Review:
Addressing an audience that is educated but not necessarily scholarly that reads poetry purely for pleasure poet, novelist, and critic Laurence Lerner emphasizes his dislike of literary theory and approaches poems as a poet and teacher. This book is not the ultimate word on female poets, nor does the author intend it to be. Rather, it serves as an introduction. Lerner selects a variety of poets from the 17th to the 20th centuries and includes both well-known and neglected examples. Among the neglected poets are some gems e.g., Hetty Wright (John Wesley s errant sister) and Victorian radical Mathilde Blind. The author also presents examples of what he considers to be bad poems and compares them to similar but superior poems (perhaps coincidentally all by men). Lerner takes the same personal approach to poetry Edward Hirsch does in "How to Read a Poem: And Fall in Love with Poetry" (CH, Jan 00, 37-2605). Both books seek the same audience, but Lerner s often-judgmental approach differs from Hirsch s open and contemporary approach. Still Lerner has much to offer, especially in his discussion of canonical poets like Emily Dickinson and in his brilliant responses to his contemporaries, e.g., Sylvia Plath. Recommended. "Choice""
Laurence Lerner, poet, novelist and critic, offers an enjoyably readable survey of poetry by women, ranging from the famous to the neglected. "Reading Women s Poetry" is engagingly informative, warmly responsive and incisively analytical. Lerner is lucid, provocative and entertaining. Cedric Watts, Sussex University, author, "Literature and Money" and "The Deceptive Text""
Do we read poem X because it s a good poem, or because its revealing of its author s marginalised status? To Laurence Lerner, both are good reasons for reading it, and no harm is done to poetry by attention to matters outside the ordinary scope of critical judgement. Lerner is a born teacher and his book evokes the ideal classroom discussion. He is wonderfully knowledgeable and he reads the poems with insight, skill and enthusiasm, but we are also encouraged to think for ourselves and take pleasure in what we read. "Reading Women s Poetry" is an immensely stimulating book. Clive Wilmer, Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge, author, "The Mystery of Things""
"Addressing an audience that is educated but not necessarily scholarly - that reads poetry purely for pleasure - poet, novelist, and critic Laurence Lerner emphasizes his dislike of literary theory and approaches poems as a poet and teacher. This book is not the ultimate word on female poets, nor does the author intend it to be. Rather, it serves as an introduction. Lerner selects a variety of poets from the 17th to the 20th centuries and includes both well-known and neglected examples. Among the neglected poets are some gems - e.g., Hetty Wright (John Wesley's errant sister) and Victorian radical Mathilde Blind. The author also presents examples of what he considers to be bad poems and compares them to similar but superior poems (perhaps coincidentally all by men). Lerner takes the same personal approach to poetry Edward Hirsch does in How to Read a Poem: And Fall in Love with Poetry (CH, Jan '00, 37-2605). Both books seek the same audience, but Lerner's often-judgmental approach differs from Hirsch's open and contemporary approach. Still Lerner has much to offer, especially in his discussion of canonical poets like Emily Dickinson and in his brilliant responses to his contemporaries, e.g., Sylvia Plath. Recommended." --Choice
"Laurence Lerner, poet, novelist and critic, offers an enjoyably readable survey of poetry by women, ranging from the famous to the neglected. Reading Women's Poetry is engagingly informative, warmly responsive and incisively analytical. Lerner is lucid, provocative and entertaining." --Cedric Watts, Sussex University, author, Literature and Money and The Deceptive Text
"Do we read poem X because it's a good poem, or because its revealing of its author's marginalised status? To Laurence Lerner, both are good reasons for reading it, and no harm is done to poetry by attention to matters outside the ordinary scope of critical judgement. Lerner is a born teacher and his book evokes the ideal classroom discussion. He is wonderfully knowledgeable and he reads the poems with insight, skill and enthusiasm, but we are also encouraged to think for ourselves and take pleasure in what we read. Reading Women's Poetry is an immensely stimulating book." --Clive Wilmer, Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge, author, The Mystery of Things
About the Author:
Laurence Lerner, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, has taught at universities all over the world. He was Professor English at the University of Sussex, and later at Vanderbilt University in Tennessee. His many critical books include The Truest Poetry (1960), The Truthtellers (on Jane Austen, George Eliot and D.H. Lawrence), (1967), and An Introduction to English Poetry (1975). He has received Poetry Book Society recommendations and his novels include the engaging My Grandfather's Grandfather (1985)
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