Robert Graves [Paperback]

Miranda Seymour (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 4, 2003

Written with the blessing of the Graves family, this is the definitive biography of one of our greatest poets and writers. Robert Graves (1895-1985) was one of the greatest poets and polymaths of the twentieth century, whose long life matched the intensity of his imaginative output. From his distinguished exploits in the First World War, described in his memoir GOODBYE TO ALL THAT, to his dramatic relationships with women, most notably the American poet and essayist Laura Riding, his life was one of extremes: he sought pain, took huge emotional risks, and lived as if each day were his last. First published to mark the centenary of his birth, Miranda Seymour's acclaimed biography was written with the full co-operation of the Graves family. Her interviews and correspondence with many people who have not previously discussed Graves in public contribute to a rich and complex portrait of a troubled man and a great creative artist. "I have never been able to understand the contention that a poet's life is irrelevant to his work," Graves said. Miranda Seymour puts Graves's statement to the test in this superb biography and, thrillingly, demonstrates its validity.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Robert Graves (1895-1985), egocentric, obstreperous novelist, poet, critic and scholar of classical myth (The White Goddess), mythologized his own life, according to this intimate biography. Shell-shocked in WWI, Graves, enmeshed in homosexual circles, abruptly married strong-minded feminist Nancy Nicholson but abandoned her and their four children for charismatic American poet Laura Riding, leaving England and settling with her in Mallorca in 1930. Graves endorsed Riding's megalomaniacal belief in her supernatural powers, idealizing her as a savior and prophet of world peace, and as his muse, embodiment of the all-powerful ancient Goddess worshipped in matriarchal societies. But when Riding ditched him, Graves discovered the muse no longer resided in her. Despite the loving domesticity provided by his second wife, Beryl Pritchard, Graves pursued a series of young women, turning each into his muse. This, observes Seymour, was his way of atoning for guilt over the men he had killed in WWI, Riding's suicide attempt and the family he had abandoned. British novelist Seymour, biographer of Henry James and Ottoline Morrell, had full cooperation from Graves's widowed second wife and son William in writing this demythologizing biography. Photos.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Seymour (Ottoline Morell: Life on the Grand Scale, LJ 8/93) divides Graves's life "on the edge" into five parts, each of which explores the effect of a specific woman on his life and writing. In Seymour's opinion, these women became his source of inspiration. Seymour explores and develops the details of Graves's life but all too often fails to relate what impact the life's events had on such classics as The White Goddess and I, Claudius. The most interesting part of her biography is the account of Graves's experience as an officer in World War I, which afflicted him mentally throughout his life. Overall, Graves comes across as a man of strong conviction?pugnacious with enemies, generous with friends. Graves believed, "Poetry contains nothing haphazard," yet his life, as revealed in this biography, was ironically very haphazard; for example, he left his wife and four children to live with the American poet Laura Riding. This is a detailed, anecdotal biography for informed readers.?Tim Gavin, Episcopal Acad., Merion, Pa.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 544 pages
• Publisher: Scribner (August 4, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743232194
• ISBN-13: 978-0743232197
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,302,518 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant portrait of a unique man, January 19, 2005

By 

G. Otis (Brooklyn NY) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Robert Graves: Life on the Edge (Hardcover)

Robert Graves was astonishingly prolific and worked in many genres, so much so that for a while I thought there must be several writers by that name. He wrote lyric poetry, scholarly studies of mythology, drama, criticism, and journalism, he translated from Latin, and is probably best known for his potboilers "I, Claudius" and "Claudius the God," works that he considered purely commercial and took little interest in. And, as Miranda Seymour makes clear, he was as odd a duck as ever walked. His life was defined by the women to whom he devoted himself. "Abased himself" would perhaps be the better term. The first and most influential was the American Laura Riding, a second-rate poet who fancied herself some sort of prophetess who would save the world from war and turned Graves into her adoring puppy. Later in life Graves devoted himself to a series of young women, each of whom he claimed embodied "the goddess" in whose service he thought he dwelled. Seymour (a novelist herself) writes beautifully, and with the cooperation of key members of the Graves family she has produced what will surely be the definitive biography of Graves for years to come. She brings to life his almost effortless genius but never stoops to hero worship--she is unstinting in her examination of his faults. Here we see every aspect of Graves: his brilliance, his foolishness, his free spirit, his sexual repression, his generosity, his egocentricity. It is a portrait as fully round as one could possibly want.