Descents of Memory: The Life of John Cowper Powys - Hardcover

Morine Krissdottir

4.03

33 ratings by Goodreads

9781585679171: Descents of Memory: The Life of John Cowper Powys

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1585679178 ISBN 13: 9781585679171

Publisher: Duckworth & Co, 2007

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A comprehensive portrait of the distinguished English author of such works as Wolf Solent and A Glastonbury Romance includes coverage of his childhood in Derbyshire, his celebrated lecture tours, and his relationship with his own writing.

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Review:

'A remarkable book ... Deserves to stand with Richard Ellman's 'James Joyce' as a major work about a major artist' --Margaret Drabble, TLS

Synopsis:

This is the first complete biography of the lost genius of English letters. John Cowper Powys' works have been described as 'the only novels produced by an English writer that can fairly be compared to the fictions of Tolstoy and Dostoevsky...with an immensity to which only Blake could provide a parallel in English literature' (George Steiner, "The New Yorker"). His talents were manifested by such books as his "Autobiography", "Wolf Solent", "Weymouth Sands", and "A Glastonbury Romance". In this, Powys' first comprehensive biography, eminent scholar Morine Krissdottir delves into the life of the writer, from his childhood in Derbyshire through his celebrated lecture tours through England and the US; from his life's loves to his relationship with his own writing. Krissdottir demonstrates that Powys - known as much for his essays, letters, poetry, and philosophy as he was for his fiction - was a man whose writing had a scope matched only by the breadth of his life. Using primary sources, never-before-seen archival materials (including photos), and Powys' own writings, Krissdottir pieces together this life in a way that will be impossible to forget.

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