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15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Only regarding the edition itself!, February 23, 2001
Firstly, I must clarify my rating of this volume. Byron is my favorite of the English poets, surpassing Dryden, Pope, and all the rest. His works have the perfect combination of meter, content, and the malignantly dark atmosphere that I consider essential. Thus, I would hope that no one interprets my 3-star rating as a comment on the poet, or his works thereof. As for this edition, however, the results are mixed. It is a heavy paperback, with a rather thick cover and pages, and is actually sewn. Unfortunately, the reason I know it is sewn is that the spine of my copy cracked severely, and I can see the threads (incidentally, this happened on the very first page of "The Corsair" - certainly because of the degree of use in that section of the book!). The book is printed in double columns, which serves to lessen the number of pages required (still over 900). However, in the poems which have somewhat longer lines than the others, this means that nearly every metrical "line" is split into two lines on the page (I am thinking specifically of "Childe Harold", "The Corsair" and "Lara" here, although this shows up in other places as well). This is, to say the least, distracting and detracts from the overall reading experience. The font is small, but not unreadably so (older or glasses-requiring readers will likely disagree). Lastly, if you are interested in a "critical" edition of Byron, this may not be the best choice: it includes notes that Byron himself wrote, but they are not particularly illuminating. The works of Byron are themselves worth owning, without question. The question is if this edition is sufficient. It is complete, and is reasonably well bound. I haven't had a chance to look at the Penguin Classics edition of Byron, in two volumes, which I suspect is in single columns but may not be complete. The other alternative is to find an old edition, preferably one in a format large enough to permit double columns without causing lines to split. However, this is simply not feasible for the casual reader (it took me four months... to acquire such an edition, but it's very nice), and, as such, this edition will do; be aware that it does have its caveats.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A Great Collection with a Few Minor Blemishes, April 10, 2005
This review is from: Selected Poems of Byron (Wordsworth Poetry) (Wordsworth Poetry Library) (Paperback)
I have been enthralled with Byron since I first encountered his poem "Darkness." Since then, I have found Byron one of the most interesting poets and, though often neglected to be mentioned, dramatists. His dramas, especially "Sardanapalus" and "Cain," are by far some of his more amazing work.
However, this review is about this edition of his works and not the poet himself. This edition is great if you merely want a copy of all his works to puruse at your leisure. Unfortunately, if you are planning any scholarly work upon the subject of Byron, other editions would be better suited.
This edition does not contain any critical interpretations or even footnotes for some of Byron's more obscure references. Unfortunately, what becomes the largest problem with this edition is the lack of line numbers. As a student of drama, it is very problematic to have no line numbers from which to reference the work. You could take the time to count them, but that would be ridiculous work especially if you are studying his mock epic, "Don Juan."
This work is impressive for compressing all his works into a single volume. The type is very small and the lines are almost always separated onto the next line.
Overall, this is book is a great collection, but only for the reader and not the student or scholar.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Byronic Man, October 20, 2005
The most misunderstood poet of all time. Critics have libeled him "the satanic poet" - unfortunately. Sure, Byron was full of the seven deadlies - particularly lust - but he lived life like there was no afterlife. He took Pascal's Wager in the square of "don't believe/God doesn't exist." We won't know till we get there ourselves whether he was right. Byron believed, contrary to Shelley, that desire is ineradicable, that human nature is not perfectable. It was this very desire that animated history for Byron. Note that Pound and Jung echoed this idea in the 20th Century. Byron was Freudian before Freud was ever born. Another crime of criticism is that Byron was (and still is) deprecated as a poor poet technically -he is said by some to have had no talent for poetry. In my opinion, his detractors such as TS Eliot condemned Byron merely because of his "satanic" belief system - a belief in egoism, and, again, lust. But egoism and humanism are common enough in our day and age. Some people might simply shrug at Eliot's rabidity. What's he getting so excited about?
This edition, I think, is beautiful, though I'd prefer hardcover if it were available. The only precaution I have is the size of the print: minuscule. I'd suggest an eye exam before reading from this book. Maybe keep a magnifying glass handy, or wear powerful reading glasses. Otherwise, just enjoy the poetry and don't worry about obscure allusions. I think this book can be savored without annotation by editors who only direct you what to see. We don't need people to tell us what to read or what not to read. Let us do our own editorializing.
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