John Donne and the Ancient Catholic Nobility [Hardcover]

Dennis Flynn (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 22, 1996

"Flynn's work makes fascinating reading not only for students of literature, but also for all those interested in the history of the period. The text often reads like a contemporary story of estpionage... " —Catholic Library World

"Flynn's book is important 'recovery' work." —Achsah Guibbory, University of Illinois

"Flynn's book not only adds crucial new facts but also interprets them freshly and convincingly, so that even Donne's oldest admirers will see him in a new light." —Studies in English Literature

New archival work on the Catholic heritage that informs Donne's life and art.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

DENNIS FLYNN is professor of English at Bentley College and has published numerous articles on Donne and is a contributing editor for the Variorum Edition of the Poetry of John Donne.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Indiana University Press (January 22, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 025332906X
• ISBN-13: 978-0253329066
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 6.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,886,493 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Re-assessing John Donne, April 22, 2005

By 

M. J. Elliston (East Anglia, United Kingdom) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: John Donne and the Ancient Catholic Nobility (Hardcover)

I was researching the life and times of John Donne for a new play "Reinvention" (www.reinvention.co.uk) and wasn't really getting very far. I had previously found Donne to be distant and dislikeable, a careerist who was allegedly willing to betray his faith (Catholicism) despite hailing from an impressive lineage. Somehow, it didn't add up. His poems still remained inaccessible, his life, relatively uninteresting. Then, I discovered Dennis Flynn. Not only was this book responsible for a complete reveresal in my opinion of Donne's life, it made me look more carefully at the poems - and I began to understand that here, at last, we have a drama, a man whose life was a constant paradox between his past, present and future. Not only that, Dennis Flynn writes with a clarity and an ease of style which masks the fact that this book is based on solid research - with a welcome degree of free thinking thrown in for good measure. Read this book - Flynn demonstrates more than anything that he understands the man (Donne) and his times elevating this biography beyond a dry, linear approach.