Chatterton [Hardcover]

Peter Ackroyd (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 7, 1987

Thomas Chatterton (1752-1770), apparently a suicide at 18, posthumously astonished literary England when he was revealed as the author of a sequence of famous and influential "medieval" poems he claimed to have discovered. An authentic talent as well as a literary counterfeiter, he is the guiding spirit of Peter Ackroyd's brilliant novel. In today's London, a young poet and an elderly novelist engage the mystery of Chatterton by trying to decode the clues found in an old manuscript, only to discover that their investigation discloses other riddles for which there are no solutions. Chatterton is at once a hilariously witty comedy; a thoughtful and dramatic exploration of the deepest issues of authenticity in both life and art; and a subtle and touching story of failed lives, parental love, doomed marriages, and erotic passions.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The "manifestly clever, darkly humorous" novel limns an impoverished poet in modern-day London, who discovers that another poet, Chatterton, faked his own death in 1770, and continued to write poetry that was attributed to Cowper, Blake et al. PW called this an "eminently satisfying tale."
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

A bestseller in Britain, Chatterton is the latest of Ackroyd's fictional games with figures from Britain's literary past. The plot centers around the discovery by Charles Wychwood, an aspiring poet, of an old manuscript that he believes to have been written by Thomas Chatterton, the 18th-century English poet who committed suicide at 18. Or did he? Ackroyd tantalizingly explores the themes of reality and illusion, truth and falsity, mortality and immortality, and the curious and inexplicable ways in which past, present, and future are entwined. An intriguing plot, laced with mystery and a hint of possession (a favorite subject of Ackroyd's), combines with a gallery of eccentric characters and some witty dialogue to produce this skillful, engaging, thought-provoking novel.Bryan Aubrey, Fairfield, Iowa
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: Hamish Hamilton Ltd; First Edition edition (September 7, 1987)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0241123488
• ISBN-13: 978-0241123485
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,391,865 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating perspective on art, truth and reality, June 29, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Chatterton (Paperback)

Peter Ackroyd's "Chatterton" was shortlisted for the Booker Prize award in 1987. It didn't win and remains a largely forgotten gem, being seldom if ever included in anybody's reading list today. The subject is an enquiry into the suspicious circumstances of the early and untimely death of 18th Century forger-poet, Thomas Chatterton by modern day poet Charles Wychwood and novelist Harriet Scrope. Cleverly structured around three separate plots and casts of characters, the reader is invited to wander into the past through a maze of speculative events spanning three centuries, which all come together neatly in the denouement. The novel raises several complex issues on art, truth and reality. Is reality fact for the unimaginative ? Does the poet not through his art create reality rather than merely describe it ? Does reality exist other than the representation or depiction of it ? Is imitation hedonistic and therefore worthless and untrue ? "Chatterton" poses these questions and more in a "whodunnit" style novel that is both witty and clever in its execution. Ackroyd's characters twitter rather than speak but not incongruously considering the context. Some readers might find "Chatterton" a bit of a curio today. The subject matter isn't exactly topical but the issues it raises are timeless and fascinating. A wonderfully entertaining and thought provoking book. Highly recommended.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Literary Daisy Chain, December 13, 2002

By 

James Paris "Tarnmoor" (Los Angeles, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Chatterton (Paperback)

Did Thomas Chatterton, one of the great forger/poets of the 18th century, die of an overdose of laudanum in 1770? Or did he fake his own death and continue merrily publishing work under the names of recently deceased poets?

When novelist George Meredith posed as Chatterton in Henry Wallace's painting "The Death of Chatterton," is it true that the painter made off with his oblivious model's wife?

In the present day, were the papers found by poetaster Charles Wychwood in Bristol really the confessions of Chatterton written in his own hand? And what about that painting of Chatterton as a middle-aged man? (He was supposedly 17 when he died.)

Will literary "resurrectionist" Harriet Scrope succeed in taking Wychwood's work on Chatterton and passing it off as her own, just as Stewart Merk merrily signed the dead painter Seymour's name to his own work?

Why am I asking so many questions?

Because there are no answers. That's all right, though, because the questions are great; and they just keep on coming. If you read this book, you will sink deep into a morass of counterfeiting, fraud, and outright fakery.

Be prepared to be bamboozled ... and entertained.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars as if martin amos bumped heads with a.s.byatt, February 12, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Chatterton (Paperback)

peter ackroyd has a wonderfully fun go at cultural fakery in a tightly written short novel about the literary forger chatterton. what's real? what do we want to be real? what's fake? what does it matter? chatterton reads as if our favorite brit novelists martin amos and a.s. byatt bumped heads in an elevator and came out writing like each other, but with delicious brevity