Synopsis:
The last ten years has unequivocally demonstrated that Clive James is far more than a mere talking head. Once known as one of the English-speaking world s most popular television personalities, James has gone on to be a celebrated essayist, translator, and poet. The appearance of Poetry Notebook, which distills his passion for poetry into one indispensable volume, further adds to our appreciation of a world-class intellectual and Renaissance man. Poetry Notebook examines the poems and legacies of a panorama of twentieth-century poets, from Hart Crane to Ezra Pound (a mad old amateur fascist with a panascopic grab bag ), from Ted Hughes to Anne Sexton. Whether demanding that poetry be heard beyond the world of poetry or opining on his five favorite poetry books (Yeats, Frost, Auden, Wilbur, and Larkin), James captures the whole truth of life s transience in this unforgettably eloquent book on how to read and appreciate modern poetry."
Review:
Clive James has a fantastic range and depth of knowledge. He is, at times, miraculously funny. He writes knowledgeably and with passion about literature, and especially poetry.--Sam Leith
[Clive James] is a unique figure, a straddler of genres and a bridger of the gaps between high and low culture. He will be seen, I think, as one of the most important and influential writers of our time.--Bryan Appleyard
A book bursting with quotable moments, many of them spill-your-drink funny.... Indeed, great poetry thrills James in the way roller coasters and celebrity sightings thrill other people. His enthusiasm is infectious.--Emily Donaldson
This ability to tell which lines live and which only counterfeit life--call it, simply, taste--is Mr. James's great strength as a critic of poetry. His focus on the phrase and the line, rather than the large structure or the governing thought, feels like a poet's way of reading.... Mr. James's generosity of attention, his willingness to trawl through pages of verse in search of the hair-raising line, is his most appealing quality as a critic.--Adam Kirsch
The James voice is immediately recognisable. To describe it as comic does not do it justice: it might be fairer to say that the world it inhabits is prone, at most times, to a comedy of desperate sorts...James's best comedy is in the phrase-making, a craft at which he excels...James was --and remains--far more than a clever boy laughing at muddied oafs. He is a scholar who has preferred wearing his scholarship lightly.--George Szirtes
This collection of 'miniature essays' on poetry... informs and delights....
[James] writes with enthusiasm about his favorites--Yeats, Frost, Auden, Wilbur, Larkin.... Here, too, are takes on some fine poets who aren't household names: Louis MacNeice, Les Murray, Michael Longley and Stephen Edgar.... A practical, witty and trenchant assessment of 20th-century British and American poetry.--Tom Lavoie
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