Customer Reviews

Robert Frost: A Life

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One of my first memories of Robert Frost is watching him attempting to read a poem he had written for John F. Kennedy's Presidential Inauguration. Struggling with the bright sunlight reflecting off the fresh snow on that crisp winter's day, he abandoned his effort to recite an older poem from memory.

I remember thinking the image of this short, stocky white-haired old man was as close to a wood nymph as I would ever come. Later, I was to learn that Frost lead anything but a simple life. Biographer drawing on this image, often sensationalized the details of his life at the expense of the precious poetry he created.

Jay Parini, the Axinn Professor of English at Middlebury College, does not travel that path. Rather, he provides his readers with insight into how Frost lived day-to-day, poem to poem. He animates Frost's daily struggles with depression, anxiety, self-doubt and confusion. The poet's family life was not happy; he experienced bad luck with his children. Yet, he exhibited tremendous force of will, love for his children and dedication to creating a lasting body of creative work.

Unlike Frost previous biographers, Parini skillfully weaves the details of the poet's life with poetry he created. Frost's desire to "lodge a few poems where they can't be gotten rid of easily" is woven into a picture of an artist attempting to rescue his sanity by creating what he called a "momentary stay against confusion."

For me, reading Frost's poetry is a labor of love; reading Parini's biography is like reliving a best friend's life. This biographical study offers an unusual glimpse into the life, poetry and times of Robert Frost, a man who ranks as one of the world's greatest poets.

Jay Parini's well-written and well-organized life of Robert Frost weaves together beautifully the many contradictory Frosts: the spiteful yet respectful colleague, the insensitive yet devoted husband, the domineering yet supportive father, the bullying yet challenging teacher. What we have as a result is a definitive picture of one of our country's greatest poets as a three-dimensional human being, a man of great passions and great talent. As if that weren't good enough, Parini does a magnificent job of showing how many of Frost's best poems fit into periods of his life, how they often reflect his successes and failures, his dreams and his fears. In brief, this is a superlative biography, a must read for anyone curious about the life of this powerful and important poet!

Although many of Robert Frost's poems revolve around traditionally American themes, even a European, like I am, can easily recognize his genius.

This biography offers a major reassessment of the life and work of America's premier poet--the only truly "National Poet" the U.S. has, so far, produced.

Author Jay Parini began working on this biography in 1975, through interviews with friends and associates of Frost's and working in the poet's archives at Dartmouth, Amherst and elsewhere.

In prose that is both elegant and simple, Parini traces the stages of Frost's colorful life: his boyhood in San Francisco (no, he was not a native New Englander!), his young manhood in New England, his college days at Dartmouth and later at Harvard, his years of farming in New Hampshire, his three-year stay in England where he became friends with people such as Ezra Pound, Edward Thomas and other important figures of modern poetry.

Following Frost's meteoric rise upon his return to America from England in 1915, Parini traces the path Frost took from poet to cultural icon, a friend and intimate of presidents, a sage whose pronouncements attracted the attention of the world press.

Yet, the beauty of this book lies in the fact that Parini never loses sight of Frost at his deepest and most human, the man behind the gorgeous and sensitive poetry that enraptured a nation. Always managing to take us back to the poetry and Frost's roots, Parini, in this beautiful book, offers a sensitive roadmap of both Frost, the man and his incredible talent.

As the best known American poet of the twentieth century, Frost needs a good biographer.At last he has one. His "official" biographer,Lawrance Thompson, portrayed him as monster.(One suspects because Thompson and Frost-in his old age- fancied the same woman).

Difficult,petulant,egoistic-Frost could be. But he was no monster. He had a deep affection for his friends and family.His charm and humour show him to be a man whom many could like.In later life he was much in demand at universities,dinners and ,of course,who can forget his performance at the inauguration of President Kennedy.

Parini's book is the first to put the character of Frost into perspective.He does not duck the down side such as Frost's attempts to denigrate or badmouth his rivals.Nevertheless Parini reminds us that Frost was an engaging character who could make great friends.

One important illustration of Frost's ability to charm is his period in England.Frost was first published-not in the United States- but in England where he lived from 1912-1915.There he became close friends with a number of English poets-such as Edward Thomas,Wilfred Gibson and (my great-uncle)Jack Haines.Parini comprehensively covers this period showing Frost's close relationship to Thomas whom he persuaded to write poetry and his life in Gloucestershire which was to have an influence on the rest of his life.

The book should not be read just for its success in bringing the character of Frost into balance.The book provides also an excellent analysis of Frost's poetry.Parini shows Frost versatility but equally that Frost -unlike so many poets- could produce poetry of quality in his old age.Frost approached the tragedies of his later life-son's suicide,wife's and daughter's premature death,daughter's confinment to a mental home- by continuing writing, lecturing and constant travelling.He even returned to England in his eighties. However it is not the volume of activity that is important.As Parini emphasises,Frost's essential contribution to poetry in the English language is to write poetry which follows the way we speak. He was a great peoples' poet.Parini's book will be noted for his balanced portayal of Frost but also as the finest analysis of the strengths of his poetry.

Robert Frost has long been my favorite poet. I have read all previous biographies of him and , in my opinion, this book stands head and shoulders above them all. It presents an intensely fair and complete account of the man, his life, and his works. Moreover, it is uniquely compassionate in its evaluation of a flawed genius who "had a lover's quarrel with the world". Frost had talked about the "art of locality" and he exemplified this in his faithful depiction of hardscrabble, ordinary, farming life in rural New England. I feel Frost never hit a false note in his poetry and Jay Parini never hit a false note in his biography. Parini, a writer of excellent fiction, stated in a conclusion at the end of his book that he hated completing his labor of love. I felt the same way in finishing my reading of the book-I was sorry to see it come to an end!

Jay Parini bring's a poet's perspective to this excellent biography. By combining a compelling look at Frost's life with an informed commentary on his poetry, Parini has avoided the common pitfall of many biographers; forgetting the work while describing the life. I feel I now have a much greater understanding of the man and his work after reading this book which should be the goal of all biographies and so rarely is.

I have always loved Frost's poetry, but this biography gave me a much greater appreciation for the depth of intellect and erudition behind it. By embracing the inherent paradoxes in Frost's personality and philosophy rather than trying to cram Frost into a self-consistent mold, Parini crafts a delightfully vivid portrait of the poet.

Contrary to another reviewer's claim that "why [Frost's children] were afflicted by mental illness is not explored," Parini presents compelling evidence that mental illness ran in Frost's family--severely afflicting his sister--with Frost maintaining his own psychological balance only by dint of a constant conscious struggle.

Parini's book reads like a Mystery enticing the reader to go on asking "What next?" He has a very balanced perspective which has given the three volume Lawrance Thompson work the corrective it needed. Parini's ability to focus on Frost's personal life with its volume of personal tragedy and then interprete his work with clearness and simplicity makes Frost very assessable to the reader. The length of Frost's life and the achievement which he accomplished is impressive. Yet, the need for accolades and center stage, the development of a persona of being a simple country farmer, all play into the mystique which we saw at John Kennedy's inaguaration. I have read Frost's poems for years, even memorized them, but Parini's Biography has made the poems have a new life for me. Great book, great reading!!!

I am VERY glad that I got this biography because it is written in a very professional manner. The author was able to resisted the big temptation to 'invent' his own Robert Frost. Different perspectives are revealed and an attempt is made to put extremes into perspective. Though the excursions into poem-analysis at first appeared a little distractive I found it soon to be very interesting and helpful. It taught me actually some helpful lessons. I recommend this book highly to everyone who likes to understand the favorite poet better. I hope Jay Parini continues to write some great books.

I am not a fan of biographies...as a New Englander, I AM extremely fond of Frost...so I gave the biography a try...

Through a poet's eye...sensitively (and beautifully) written...engaging...a delight!