Customer Reviews

In Their Own Voices: A Century of Recorded Poetry

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2 star:		(1)
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These tapes are simply amazing. They have everything from a recording THOMAS EDISON made of WALT WHITMAN reading AMERICA, to ROBERT FROST reading BIRCHES, THE ROAD NOT TAKEN, to modern poets like SYLVIA PLATH reading DADDY, ADRIANNE RICH reading DIVING INTO THE WRECK. There's even some BUKOWSKI. When you hear DYLAN THOMAS's powerful voice belt out DO NOT GO GENTLE INTO THAT GOOD NIGHT, you find out he sounds sort of like O-B-1 Kenobi from star wars. E E CUMMINGS work is actually very accessible when he reads it aloud. His naturally inflections and words he stresses made poems like NEXT TO OF COURSE GOD, and ANYONE LIVED IN A PRETTY HOW TOWN perfectally understandable (they're sometimes a little difficult in print).

I use this collection in the classroom; the quality of the recording varies according to the age of the original recording, of course, but for the most part it has a nice clear sound. Unlike some other collections, I like the variety of poets that have been chosen. What's so helpful about this review? You can find this same item under the Popular Music category and (as of today, anyway) it costs less there. Additionally, there are sound files of each of the poets that allow you to listen to the tracks in order to see for yourself if you like it.

This has been one of the best purchases I have ever made. I had never heard most of the voices recorded here, and to hear the voices of these poets adds so much to my understanding of their words. I have been using these discs in my high school classroom and have gotten strong reactions from my students. Now they understand why it was called "Beat Poetry" and Wm. Carlos Williams has gained no fans in my class. Every English teacher needs this set.

This collection of audio CDs is very hard to use. There is no readable index. It's almost impossible to locate individual poets. Some of the readings are okay, but this collection is put together so badly that I would never recommend it.

A Century of Recorded Poetry is a wonderful reflection of some of our most respected artists. I know an effort such as this cannot include every poet. However the omission of Elizabeth Bishop from this collection is confounding and mysterious. How could a poet of Bishop's magnitude and acknowledged genius not be included here. Was it an oversight? The producers explain that the poetry of T.S. Eliot and Gwendolyn Brooks is not to be found here due to permission and licensing restrictions, but there is no such explanation given for Bishop. This seems like an impossible oversight, especially considering that Bishop was so revered by many of the poets such as Robert Lowell, Marianne Moore, who are included.

As other I question, why one of the major American Poets of the 20th Century is missing. There are recordings of Jeffers avaiable in the Library of Congress. Why is he not here?