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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Eliot never looked so attractive,
This review is from: T.S. Eliot: An Introduction (Paperback)
Northrop Frye's introduction to T.S. Eliot is a valuable book, both for those who are not familiar with Eliot and for those who are but just devour all the information about him that they can (like me). This is a very slim volume, about 100 pages, and divided into five sections. The first section gives the reader a brief biography of Eliot, just to lay out the landscape. The second section progresses into Eliot's beliefs both spiritual and literary, giving one an idea of the issues he was most concerned with and which therefore influenced his poetry. The last three sections deal with the poems themselves, first giving an overview of Eliot's style and common themes in his work &etc., then getting more in-depth with the individual poems. As always with Frye, there are many outstanding insights, some I've never heard or read anywhere previously, and others I have, but never quite understood till he explained it in that coherent way he explains everything- then it all finally makes sense! This book has added to my pleasure of reading Eliot moreso than any other introduction or collection of essays on Eliot has. Those psychoanalysts and post-structuralists have done Eliot a disservice by their attempts at criticism and biography- the way they write about him makes him sound so prosaic and unappealing! Frye obviously knows his subject well, and he writes about him in a lucid, engaging, unpretentious fashion, helping the reader grasp concepts in Eliot's works which would otherwise prove daunting. Everyone who loves Eliot needs to own this book. Also, if you're a student struggling to understand Eliot, do yourself a favour and find this volume! It is out of print, but you may be able to purchase a copy on the 'net. If not, your local library or used book store may have it.One final note: this book is not necessarily helpful if you're looking to understand a specific poem of Eliot's and that's it. This is more of an overview of Eliot's poetry and a study of its evolution, or as one reviewer put it: "Frye's study takes a more holistic view of Eliot's career; and it's especially successful in relating Eliot's literary theory to his practice and various works (written in different periods) to each other."
4.0 out of 5 stars
A Good Read in its own Right.,
By Bachi (NY, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: T.S. Eliot: An Introduction (Paperback)
This book should come as no surprise to any one familiar with Frye's work. T.S Eliot: An Introduction is not so much a commentary on Eliot's work as much as it is an insightful critical essay on the poet's thought and criticism.
The most rewarding parts of the book are the second and third chapters, which deal with Eliot's prose and cultural polemic. Frye handles the controversial works, such as After Strange gods, gracefully and, unlike say Harold Bloom, doesn't inject his own opinion of Eliot into the mix. The following chapters then apply Eliot's thought to his poems and plays, and take his body of literary output as a unity. He discusses the recurring images and themes in the poems, with his characteristic archetypal connections, which are always interesting and rather enlightening. I would recommend this book to any one interested in either Eliot or Frye. It is a useful primer to any one looking to follow up on the works of T.S Eliot.
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