Siegfried Sassoon: Scorched Glory, A Critical Study [Hardcover]

Paul Moeyes (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 031217277X | ISBN-13: 978-0312172770 | Publication Date: April 15, 1997

Siegfried Sassoon: Scorched Glory is the first survey of the poet's published work since his death and the first to draw on the edited diaries and letters. We learn how Sassoon's family background and Jewish inheritance, his troubled sexuality, his experience of war - in particular his public opposition to it - his relationship to the Georgian poets and other writers, and his eventual withdrawal to country life shaped his creativity. Sassoon's status as a war poet has overshadowed his wider achievements and the complex personality behind them. This critical evaluation of Sassoon's work is long overdue and will provide a valuable starting-point for future reappraisals of a writer for whom life and art were fused.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Moeyes (English, Hogeschool voor Economische Studies, Amsterdam) has written the first comprehensive critical study of the work of English writer Siegfried Sassoon (1886-1967) since his death. Moeyes's biographical approach makes extensive use of Sassoon's diaries and letters, showing how the work reflects Sassoon's ideas and experiences, with the notable exception of his homosexuality. Sassoon is usually remembered as a World War I poet, but Moeyes believes that, though he lacked the kind of creative imagination that makes a first-rate fiction writer, he was a better prose writer than poet. He was at his best describing his childhood and middle-class country life before World War I, as in the autobiographical novel Memoirs of Fox-Hunting Man and the autobiography Seven More Years. Moeyes has nicely resurrected a nearly lost literary figure. Recommended for academic British literature collections and where interest in Sassoon warrants.?Judy Mimken, Boise P.L., Ind.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 312 pages
• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan (April 15, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 031217277X
• ISBN-13: 978-0312172770
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.6 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,439,990 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent study of the man and his work., October 6, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Siegfried Sassoon: Scorched Glory, A Critical Study (Hardcover)

It is a commonplace observation that the Great War changed Western culture fundamentally and ineradicably, lending to formerly respectable sentiments like Horace's "Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori" an indelible bitterness.
Sassoon, one of the most prominent figures among Great War writers, produced a influential body of poetry and memoirs which are accessible and worthwhile today, yet the man himself is largely unknown, partly due to his own reticence. Moeyes, a Sassoon expert, in this admirably readable work traces the elusive writer's life and career with examples of his poetry and prose, examines his relationships with contemporary literary figures, and places his work in the context of Georgian poetry.
Highly recommended for students of English literature in general, and Great War writing in particular.

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