Customer Reviews

My Wars Are Laid Away in Books: The Life of Emily Dickinson (Modern Library Paperbacks)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

In my opinion this is the best biography of Emily Dickinson. Habbeger integrates the most recent scholarship with independent judgment to paint a sophisticated and sympathetic picture of our elusive genius. Unusual in a biography is his clear story line that allows us to watch Dickinson's gradually developing sense of herself and her vocation against a background of deep prejudice against most kinds of accomplishment for women. "[We] should keep in mind that she was a noncitizen by force of custom and law, that many doors were closed to her, and that she left behind more good hard work than any of us." (page 504) The general reader and we amateur Dickinson freaks will find a treasure house of information, insight, and enhanced appreciation of our off-center idol.

Miss Dickinson does not yield herself easily to the microscope of biography, as almost every would-be biographer has found. Mr. Habegger contributes a scholarly missive that requires a good pre-knowledge of Emily Dickinson and her poetry to understand and appreciate the book.

The author has steered a firm middle course and refused any idle speculation on ED's sexuality, lovers, and sanity. However, he is not afraid to make a choice or a decision or two. He thinks Miss Dickinson had two great loves, but is not willing to confirm whether these existed solely in her imagination or were, in fact, reciprocated. There are lengthy sections on ED's father and grandfather, which I found well researched and shrewdly presented.

I was disappointed in his choice of the poetry analyzed. Some was obscure even to the Dickinson devotee, and not all was first rate. Though the book is hefty, literally and figuratively, I felt ED was but a shadow throughout. There are many well-documented instances of Miss Dickinson's sharp sense of humor, but none appeared in "My Wars Are Laid Away in Books." There is no sense of the entire family's eccentricity. Brother Austin, when a pillar of the town of Amherst, left his wife to take up with his mistress who lived across town. Think what a hullabaloo this must have caused in Victorian-era New England! Sister Lavinia became more and more peculiar as her age advanced. So Emily had a good background for some unconventional behavior.

I enjoyed the Sewell biography more, though it was written in 1972 without the benefit of Mr. Habegger's advanced scholarship. I believe Emily Dickinson told us all she wanted us to know in her poems. And thus far, she has succeeded.

The soul selects her own society-
Then shuts the door-
On her divine majority
Obtrude no more.

Unmoved, she notes the chariot's pausing
At her low gate-
Unmoved, an emperor is kneeling
Upon her mat.

I've known her from an ample nation
Choose one-

Then close the valves of her attention--
Like stone.

I began this book with trepidation, for I find myself slightly suspicious of literary biographies finding them to be either too sensationalized or reductive or too academic to be interesting to the average reader. This is a well-researched volume that does not read like a doctoral thesis. But Alfred Habegger manages to discover a delightful balance between scholarly research and public readability.

I adore Dickinson and was impressed with the manner in which Habegger handled his subject. He presents her with the complexity and intellectual approach toward she deserves. Emily Dickinson appears as neither the bizarre recluse nor a misunderstood sexual being of some of her previous biographies. If, as some readers have found, the poet appears a bit unresolved and incomplete, it is only because Mr. Habegger wisely chose NOT to sensationalize his book with unsubstantiated presumptions as to her personal life. I enjoyed the author's scholarly, non-sensationalist approach to Ms. Dickinson and found that it did not prevent me from "knowing her" as a person or subject.

One of Alfred Hebeggar's greatest strengths is his realization that no artist exists in a vacuum. He presents to his readers the complex outer world that inspired the poets rich inner world allowing us to draw many of our own conclusions. Meticulously researched and gently paced, the book is a journey not merely a chronicle of a single life. Instead, it is an insightful look at the entire Dickinsonian world of family, academics, and petty town politics. Habegger introduces the reader to the poet's entire extended family and the emotional movement within it. He allows the reader to truly see the social and political environment in which the poet lived. And that is fascinating in its own right.

Overall, I enjoyed the book very much and appreciate Alfred Hebeggar's unique ability to strike a balance scholarship and authorship. He is never condescending, yet he explains thoroughly. He treats the reader as an intelligent person with a mind eager for historical details and biographical accuracy and he treats his subject with respect and intellectual dignity. His book is academically valid without sacrificing the art of solid writing.

Habegger's painstaking biography was greeted with awards and high praise, but for the casual reader who simply wants to learn a bit more about the reclusive Emily Dickinson, it's heavy going indeed.

Most of the first half of the 629 pages of text (and I'm not counting the bibliography, references, or genealogical charts!) deals not with Dickinson, but with the social standing and financial affairs of her grandparents and parents, with the political climate of the day, and with other background material that could have well been mentioned only in passing.

Granted, Habegger's task was enormous. Dickinson published only 10 poems in her lifetime, most appearing anonymously and some even against her express desires. She left instructions with her surviving sister to destroy all her writings, both correspondence and poems, and it is by the narrowest chance that the instructions were not followed completely. The biographer is left with the faintest of trails, and points out that some earlier works on the poet's life have been tainted by poor scholarship or lack of impartiality.

Still, the casual reader can only wish Habegger had edited himself more severely, and included more of Dickinson's works. His references to her poems often include just one or two lines, which tasks the reader to chase down the complete works in order to fully understand what is being implied.

The subject of Dickinson's sexuality cannot help but intrude. Habegger handles this with great delicacy and as much honesty as the extant material allows. Dickinson's supposed lesbianism is roundly smacked down, yet in the same breath, he quotes notes Dickinson wrote to her sister-in-law or other women friends using language that the modern reader has no choice but to interpret as erotic. It is difficult for the modern reader to accept that the endearments and references to kisses and embraces don't have a sexual undertone.

The entirety of the work is invaluable to the literary historian, but it's certainly not beach reading.

I began this book with trepidation, for I find myself slightly suspicious of literary biographies finding them to be either too sensationalized or reductive or too academic to be interesting to the average reader. This is a well-researched volume that does not read like a doctoral thesis. But Alfred Habegger manages to discover a delightful balance between scholarly research and public readability.
I adore Dickinson and was impressed with the manner in which Habegger handled his subject. He presents her with the complexity and intellectual approach toward she deserves. Emily Dickinson appears as neither the bizarre recluse nor a misunderstood sexual being of some of her previous biographies. If, as some readers have found, the poet appears a bit unresolved and incomplete, it is only because Mr. Habegger wisely chose NOT to sensationalize his book with unsubstantiated presumptions as to her personal life. I enjoyed the author's scholarly, non-sensationalist approach to Ms. Dickinson and found that it did not prevent me from "knowing her" as a person or subject.
One of Alfred Hebeggar's greatest strengths is his realization that no artist exists in a vacuum. He presents to his readers the complex outer world that inspired the poets rich inner world allowing us to draw many of our own conclusions. Meticulously researched and gently paced, the book is a journey not merely a chronicle of a single life. Instead, it is an insightful look at the entire Dickinsonian world of family, academics, and petty town politics. Habegger introduces the reader to the poet's entire extended family and the emotional movement within it. He allows the reader to truly see the social and political environment in which the poet lived. And that is fascinating in its own right.
Overall, I enjoyed the book very much and appreciate Alfred Hebeggar's unique ability to strike a balance scholarship and authorship. He is never condescending, yet he explains thoroughly. He treats the reader as an intelligent person with a mind eager for historical details and biographical accuracy and he treats his subject with respect and intellectual dignity. His book is academically valid without sacrificing the art of solid writing.

Having read discouraging reviews about two recent books about
Dickinson, and having heard that this was highly recommended, I
decided that (as a busy person) I would just sample it, but I ended up
reading all 620 pages straight through. Habegger does an impressive
job weighing evidence and avoiding the speculations of earlier
biographers and critics. Yet in the end, Dickinson proves elusive. I
feel I know a lot more about her life, but I realize Habegger had to
do some speculation of his own. I recommend his book highly. But after
all the research and analysis, we are left with just the poems and
letters themselves, possessing no magic key the unlock their
significance or why they mean so much to so many people.

Habegger's bio of Emily Dickinson is thorough, well-written, fully researched. Chronologically arranged, but it does a good job of tying together various periods of ED's life and thought. Gives a real feeling for the people in her life. May not agree with all of Habegger's comments, but they are generally reasonable, not outlandish or strained. Reads easily - almost a page-turner. Excellent book.

I found Habegger's writing excellent, succinct and, many times, amusing. Having taught a course on Dickson's for many years (described in the Forward), he has an uncanny grasp of the minor characters no one remembers, and it is brought home that these characters are only being examined because they had some link to a strange and increasingly withdrawn poet. The author was able to show the point of view that is missing, Dicken's, which radiated from her obsessive way of relating to others. Her family history is especially interesting, showing an authoritarian and anti-feminist father, the type woman (a drone) her mother was, and the resulting progency, the three children. Enough is included to draw one's own conclusions about the poetess, who may have been caged, but accepted the bars in that cage because put there by her father. In some ways, Emily (to my mind) failed to deliver herself.

While Habegger does provide some original insight into Edward Dickinson, the majority of this book does not present new evidence or new interpretation. The documentation of sources is done terribly (it barely exists), which is not excusable in someone who is a scholar. I realize this book is not written for a scholarly audience, but with the recent problems Stephen Ambrose and Doris Kearns Goodwin have had, Habegger should have been much more careful. For the reader new to ED and wanting to know about her, this book will provide all the usual information. What is troubling is that there is a fair amount of speculative commentary provided that isn't well backed up, especially when it comes to ED's relationships with her sister-in-law and her parents. Quite a few assertions are stated as fact but don't have the evidence to back them up. This is the problem with a lot of Dickinson biographies--biographers (most of them scholars) don't seem to feel that it's necessary to explain that a lot of what they say is speculation and not fact; most casual readers won't know this and take everything that's said as not only fact, but fact provided by someone who really knows what they're talking about. Habegger knows more than many, but his material is not presented in a way that is acceptable scholarship because it's mostly his opinion with some quotations taken out of context.

There are also several factual errors, but I'm told these are being corrected for the paperback edition which is due out next month.

Beginning with Habegger's inspired choice of the title, from one of Dickinson's poems, this book is a comprehensive, respectful look at an enigmatic woman. Habegger fleshes out well the cast of characters in her self-limited sphere, so that we feel we know well her family members and friends of that Victorian era so different from our own. The poet herself remains somewhat elusive, but I thank Habegger for refusing to reduce her to psychological cliches. His book is refreshingly free of five-cent analyses, however tempting Dickinson's character might be for such dismissive summaries.

There is no doubt that Dickinson ranks as one of the greatest American poets, due to her concise, spare, whimsical, and cerebral approach. Personally, I have never warmed to her poetry as I sense something lacking. She elevates feeling above all, as do all the poets of the romantic period. Unlike her Puritan ancestors, for whom the greatest love was the love of God, her energies and attachments all flow both from, and toward, her own feelings. Like a moonstruck adolescent, she prefers her dreams of love to the actual presence of the loved one. From her decision to withdraw from the necessary order and balance of the outside world, comes this outpouring of intense feeling expressed in the large body of her work.

As a Lay Carmelite whose spiritual life has also been informed by Puritan ancestors, I praise the beauty of Dickinson's poems, but I cannot deny what seems to me their essential, self-referring shallowness. I know many will disagree with me and I do not disallow her position in the American canon.