imagery and lyricism, though. Especially the following quotes:

I am moved to fancies that are curled / Around these images, and cling: / The notion of some infinitely gentle / Infinitely suffering thing.

And:

I should have been a pair of ragged claws / Scuttling across the floors of silent seas.

offboss's review against another edition

5.0

Guess I like poetry now

matheamae's review against another edition

4.0

I enjoyed the Waste Land! Some of the other poems left something to be desired. Overall a good read

greg_m's review against another edition

3.0

Overall, I did not find myself to be much of a fan of T.S. Elliot. The first book in this collection, Prufrock and Other Observations, was quite good; “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock,” “Rhapsody on a Windy Night,” “Hysteria,” and “Conversation Galante” all were quite moving in a dark or twisted way (except maybe the last on that list, which was a bit more upbeat).
Poems 1920 was practically unreadable; maybe I’m just not well-read enough to enjoy it without referring to the endnotes constantly, or maybe I’m supposed to read it more for the flow and sounds of the words instead of the erudite references. I don’t know, but I didn’t like it.
The Wasteland was a bit better. I did like the last three or so parts of this poem; I liked the way the mood changed so wildly and erratically.

jmariecapdem's review against another edition

5.0

T.S. Eliot is brilliant in various themes of poetry. There's tragedy, horror, mystery, tranquility, freedom, and happiness. Big pat on the back for this collection. :)

napping_muse's review against another edition

5.0

:)))))))))))))

bekahlynngreen's review

4.5

reflective fast-paced

zeinabali's review against another edition

4.0

In a world that has become nihilistic, illogical, and schizophrenic, how can one find meaning? The Waste Land is a terrible look at the consequences of modernism on man's psyche. The disconnected storyline, bizarre noises, miserable humans, arid environment, and filthy mud all murmur coldly and inhumanely: "chaos." That sense of dysfunction is genuine and vivid nowadays, like a disease that has only grown worse since Eliot's time. The Waste Land is a journey into the unsteady floor of the modern world, with postmodernism, ideologies, and totalitarianism on the rise followed by the loss of Righteousness, resulting in the frustration that Nietzsche predicted so accurately: “the highest values devalue themselves. The aim is lacking, and ‘Why’ finds no answer.” If we are to sort out the chaotic situation that has been handed to us, we must first get ourselves in good enough shape. Create order inside ourselves before attempting to create order in the world. Killing the collective illness that society is suffering from requires the elimination of the disease that exists inside ourselves. We, the individuals, reflect the possibility of finding meaning in ourselves, society, and the world. Eliot's poem despite its difficulties is one that should be read again and again, to remind oneself that its themes are, tragically, still relevant. With political ideologies and postmodernism buried deep beneath the dirt, and God's burial buried deep beneath the soil, we have lost ourselves. We have drifted far from religion and the spiritual tranquility that God provides. We have been lost in the process of living; we are trying to survive after all the suffering we have gone through; fearing we will not, but still trying. This poem must be read in order to comprehend how to survive in this brutal modern society, both intellectually and psychologically.