Wilfred Owen [Paperback]

Dominic Hibberd (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 4, 2003

When Wilfred Owen died in 1918 aged 25, only five of his poems had been published. Yet he became one of the most popular poets of the 20th century. For decades his public image was controlled by family and friends, especially his brother Harold who was terrified anyone might think Wilfred was gay. In recent years much new material has become available. This book, based on over thirty years of wide-ranging reaearch, brings new information to almost every part of Owen's life. Owen emerges as a complex, fascinating and often endearing character with an intense delight in being alive.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Hibberd's biography, is particularly effective in communicating a sense of its subject's shy charm. (Thomas Hodgkinson Literary Review )

Hibberd's biography provides a much fuller, more complex and nuanced depiction of Owen than any available to his point. (G. Grieve-Carlson CHOICE )

Owen deserved—but has so far lacked—a definitive biography. Now it is indisputably here. (Nigel Jones Bbc History Magazine )

This rich, compelling, formidably researched enterprise...is the fruit of half a lifetime's devotion to Owen's memory. (Carey, John Sunday Times )

Hibberd has probably done more than any other individual to illuminate Owen's life and work...a triumph.... It is difficult to believe it will ever be superseded. (Mark Bostridge Independent On Sunday )

Literary biography of the first order, splendidly written and thoroughly documented.... Highly recommended. (CHOICE )

Although Dominic Hibberd modestly says that his book 'is not, of course, definitive,' it is hard to see how it could be improved upon. (Times Literary Supplement )

A magisterial biography. (New York Times )

Hibberd is the world's foremost authority on this soldier-poet, and his new biography is full of reliable information, intelligent judgements. (Ron Smith Richmond Times-Dispatch ) --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From the Publisher

The most complete biography ever written of the Great War's greatest poet. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 608 pages
• Publisher: Phoenix Paperbacks (November 4, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0753817098
• ISBN-13: 978-0753817094
• Product Dimensions: 5.1 x 1.3 x 7.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,989,731 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

31 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A telling look at a too-little known legend, April 9, 2004

By 

R. Chaffey "beckahi" (Chicago) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: Wilfred Owen: A New Biography (Hardcover)

There's not much that can be said about Wilfred Owen that shouldn't have already been said. Yet the life of this brilliant poet, which was cut short just before the armistice that ended World War I, remains unknown to far too many. Wilfred Owen is referred to as a "soldier-poet" of WWI, which includes him in the company of such literary standards as Rupert Brooke, Robert Graves and Siegfried Sassoon. But, as perhaps the greatest poet among the three, he is the least known. Dominic Hibberd's new biography will hopefully set that to rights.

I first fell in love with Wilfred Owen's poetry when I read "Dulce et Decorum est." I found his imagery real and terrifying as it spoke to the true brutality and horrors of "modern" warfare. (The poem is a description of a soldier dying in a gas attack.) Throughout the years I have read much on WWI and on the soldier-poets, but nothing has come as close to so vividly portraying the life of one of them as Hibberd's new biography.

Hibberd begins his very thorough telling of Owen's life, starting with his familial background and youth, and working his way through Owen's years as a parish assistant and his numerous attempts to gain a university education. It seems a long time before we are to encounter Wilfred as a soldier, but Hibberd builds a solid base that explains Wilfred's personality and his attitude towards poetry. Owen's devoutly Evangelical mother had wished her son to enter the service of the church, but after his time in Dunsden, Owen found it increasingly hard to reconcile his Christian faith with his love of literature, finding the two to oppose each other. His one desire in life was to be a poet, and upon entering the English army, he probably had no idea that his voice would come through war. Only a few of Owen's poems (five) were published in his lifetime and after his untimely death, his poetry was collected and published in the 20s and 30s. Afterwards, he seems to disappear entirely from the literary map until a renewed interest in his work arose in the 1960s; an appropriate time since another "war to end all wars" was being fought in Vietnam.

The one area of dicord I take with this biography concerns Owen's sexuality. In the book jacket, and several times throughout the book, Hibberd states that Owen was a homosexual. This is evidently shown through his connections with various personages who were homosexuals, including his friend and mentor, fellow soldier and poet, Siegfried Sassoon. While I don't doubt that this was the truth regarding Owen's sexuality, Hibberd seems a little over-insistent with too little to back it up. Yet perhaps this is due to the inconsistencies that exist in the mystery surrounding Wilfred Owen. Hibberd makes it known that much was done by Owen's brother Harold to paint his brother (as well as himself and the family name) in a better light. As curator of his brother's letters, Harold took great pains to destroy any references that could be suspicious, which must include references to Owen's sexual preferences. As seemingly complete as this biography is, Hibberd himself points out in his epilogue that there are facts about Owen's life that we may never know.

This book is an engaging read for any fan of World War I or any fan of poetry. The literary world is much indebted to Owen, whose poetry spoke the truth in a time or darkness, and whose innovations with style and technique were revered by the very poets he once emulated. If only the literary world was aware of this. Perhaps Dominic Hibberd's book will finally grant Owen his distinguished place and well-deserved fame in modern literature.

15 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Owen's sexuality, March 10, 2006

By 

Perry Townsend (New York, NY USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Wilfred Owen: A New Biography (Hardcover)

Following up on "beckahi" ... You may feel that Hibberd, in discussing Owen's sexuality, "seems a little over-insistent with too little to back it up," but this only reflects your unwillingness to admit the obvious. Owen's gayness is undisputed, except perhaps, as you say, by his brother Harold who was motivated by a misguided desire to "enshrine" Wilfrid's legend and effectively clean up the details he didn't like.

Owen's and Sassoon's romantic relationship has been well documented, but the proof is in the pudding! Owen *himself* writes about his feelings toward men, both in his private correspondence and, most significantly, in the poetry. Several poems (such as "Arms and the Boy" and "Sonnet To My Friend - With an Identity Disc") have heavy homoerotic content, and one ("To Eros") makes a crystal clear reference to the gender of his beloved. Credit should be given to Hibberd for discussing all this in the light of day.

As for the renewed interest Owen's poetry received in the 1960s, this is mostly due to it being masterfully set by Benjamin Britten in his 1962 "War Requiem". And let's just say that Britten's pacifism was not the only reason he felt a deep kinship toward Owen! ;-)