Customer Reviews

The Norton Anthology of Poetry, Shorter Fifth Edition

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This anthology is great - but be aware that this is the shorter fifth edition of the Norton Anthology of Poetry. I haven't looked at the two fifth editions closely to compare them, but if you are buying this for a class (or for personal enjoyment), just be aware, it's the SHORTER edition.

Chances are you're buying this book for a class. So what. READ IT. ENJOY IT. The editors of Norton have done the hard work for you--they've sifted through thousands and thousands and thousands of poems and found the ones that are the most moving, profound, revolutionary, intelligent, touching, startling, unique, and ground-breaking. All you have to do is READ THEM.
And let's say that you fancy yourself as someone who "just doesn't get poetry." Fear not, once you've gone through this book you will "get" poetry. It will be under your skin, in your heart, in your mind. Relax.

It's required for a lot of college classes and then becomes a good bookshelf book.

It was not clear when I selected this book on line that it was the shorter version of the 5th edition. Since I am using this for assigned readings in a poetry course, none of the assigned pages are relevant and about 20% of the assigned poems are not in the shorter version, both of which shortcomings handicap my use of the book.

I got the exact product I ordered-- the shorter edition, and in no time at all too! It literally came overnight without extra charge or my selecting that shipping option. Perfect since I need it ASAP for classes! This is the kind of book that's great on your shelf throughout the years, so the price wasn't too terrible, considering. To those of you who say the description is misleading, unless it was updated, you should read the fine print of what you are buying and be more careful, as this was exactly what I needed and what was described. The book was a tad knocked up, so maybe more careful packaging would have been optimal, but it's still new and in pretty good shape. Overall, got what I needed and received it in amazing time!

I'll admit, I am not the biggest fan of poetry, but editors at Norton take thousands of poems written over the last millennium and throw the best of the best into this book. It is unlike many other poetry books because this one only features the poems everyone cares about, which incidentally makes this book ideal for a poetry research project, or poetry paper for school.

While this is the shorter edition, it still features many of the classics you would find in the regular edition. I personally own the Fourth edition (regular length) and all of my favorites are also found in this edition. I'm not sure specifically which poems they omitted in this shorter version, but just from a quick glance it looks like mostly poems from the Romantic and Victorian periods of poetry, as well as a couple of the lesser known poets from the regular edition all together. Honestly though, it's not a big difference at all.

Also, while many people like to buy new, it's not a bad idea to buy it used. Since this version is already outdated (granted it's still relatively new) that means the price is lower then the newer edition, or the full length book. I personally got it, with shipping, for only $4 and it arrived in fantastic condition which I was surprised at.

All in all it's a great book to have just because you never know when you will need some good poetry!

This book came very quickly and was in great shape. They said it may come with underlined or highlighted words and passages, but I barely found any marks in the book at all. I'd order books from this company again!

Very detailed footnotes reveal details other collections miss. This is a huge book and features more than just the typical "classic titles".

Great anthology. I love the way it's set up--the table of contents and the index are both quite thorough, and the extra information on the page of each poem itself (e.g. the year) is very helpful. The miniature biographies about the authors at the back are useful and conveniently sized. My only piece of advice would be to make sure you're actually looking for this, the shorter version, and not the full anthology.

Great book!!

Poems are varied and well chosen, supplementary texts and comments are very useful! Perfect book to start ;earning about poetry!