Customer Reviews

The Poets' Corner: The One-and-Only Poetry Book for the Whole Family

5 star:		(31)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The Poet's Corner, compiled by John Lithgow presents an expansive collection of poetry, and is accompanied by a bonus MP3 CD featuring readings of poetry by Mr Lithgow and his friends [ Glenn Close, Morgan Freeman, Jodie Foster, Sam Waterston etc].

Though not the most comprehensive collection of poetry, it is a worthy compilation of well-known poetry written in the English language and is sure to find fans, both existing lovers of poetry and those just coming to appreciate the genre.

Each poem that is selected is accompanied by a short bio of the poet and Mr Lithgow's own explanation as to how the piece interests him or its emotional pull for him. The poems are presented by the poet [alphabetically by their last names] beginning with Matthew Arnold, and ending with William Butler Yeats. There are 50 poets in all, and the poems cover different eras, varied subjects, yet are all beguiling and unique in their ability to draw us in and affect us in different ways. Reading this compilation impacted me emotionally, engulfing me in feelings of joy, sadness and even silent contemplation. The bonus CD is another plus and together this is a wonderful and enjoyable compilation of poetry.

Reviewed by Edith Knehans

To many contemporary readers, poetry is frequently overlooked as a muddled source of intuitive literary understanding. Not so! This compendium of poetic charm walks down the primrose path of comfort and clarity. The bonus CD of selected poetry gives you the pleasure of the auditory as well as the visual experience of the collection.

The poems in the collection are extraordinary, soothing, and a bit escapist. What's more, the collection has the breadth to reach a wide audience, from adults to children alike.

The selection of poetry seems to masquerade as an open invitation to the world of the literary. Its seeming elegance deceptively poses as simple verse; the words present themselves as primary and thoughtful. Once the words are in motion, the experience of the poetry cannot be escaped. The readings change from elementary to quixotic, lending to an emotional experience of the prosaic word. The poetry gives rise to the passion for the written word and thoughtful prose of generations of writers.

The range of poetry is no less experiential: from Chaucer to Whitman, there is a wealth of poetic history to be enjoyed within this volume. A bit of biography on the poet is complemented by the poet's writings and considered favorites by many generations of avid literati. This volume of poetic notables is to be savored and enjoyed, for many generations to come.

This is comprehensive compilation of some of the best poetry I've read in a while.

Armchair Interviews says: A worthwhile meditation on a cold and stormy winter's night!

Poets' Corner: The One-and-Only Poetry Book for the Whole Family
Compiled by: John Lithgow
Published by: Grand Central Publishing
ISBN: 0-446-58002-3

"A Book of Poetry For All"
Reviewed by: Stephanie Rollins for ReviewYourBook.com
5 stars

I do not like poetry. The last time I read poetry was in college, and I was forced to do so then. However, John Lithgow explains that we all are exposed to poetry on a daily basis. We have been since childhood. There is poetry in nursery rhymes. There is even poetry in songs. However, Lithgow points out that there is a debate about whether or not lyricists are poets.

Lithgow chose 50 poets. They are vastly different. They are from different eras and locations. Some are dark, and some are cheerful. Some are funny, and some are dreary. He describes each poet and each poet's style. The information on each poet was fascinating.

This book would make a great Christmas gift for those who like poetry and/or history. Young or old, this book is one-size-fits-all. I recommend this!

A

Lithgow was born in Rochester, New York. His mother was a retired actress, and his father was a theatrical producer and director who ran the McCarter Theatre in Princeton, New Jersey. Lithgow won a scholarship to Harvard University, where he graduated magna cum laude in 1967, and won a Fulbright Scholarship to study at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art.

Lithgow writes that poetry was an important part of his life: "My grandmother was part of the last generation who memorized poetry for pleasure."

Lithgow's love of poetry shines through the fifty short introductions to 50 classical poets on offer here.

Here's a sampling of the bios:

"Among the Victorian poets of England, Matthew Arnold was not as famous as Tennyson and Robert Browning. Unlike them, he did not have the luxury of being able to devote himself full-time to writing. Arnold, the son of a clergyman and private-school head- master, worked for a living his entire life. A ten-year appointment at Oxford University as a poetry professor, combined with his job as a government school inspector, meant he had to squeeze in his poetry on his own time. He wrote most of his poems before he was forty years old, when family life and work were less demanding. After that, he concentrated on writing essays about culture, religion, and literature, and his prose was better received than his poetry, at least during his lifetime. Some say it was his literary criticism that elevated criticism to an art form in its own right. Here is Arnold on poetry: "I think it will be found that grand style arises in poetry, when a noble nature, poetically gifted, treats with simplicity or with severity a serious subject."

To Arnold, no matter how beautiful its language or imagery, if a poem lacked an important subject, he found it unworthy of his attention. Serious and austere himself, he chose lofty subjects for his own poems-faith or the absence of faith, how to live in a meaningful way, politics, the individual in relation to society. He believed his work would endure because it reflected the period's big themes. "For the creation of a masterwork of literature two powers must concur," wrote Arnold, "the power of the man and the power of the moment, and the man is not enough without the moment." Arnold's moment in history happened to be one of great change and flux. You could say all his poetry was about coming to terms with the Victorian age of industrialism and the weakening of religion.

***

Lithgow chooses poems he personally enjoyes the most;
for Arnold he chose "Dover Beach":

The sea is calm to-night.
The tide is full, the moon lies fair
Upon the straits; -- on the French coast, the light
Gleams and is gone; the cliffs of England stand,
Glimmering and vast, out in the tranquil bay.

You can hear the actor's cadences as you read these lines, and Lithgow adds: "There's just no way around it, this is a downbeat poem. I hear in it a desperate, yearning gloom, a sense of despair about the Victorian world and a personal crisis of faith. But despite the poet's melancholy, the poem is quite beautiful in its specificity. Arnold reveals his feelings very directly and openly."

Lithgow is very aware of the importance of sound, and for folks like me with a tin ear, the accompanying CD is a special delight: great poetry read by great actors like Jodie Foster and Helen Mirren.

Altogether, a delight to savor and perhaps to even encourage the reader to memorize a few lines.

Robert C. Ross 2007 2008

The most important factor in this anthology is that Lithgow is not a poet! How great is that! No name dropping, no friend of a friend, no academic postulations on the preponderances of poetry's perplexing postulations! He just loves poetry. And that frees him to choose what he likes.

The second important factor is that he provides us with audio. Poetry is an audio art as well as visual one. And it stinks to always be missing out on 1/2 of the art.

As a student a teacher of poetry I was schooled in contemporaries like Collins, Howe, Harjo, Bukowski so I always had an aversion to the masters being a lot of it was now cliche and with that annoying abab rhyme scheme. But Lithgow and company make it come alive for me. Hearing Auden read by Foster blew the doors on my poetic hinges. I think this anthology is important for anyone who loves the arts. It is not condescending or overwrought with analysis. A little history of the poet, a little nostalgia about why he like the poem, and then BAM! the poem PLUS he give you more poems by the same author after his initial pick just for exposure so you get 50 poems on the CD plus more in the book. This is the kind of book you buy everyone you know when you can't think of any really worthwhile and meaningful to give them.

It makes me want to do my own anthology poems I love. I my own quarrel is that I doubt there will be a sequel.

This is a wonderful book. Something I have been looking for for some time. Poets I have wondered about, many I do not know. I hope this is bought and passed on. It is a great invitation to understand and even de-mystify poetry. I am eating it up and re-reading my favorites.

This is a wonderful book for the beginner or anyone wanting to awaken the lapsed poetry lover within. I haven't read poetry since I was in college (many years ago) and found this book an easy re-entry into the wonderful world of poetry. Everyone will have their favorite poems, but I think the ones chosen for this book are diverse and reflect a treasure of past and contemporary work. I have listened to the CD over and over again as it opens up the other dimension of poetry which has helped me fully appreciate many of the poems. John Lithgow is a wonderful host, and beckons us all to enjoy one of life's truly meaningful and mysterious joys. The brief information about each poet proceeding their poem is very helpful and there are highlighted bits of general information including further reading, links to websites etc. Warning--reading poetry can be addictive...

I write poetry and creative non-fiction. I borrowed this book at the library and liked it so much I decided to buy off Amazon for my reference. If any of you know John Lithgow's work, you'll know that not only is he a wonderful actor, but he plays guitar and sings children's songs, write's children's books and has a wonderful sense of humour (parden my Canadian spelling). This book is great because he does a small history on the poet and his/her motivations and breaks it down into interesting facts and personable anecdotes. At the end of the history there is always a quote from the poet, and a noting of Lithgow's favourites for further reading outside the book. He then gives a wonderful example of the poet's work. One of the great things about the book is that under the poet's name it notes the type of poetry each individual poet was unique for (and in some instances, invented). For instance Lewis Carroll is "The Storyteller", John Donne "The Metaphysical Poet" and Ezra Pound "The Imagist". It is really helpful if you are studying poetry and trying to remember what style that poet wrote in. Another wonderful addition to the book is an MP3 CD of him and other famous vocal readers (Jodie Foster, Gary Sinise). You can sit with your children before bedtime and listen to some of these readings and enjoy. I personally love to read poetry to my children, they are wide-eyed and listen in wonderment to the words, images upon images popping into their young imaginations as I read. Exposing children (and other family members - especially the unwilling!) will really help their sense of timing and rhythm when writing and speaking, increase their vocabulary and give them that creative spirit that we all need to nurture. Thank you John, for introducing me to E.E. Cummings, all I can say is "WOW"! Highly, highly recommended.

This book is a warm, thoughtful invitation to revisit some poets and poems that remind us of the abiding universality of this form of expression. It's also a joyful nudge to try poetry the way it's best experienced....read aloud. I especially love the entries on Eliot, Berryman, Burns and Coleridge.

No in the edition was unknown to me, but many were old favorites. I liked Lithgow's reminiscing over why poetry is important to him, as well as his comments on each poem. What Disappointed me was not receiving the MP3's in a digital format as a replacement for the CD's that come with the hardcover edition. $10 for a small collection of poetry is steep w/o another selling point.