Customer Reviews

The Major Works (Oxford World's Classics)

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Dr. Pat Rogers, editor of this particular edition, often describes Alexander Pope as the first professional writer in the English language. Indeed, there is something highly polished in the prose and poetry of Pope, a self-awareness of the art unfolding before you. Those seeking a single "compact" edition of Pope's major works would do well to purchase this book. Dr. Rogers's careful editing, wonderful introduction, and in-depth scholarly notes are of sustained importance for the neophyte reader. He includes in this edition "The Rape of the Lock" (perhaps Pope's most anthologized and most read work), "The Dunciad" (a denser work usually the province of graduate students and scholars of the 18th century), as well as Pope's epistles, satires, works of literary criticism (students and scholars of Chaucer and Shakespeare will particularly enjoy Pope's assessment, while "An Essay on Criticism" is essential for all students of the history of literary criticism).

In contrast to the isolated genius of the 19th century, who sought to write poetry removed from the everyday concerns of society, Pope exemplifies the pinnacle of urban (and urbane) poetry which was, in its time, deeply implicated in the contemporary political, social, and religious controversies. Pope's satiric glance at a world in which he could never fully participate (ironically, he enjoyed the leisure time to write because of his condition as invalid) offers the reader a view of the 18th century at once in love with its intricate and luxurious detail while simultaneously baffled and angered by its ostentatious frivolity.

The editor did a great job with the selection of Pope's best works, and arranged in chronological order. But as long as this exists in paperback, long for another edition. I've had this copy for about a year and pages are falling out all over the place because the book is so thick and the spine so weak.

Another thing that I hate about this is he appended commentaries to the lines at the end of the book. The inconvenience is while I'm reading I have to turn all the way to the back to see what he wrote.

Opinions differ, with regard to Alexander Pope, but then again it's hard to find any subject at all where opinions do NOT differ!

I think that Pope was one of the most clever and skilled man who ever wrote verse in English, and that his verse rises pretty frequently to the level of poetry. His translation of "The Iliad" is probably immortal. I was surprised to learn that he farmed out the translation of "The Odyssey" to lesser lights: half of the books in the "Pope" translation of "The Odyssey" were, in fact, ghost-written!

If you have never read anything by Pope and want an introduction, then find yourself an easy chair, pour yourself something cordial to drink, and read the "Epistle to Dr. Arbuthnot." I never get tired of this minor masterpiece! ("Why break a butterfly upon the wheel?" is just one example. But I could cite the whole thing!)

Highest recommendation!