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imogenrobinson__'s review
4.0
Eliot's poems makes me feel rather depressed about the state of Western civilisation. He's so...insightful. But the picture he paints is rather bleak, despite the few glimmers of hope in his poetry. I wonder what he would say now if he saw how we live in our modern-day society. There's a lot to be said on this poem in particular...currently studying it for an essay, and there is so much scholarly writing on it. The man was clearly a genius. I love hearing Jeremy Irons and Eileen Atkins reading it.
peterseanesq's review
3.0
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I desperately want to like The Waste Land. There flashes of genius in this poem that suggest that the entire poem should hold together, but every time I read it I get the sense that it is a massive joke, a con job, that the point of the joke is to string together chunks of gibberish and then convince the world that it is a work of art.
I purchased this book in the hope of getting some purchase on the meaning of the poem. I think I may have gotten a better understanding of the poem as a by-product of the material in this book. What was missing was any explanation of the poem, how it hangs together, what its "plan" is or if it has a "plan."
The book starts with an overview of Eliot's life and the publication history of the poem. This was useful insofar as Eliot mixed into the poem, the scenes and events that he was dealing with. Thus, the references to the City of London - the financial district - reflect Eliot's work as a banker at Loyd's of London.
On the other hand, the biographical material point to the "overrated con job" theory. It seems that Ezra Pound pushed Eliot's poem to people who were told that it was brilliant and promised to publish it and to pay for it without ever seeing it. Then Pound convinced the American publisher to award it the Dial Prize as a way of paying more to Eliot than standard rates, which, of course, insured that it would regarded as too brilliant to criticize. Early reactions indicated that people had no idea what the poem meant and Eliot in later life seemed to suggest that the poem didn't have a plan.
Eliot's notes - designed to add volume to the poem to make it long enough to publish as a book - are included here. They are relatively cryptic and may be misleading as to Eliot's plan for the poem. The editor adds his own annotations for the poem. These annotations are far more extensive and offer some insights, but are overwhelming in part since the editor offers entire poems that Eliot was referring to. The editor offers no insights into why these selections were chosen by Eliot or what they mean to the poem.
I guess my take-away is that the Waste Land is an overwhelming pastiche of references to other sources, obscure and famous, and that The Waste-Land is a breathtaking survey of early twentieth-century culture, but is that all it is?
Long story short, I did not draw any closer to understanding The Waste Land or understanding why it is considered one of the great poems of the Twentieth century.
I desperately want to like The Waste Land. There flashes of genius in this poem that suggest that the entire poem should hold together, but every time I read it I get the sense that it is a massive joke, a con job, that the point of the joke is to string together chunks of gibberish and then convince the world that it is a work of art.
I purchased this book in the hope of getting some purchase on the meaning of the poem. I think I may have gotten a better understanding of the poem as a by-product of the material in this book. What was missing was any explanation of the poem, how it hangs together, what its "plan" is or if it has a "plan."
The book starts with an overview of Eliot's life and the publication history of the poem. This was useful insofar as Eliot mixed into the poem, the scenes and events that he was dealing with. Thus, the references to the City of London - the financial district - reflect Eliot's work as a banker at Loyd's of London.
On the other hand, the biographical material point to the "overrated con job" theory. It seems that Ezra Pound pushed Eliot's poem to people who were told that it was brilliant and promised to publish it and to pay for it without ever seeing it. Then Pound convinced the American publisher to award it the Dial Prize as a way of paying more to Eliot than standard rates, which, of course, insured that it would regarded as too brilliant to criticize. Early reactions indicated that people had no idea what the poem meant and Eliot in later life seemed to suggest that the poem didn't have a plan.
Eliot's notes - designed to add volume to the poem to make it long enough to publish as a book - are included here. They are relatively cryptic and may be misleading as to Eliot's plan for the poem. The editor adds his own annotations for the poem. These annotations are far more extensive and offer some insights, but are overwhelming in part since the editor offers entire poems that Eliot was referring to. The editor offers no insights into why these selections were chosen by Eliot or what they mean to the poem.
I guess my take-away is that the Waste Land is an overwhelming pastiche of references to other sources, obscure and famous, and that The Waste-Land is a breathtaking survey of early twentieth-century culture, but is that all it is?
Long story short, I did not draw any closer to understanding The Waste Land or understanding why it is considered one of the great poems of the Twentieth century.
jamieson's review
4.0
“April is the cruelest month, breeding
lilacs out of the dead land, mixing
memory and desire, stirring
dull roots with spring rain.”
I had to read this for a Modernism unit I'm taking, which made sense because I knew nothing about this poem going in except that it's supposed to be THE modernism poem (and also that Ezra Pound edited the shit out of it?) I read T.S Eliot's other famous poem The Lovesong of J. Alfred Prufrock in highschool, which I liked because of it's beautiful writing and clever use of allusions.
The wasteland is also beautiful and clever. Maybe too clever because I barely understood anything that was happening. Just when I was getting a good grip on the scene some allusion of other language would crop up and I'd be thrown off my game. We get it, Eliot. You've read all the books, you know all the languages, you've seen all the shakespeare. Just chill.
T.S Eliot has such beautiful, rich poetic writing. He really does form so interestingly and created vivid, rich poems. I went back after each section to look up what every line meant - and this was super interesting. It's amazing how much meaning is in one line. But I think the highlight of the poem really is the writing really. It's beautiful at times, creepy in places, ominous and then hopeful. I really enjoyed the flow of it.
I think you should all read thisgood ass proper review from someone else because it's brilliant and I loved it.
It was interesting to read this and see what everyone's been talking about all these years. I think the last poem was my favourite.
“I sat upon the shore
Fishing, with the arid plain behind me
Shall I at least set my lands in order?
London Bridge is falling down falling down falling down
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