Customer Reviews

The Making of the Poets: Byron and Shelley in Their Time

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Thoroughly detailed, if not downright exhaustive bio of Shelley and Byron. While I would have preferred less attention to descriptions of seemingly every single sexual encounter both men had, the literary journeys and what experiences shaped their adult philosophies is fascinating. There is an in-depth focus on the poets' relationships to their families, and how the attitudes shaped their shows up in their work. Recommended.

The title of this biography, "The Making of the Poets: Byron and Shelley in Their Time," suggested to me that this would be a book about how Byron's and Shelley's (early) lives shaped their poetry and helped them become two of the greatest poets of all time. Instead, the book is exactly what another reviewer said, a "thoroughly detailed, if not downright exhaustive bio." Gilmour spends far too much time writing of both poets' sexualities and sexual encounters, instead of focusing on their "literary journeys" and the impact that various people, events, situations, etc. had on their poetry and careers. How their early life experiences affected their poetry and personal philosophies (social, political, religious, etc.) is very secondary in this work and should have been front-and-center.

While I was overall underwhelmed with Gilmour's book, he did provide extensive information and insight on the two poets' family histories and family lineages, which is perhaps valuable and unique to this biography.

In summary, if you were to read one biography of Byron or Shelley, I would NOT recommend that you choose Gilmour's ""The Making of the Poets: Byron and Shelley in Their Time." It is overly detailed and not well-focused--these traits, combined, makes the work as a whole quite sloppy. However, if you are an avid Shelley/Byron reader, there might be some valuable and unique information between the lines.