Dylan Thomas Reads: And Death Shall Have No Dominion, a Winter's Tale, on Reading Poetry Aloud and Other Selections [Audio Cassette]

Dylan Thomas (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 1992

And Death Shall Have No Dominion, A Winter's Tale, On Reading Poetry Aloud and other selections.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Listeners will cherish the opportunity to hear Dylan Thomas soar and swoop through the glorious language of powerful poetry. The lyrical, almost musical quality of his writing was intended to be read aloud; here, from original recordings made in 1949, '50, and '52, Thomas is most effective, reading many of his own poems and classic works by masters such as Thomas Hardy, W.H. Auden, and W.B. Yeats. Unfortunately, even with the wonders of modern digital remastering, there are several instances where poor audio quality makes for difficult listening. However, if the choice is to hear Dylan Thomas through hissing and popping or not to hear him at all, the former is far more desirable. (Running time: 1.5 hours, 2 cassettes) --George Laney

About the Author

Dylan Thomas was born in Swansea, Wales on 27 October 1914. In 1934 his first book of poetry, Eighteen Poems appeared, followed by Twenty-five Poems in 1936, Deaths and Entrances in 1946 and in 1952 his final volume, Collected Poems. He also published many short stories, wrote filmscripts, broadcast stories and talks, did a series of lecture tours in the United States and wrote Under Milkwood, the radio play.

During his fourth lecture tour of the United States in 1953, a few days after his 39th birthday, he collapsed in his New York hotel and died on November 9th at St. Vincent's Hospital. His body was sent back to Laugharne, Wales, where his grave is marked by a simple wooden cross.

In June 1994, his wife, Caitlin Thomas, died in Italy, where she had spent most of the years of her life after the death of Dylan Thomas. Her body is buried next to his.

Product Details

• Audio Cassette
• Publisher: Caedmon Audio Cassette (February 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1559945648
• ISBN-13: 978-1559945646
• Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 4.2 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,726,138 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #4 in Books > Books on Cassette > Authors, A-Z > ( T ) > Thomas, Dylan

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Mesmerizing and moving, August 24, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Dylan Thomas Reads: And Death Shall Have No Dominion, a Winter's Tale, on Reading Poetry Aloud and Other Selections (Audio Cassette)

Dylan Thomas, in spite of all the hype and misinformation and gossip, still looms larger than almost any other Twentieth Century poet (only Sylvia Plath and e.e. cummings, perhaps, are comparable). And this is all the more amazing when one considers how actually small the total of his output was. To listen to him read his poetry, though, is a profound experience. His reading of "Lament", one of his greatest poems (in my opinion), is riveting. The cadence of his rich voice, with his Welsh accent and sonorous vowels, reveling in the sheer sounds and the multifarious allusions in the meaning, is unforgettable. Now if they can remaster and issue it on CD---! But it's worth suffering the technical crudities of the recording to hear this great poet and equally great reciter.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The greatest poet of the C20?, February 4, 2005

By 

Howard D. Lewis (Hermosa Beach, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Dylan Thomas Reads: And Death Shall Have No Dominion, a Winter's Tale, on Reading Poetry Aloud and Other Selections (Audio Cassette)

When you say that a poet is great (eg Wordsworth or Plath or Auden or Frost) you really mean that a handful of poems have stood the test of time since it would be asking too much for any poet's entire output to be excellent. Therefore Dylan Thomas stands head and shoulders above the majority of C20 poets - with the possible exception of Phillip Larkin - and when you add that voice! Unfortunately Thomas had a penchant for obscurity - as here in "Death shall have no dominion". Nevertheless, although he speaks with no trace of a Welsh accent (despite the fact that virtually all his greatest poems were inspired by Wales and that he himself was profoundly Welsh), his readings of his own works are again so far above other poets' rather milk-and-water efforts that any opportunity to hear one of the world's greatest artists should be embraced. Here is one such opportunity. Unique and compelling above all other modern poets. What else can be said?

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Incredible, August 12, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Dylan Thomas Reads: And Death Shall Have No Dominion, a Winter's Tale, on Reading Poetry Aloud and Other Selections (Audio Cassette)

Listening to Dylan Thomas gives you some idea what he must have been like - on those late nights at the White Horse Tavern. These tapes of Thomas are brilliant.