Furious Interiors: Wales, R S Thomas and God - Softcover

Wintle, Justin

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0006548377 ISBN 13: 9780006548379

Publisher: Flamingo, 1997

Synopsis

The controversial first full assessment of the life and work of Britain’s greatest living poet, the Nobel nominee R.S.Thomas.

The Reverend R.S. Thomas is our greatest poet of universals – he is without peer as an observer of Nature, of God’s presence or absence in the World, and of the stormy, inscrutable relationship of Man to each. He is a perpetual, jarring reminder to British literature that it has often lost sight of the Big Questions.

Thomas is something of an institution; in time he will surely be regarded as Britain’s Robert Frost; his poetry is gaining a similar currency – read at weddings, funerals and other shindigs.

This book examines the role of the poet in video-age Britain.

About this title

From the Back Cover:

"'Furious Interiors' is a scholarly yet lucid biography of this major poet and it is hard to imagine a better one being written."
RUSSELL CELYN JONES, 'The Times'

"Thomas comes into startling focus in this biography... Wintle goes to see for himself, visiting Thomas's haunts, reading his way skilfully through the poems, to find a tormented man whose gift draws its energy from the torment."
PAUL FERRIS, 'Spectator'

"This fascinating, eccentric book... Wintle's whole enterprise is one of making sense of an enigma, of recognising contradictions, of retracing the often shadowy steps of Thomas's life, and searching his 'furious interiors'... there is an even-handedness about this book which puts Thomas in perspective without either condemning him or explaining him away... Wintle has given me a much richer, more profound understanding, in a book that is as intelligent as it is idiosyncratic."
ANTHONY THWAFFE, 'Sunday Telegraph'

"Wintle's book will surely confound the sceptics... It's entertaining and interesting and has the quality of a quest... His historical discursions – everything you ever wanted to know about Plaid Cymru, rector writers. Anglo-Welsh literature, and the development of modern theology – are models of the short essay."
BLAKE MORRISON, 'Independent on Sunday'

"His analyses of Thomas's art are percipient and learned and often beautifully expressed."
JAN MORRIS, 'Independent'

Synopsis:

The Reverend R.S. Thomas has observed nature, questioned God's presence or absence in the world, and explored man's inscrutable relationship to each in his poetry. This text assesses the life and work of Nobel nominee, Thomas, and examines the role of the poet in video-age Britain.

About this edition

• Publisher: Flamingo
• Publication date: 1997
• ISBN 10: 0006548377
• ISBN 13: 9780006548379
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 512