Cavafy's Alexandria [Paperback]

Edmund Keeley (Author)

Book Description

Series: Princeton Modern Greek Studies | Publication Date: December 11, 1995

C. P. Cavafy, one of the greatest modern Greek poets, lived in Alexandria for all but a few of his seventy years. Alexandria became, for Cavafy, a central poetic metaphor and eventually a myth encompassing the entire Greek world. In this, the first full-length critical work on Cavafy in English, Keeley describes Cavafy's literary progress and aesthetic development in the making of that myth.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Attempting a comprehensive and coherent critical sighting of Cavafy's life work, Keeley classifies and analyzes the entire canon, including the more significant unpublished poems, and in this context comments with sensitivity and clarity on some of the best-known and most difficult poems. -- George Economou, The New York Times Book Review



This book is as marvelous a guide to the imagined Alexandria as E. M. Forster's is to the real one. -- Joseph Brodsky, New York Review of Books



Keeley has performed an invaluable service in tracing [Cavafy's] deliberate arrangement of his work. In this way such seminal poems as The God Abandons Antony or The City are revealed in their full thematic importance, while many others when seen in their proper place in the design take on a significance which they lacked in isolation. -- Ian Scott-Kilvert, The Times Higher Education Supplement

Product Details

• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: Princeton University Press (December 11, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0691044988
• ISBN-13: 978-0691044989
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.1 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #916,891 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Important literary review of the Greek Poet, July 3, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Cavafy's Alexandria (Paperback)

I had been reading Cavafy's poetry for a rather long time before picking up Keeley's book. The book has opened up new aspects of the poetry I didn't discover while reading consciously. For example, Keeley notes the myth-making drama of Alexandria (both ancient and modern) that Cavafy created over a span of 20 years.

Toward the end of the book, Keeley outlines modern criticism of Cavafy's work and attempts to show the genius that Cavafy is.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A must if you like Cavafy, January 3, 2007

By 

Emmanuel "Emmanuel" (Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Cavafy's Alexandria (Paperback)

I'm an unapologetic Cavafy Fan and this book provided new insights into his world.

My advise is read the poems, read this book and then read the poems again and you will find a whole new way of looking at Cavafy's genius.