Customer Reviews (5)

Religion, Politics, & Philosophy
T.S. Eliot is not saying that the creation of a Christian state would be a utopia in which everything would be perfect. That would be foolish of him knowing that utopias seem to feel it is their duty to fall apart. This is an important idea to lay down. If Eliot's first essay feels utopian, it is because he is making a case for which type of society would function best, not perfectly. He acknowledges that a Christian society requires many tensions in order to function properly. What he has proposed is a society in which people can argue over dissenting viewpoints, but all discussions should be carried out with a common set of Christian values as their foundation. That is what would work best. He even relents by saying that another set of values could work, just not as well.

Unfortunately, his argument comes from a Christian perspective and bias, which clearly shines through. He bases much of his argument on the idea that one truth regarding God exists and that a society that departs from and forgets that is doomed to fail. This ideology enters into his concept of a Christian education and a national faith, which can only work if the society learns or assumes that the truth they are going to found their society on lies within the Christian faith. Otherwise, the society will not be a positive culture because it will be founded on a believed or actual lie, unless it can somehow happen that founding something on a lie can end with a positive culture, which might be a totally separate, although interesting, topic altogether.

In a distanced conjunction with his first essay, his second one focuses completely on culture. To him, culture is organic, analyzable, and balanced with regard unity and diversity in many areas. He mentions urbanity, civility, learning, philosophy, and the arts but would no doubt include many others, which should all be considered at the same time to get a whole grasp of culture. He has a gripe with the separation of the various areas of culture. The arts should continue to carry out cultural discourse and critique with religion, politics, etc. and vice versa. Culture becomes stagnant when the margins stop talking. If culture "includes all the characteristic activities and interests of a people," then the various areas should be in dialogue with each other so that the various mediums can stay representative of the culture in which they live.

Eliot's poetry and life must have followed this idea fairly closely. His poetry both argues and dances with concepts in religion, politics, philosophy, etc. It is also his communication with thinkers from other European countries. In "The Waste Land," his invocation of authors like Conrad and Dante, regions like Greece and Egypt, and other field of artistic endeavor like ragtime and common music halls puts skin on his belief that every aspect of culture, both national and continental, should be in discussion if new thought is to continue.

Reviewed by Jonathan Stephens

Worth your time...for several reads
What strikes me about this book is that Eliot, for the most part, posits blatant assertions without much logical, analytic proof. And yet, he does not fail to convince, perhaps largely because his vision is so clear and relevant. He draws from common experience to validate what he says, and after reading his argument, one is impressed by the lucidity and transformational power of his argument. He does not come across as a man ranting on the apparent decadence and failure of modern society; rather, he leaves the impression of a man truly concerned with the condition of society and with a genuine desire for its improvement. When you look at the copyright date, it becomes even more impressive.

What a fascinating book!
I bought this book unsure of how 'enlightened' it would be.To my surprise and delight I have found the book alarmingly courageous and specific in its ideas of the Christian person within a secular society.His writing is profoundly moving and expressive, but then again, he is one of the greatest modern poets.I literally had to refrain myself from highlighting every other line of this book, it is that original.I felt as though I were reading a classic novel instead of a book on cultural ideas.A life-changing book to be sure!

T.S. Eliot: an astounding writer
T.S. Eliot is known as one of the world's foremost poets and playwrights, but this book shows him as a brilliant essayist, philosopher, and theologian as well. This book consists of two essays: "The Idea of aChristian Society" and "Notes Toward the Definition ofCulture." In these two essays, Eliot displays his mental prowess bycutting to the heart of the issues of culture in general in the secondessay and specifically Christian culture in the first. His analysis ofthese subjects is very orderly, well-thought, and deeper than most anywritten today, even by sociologists and the like who make a career ofstudying these things. Eliot breaks culture down into three subclasses:individual, group/class, and whole society. He begins with the individuallevel of society, analyzing personality characteristics and the like, andmoves his way up into group/class and then to the whole society, giving anextremely thoughtful and insightful argument into how these elementsrelate. Although this book was written over 50 years ago and isn't the mostconventional look at these subjects, many of the things Eliot asserts arebecoming obvious in today's society, proving him as not only a great writerbut also as an accomplished thinker. He goes into great detail on class,geographic regions, sects, politics, religion, and education in relation toculture and society. While the writing is a bit more verbose and difficultthan the average modern reader is used to, it is extremely logical; Eliotcarefully builds each argument one step at a time. This order makes itpossible to gain a great deal of understanding if the reader is willing towade through the text and ponder what is written. I guarantee that eventhough many readers won't necessarily understand initially or perhaps agreewith everything Eliot asserts in this book, anyone who reads it will end upwith a far greater understanding of the workings of society. I recommendthis book to anyone who is willing to be stretched in an intellectual wayand anyone who seeks to gain a great insight into culture at its variouslevels and as a whole.

T.S. Eliot: an astounding writer
T.S. Eliot is known as one of the world's foremost poets and playwrights, but this book shows him as a brilliant essayist, philosopher, and theologian as well.This book consists of two essays: "The Idea of aChristian Society" and "Notes Toward the Definition ofCulture."In these two essays, Eliot displays his mental prowess bycutting to the heart of the issues of culture in general in the secondessay and specifically Christian culture in the first.His analysis ofthese subjects is very orderly, well-thought, and deeper than most anywritten today, even by sociologists and the like who make a career ofstudying these things.Eliot breaks culture down into three subclasses:individual, group/class, and whole society.He begins with the individuallevel of society, analyzing personality characteristics and the like, andmoves his way up into group/class and then to the whole society, giving anextremely thoughtful and insightful argument into how these elementsrelate.Although this book was written over 50 years ago and isn't themost conventional look at these subjects, many of the things Eliot assertsare becoming obvious in today's society, proving him as not only a greatwriter but also as an accomplished thinker.He goes into great detail onclass, geographic regions, sects, politics, religion, and education inrelation to culture and society.While the writing is a bit more verboseand difficult than the average modern reader is used to, it is extremelylogical; Eliot carefully builds each argument one step at a time.Thisorder makes it possible to gain a great deal of understanding if the readeris willing to wade through the text and ponder what is written.Iguarantee that even though many readers won't necessarily understandinitially or perhaps agree with everything Eliot asserts in this book,anyone who reads it will end up with a far greater understanding of theworkings of society.I recommend this book to anyone who is willing to bestretched in an intellectual way and anyone who seeks to gain a greatinsight into culture at its various levels and as a whole. ... Read more

Product Description
This all-new Signet Classic contains many of T.S. Eliot's mostimportant early peoms, leading to perhaps his greatest masterpiece,The Waste Land, which has long been regarded as one of thefundamental texts of modernism. By combining poetic elements from manydiverse sources with bits of popular culture and common speech linkedin a fragmented narrative, Eliot recreated the chaos anddisillusionment of Europe in the aftermath of WWI.
* The WasteLand is a modernist literary masterpiece.
* Contains a number ofearly poems, including Spleen, The Death of St. Narcissus, The LoveSong of J. Prufrock, Preludes, Gerontion, The Hippopotmaus, andSweeny Among the Nightingales.
* T.S Eliot is the winner ofthe 1948 Nobel Prize for Literature, and is one of America's greatestpoets.
* Edited and with an Introduction by Helen Vendler, aforemost scholar of moderism at Harvard University who writesregularly for the New Yorker and The New Republic.
*Vendler is also the author of books on other essential poets,including W.B. Yeats, Wallace Stevens, John Keats, George Herbert, andthe forthcoming The Art of Shakespeare's Sonnete.Amazon.com Review
After sitting through T.S. Eliot's reading of "The WasteLand," listeners may be inclined to hang up the earphones for aspell. There are no flaws to Eliot's steady-toned interpretation; infact, his delivery is quite remarkable in its ability to match thepoem's constant, somber mood. It's just that 25-plus minutes ofEliot's desolate landscapes--rendered even more real by the author'sincessant tones--can wear on the emotions.

In addition to thefull-length version of "The Waste Land," this recording includesEliot's stirring narration of "The Hollow Men," "Sweeney Among theNightingales," and "Macavity the Mystery Cat." Listen to Eliot readfrom "TheWaste Land." Visit our audio helppage for more information. (Running time: 47 minutes, 1 cassette)--Rob McDonald ... Read more

Customer Reviews (22)

Great Collection, Incredible Value
Probably no twentieth century poet has had a more profound or lasting influence than T. S. Eliot. Poets like Ezra Pound began moving away from Victorian formalism before, but works like "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" and "The Waste Land" changed the very idea of what poetry could be so dramatically and thoroughly that the medium has never since been the same. Eliot definitively proved that none of the poetic devices that had dominated English poetry for centuries - rhyme, regular meter, etc. - were necessary. He could deploy them at least as well as any poet of his age but was more famous and influential for boldly dropping them in favor of a truly modern style masterfully reflecting twentieth century uneasiness and uncertainty. Eliot steered poetry away from its historical tendency to focus on relatively light subjects suited for lyricism - nature, love, etc. - toward philosophical and other complex issues, proving that it could be as substantial a medium for such things as any other. He also had a vast influence in other ways, not least in making poetry - and, indeed, literature - more densely allusive than ever and thus less accessible. The incredible popularity of nineteenth century English poets like Lord Byron and Alfred Tennyson could never really happen again, as he pioneered what became known as high art. Under his influence, poetry - and, to a large extent, literature itself - became ever more obscure and challenging and, for better or worse, read by fewer and fewer people. It is no exaggeration to say that every poet who has written in English since - as well as many other languages - has had to deal with Eliot in various ways, especially The Waste Land. He has been imitated numerous times but never equaled and also lead many to deliberately write in an anti-Eliot manner. As all this suggests, Eliot remains controversial. To many, he is the twentieth century's greatest poet without question and one of the greatest ever, responsible for a much-needed turn from overly formal and intellectually shallow Victorian poetry. To perhaps at least as many, he is overblown and overrated, pretentious and portentous, responsible for ruining all that was great about pre-Modern poetry. He evokes few indifferent reactions; almost everyone either takes to him immediately, finding him prophetic and indisputably great, or is simply puzzled and overwhelmed. Anyone even remotely interested in poetry thus must read him and decide.

There are untold numbers of Eliot collections, but no other has such incredible value. It has a generous selection - twenty-five poems -, from his first (1917) collection, his 1920 book, and The Waste Land. This includes most of his best-known work:"Prufrock," "The Waste Land," "Sweeney among the Nightingales," "Gerontion," "Portrait of a Lady," etc. Essentially, all the major poems are here except the Four Quartets. These exact poems - or fewer - are available in numerous more expensive editions, but one can get them here for practically nothing. To have so many poems, especially such important ones, in a single edition for such a small price is almost beyond belief.

That said, as one would expect from the price, it is bare bones. Like most Dover Thrift Editions, it has no supplementary material other than a short biographical note. We also get Eliot's own notes to The Waste Land, here printed after the poem. This will not be a problem to those who want just the poetry, but Eliot's references are so many and often so obscure that a good number of readers, perhaps the majority, will want some kind of explanatory footnotes. Another significant drawback for most is that the few non-English poems are not translated, essentially cutting down on available poems. Some will thus require more expensive editions, and dedicated readers and critics certainly will. However, this is perfect for everyone else and the ideal place to start for neophytes. It may be difficult for first-time readers, but they will be able to tell almost immediately if Eliot is for them. If so, the door will be open to further reading; if not, they will have spent very little.

Review of Kindle Edition of The Waste Land and Other Poems
I'm very pleased with this edition.

I'm reading The Waste Land for a class and am happy to report that the stanza formatting has been retained, the Table of Contents is linked to the individual poems, and the superscripts link to the actual notes.

I loaded my T.S. Eliot Reads The Waste Land onto my Kindle, and it's really neat following along with his reading.

The Introduction, Suggestions for Further Reading, and Brief Chronology are also greatly appreciated.

VERY well spent $2.50!!

Just the poem - ripoff
I don't know what the description of the book is referring to or what the other reviewers are talking about.This is just the text of The Waste Land, with no notes, no translations of the parts that aren't in English and no other poems.It isn't even formatted correctly - there are a handful of notes that have been left in the text of the poem.This is a poem with a lot of layers to it and some explanation is standard.This edition has none.Do yourself a favor and don't buy it.

I only spent 49 cents on this but I still feel ripped off.

The Waste Land -- Audio CD-- www.bnpublishing.com
The Waste Land

From the listing this item appears to be a recording of The Waste Land by T.S. Eliot, read by the poet himself; but it's not, it's a performance by another reader, and therefore it had (to me) no interest; it was not what I wanted or needed.I suggest that the product description should be made clearer, so that other customers do not make the same mistake.

a good edition of Eliot for the casual reader
I found this edition by Penguin to be very useful for a casual reading.The notes on the poems, in particular "the Waste Land," are detailed enough to give the reader a perception of Eliot's vast literary knowledge and its effect on his poems.However, the notes are inadequate if your purpose is to deeply understand the background of Eliot's complex and difficult poetry.So if you are looking for deep insights, I would recommend the Norton Critical Edition.For the normal reader, this is satisfying and straightforward. ... Read more

Product Description
This volume brings together three of T. S. Eliot's powerful collections into one. It includes such classic poems as "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock," "Portrait of a Lady," "Preludes," "Gerontion," "Sweeney Among the Nightingales," and "The Waste Land." ... Read more

Product Description

The 1932-33 Norton Lectures are among the best and most important of Eliot's critical writings. Tracing the rise of literary self-consciousness from the Elizabethan period to his own day, Eliot does not simply examine the relation of criticism to poetry, but invites us to "start with the supposition that we do not know what poetry is, or what it does or ought to do, or of what use it is; and try to find out, in examining the relation of poetry to criticism, what the use of both of them is."

Eliot begins with the appearance of poetry criticism in the age of Dryden, when poetry became the province of an intellectual aristocracy rather than part of the mind and popular tradition of a whole people. Wordsworth and Coleridge, in their attempt to revolutionize the language of poetry at the end of the eighteenth century, made exaggerated claims for poetry and the poet, culminating in Shelley's assertion that "poets are the unacknowledged legislators of mankind." And, in the doubt and decaying moral definitions of the nineteenth century, Arnold transformed poetry into a surrogate for religion.

By studying poetry and criticism in the context of its time, Eliot suggests that we can learn what is permanent about the nature of poetry, and makes a powerful case for both its autonomy and its pluralism in this century.

Customer Reviews (1)

An Insightful Work On Poetry
Most of us are afraid of poems because as we read it, we can't seem to make head or tails as to what we have read. Therefore, for those of us who have "poem-phobia," I recommend this delightful little work.

Inthis work, Eliot ask the question of what is poetry and the use ofcriticism in poetry as well as the relationship between the former and thelatter.

Eliot proposes to start the enquiry by reviewing the history ofcriticism starting from Elizabethan era untill that of his time. Throughthe course of the exploration, I was enthralled by Eliot's insightfulopinion of critics and their opinion as to what is poetry and its uses.

I was particularly drawn to the final chapter of his work which does notoffer any final word to the questions which he posed but rather giving usadvice as to how to read poems (in particular the modern poets, i.e., 20thcentury). I was very glad to have read this work because it sure beatsreading a heavy college text on how to read poetry. ... Read more

Product Description
This Halcyon Classics eBook contains 27 poems and other works by T.S. Eliot, including 'The Waste Land' and 'The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock.'Includes an active table of contents for easy navigation.

Contents:

The Waste Land
Gerontion
Burbank with a Baedeker: Bleistein with a Cigar
Sweeney Erect
A Cooking Egg
Le Directeur
Mélange adultère de tout
Lune de Miel
The Hippopotamus
Dans le Restaurant
Whispers of Immortality
Mr. Eliot's Sunday Morning Service
Sweeney Among the Nightingales
The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock
Portrait of a Lady
Preludes
Rhapsody on a Windy Night
Morning at the Window
The Boston Evening Transcript
Aunt Helen
Cousin Nancy
Mr. Apollinax
Hysteria
Conversation Galante
La Figlia Che Piange

Eeldrop and Appleplex
Ezra Pound: His Metric and Poetry
... Read more

Product Description
This is a comprehensive overview of the American-born English poet, critic, and dramatist T.S. Eliot. His best-known work, The Waste Land, is a long and difficult poem that depicts the emotional impoverishment, boredom, and spiritual emptiness of the modern world. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Out-of-date and incomplete clarification of Eliot's poetry
This CLIFFS NOTES guide to the works of T.S. Eliot may have contained a wealth of information when it was written in 1965, but so many advances have been made in Eliot studies since that this guide is now out-of-date. Since it was written, we have seen the finding of the original manuscripts of "The Waste Land," Valerie Eliot's compedium of T.S. Eliot's letters, Eliot's youth poetry, etc.

The book is heavily slanted towards "Prufrock" and "The Waste Land," so that it gives short shrift to Eliot's later works, which are among his most beautiful. "Four Quartets" is only briefly covered, and the section on "Ash Wednesday" doesn't even mention the Dantean influence that is such a large part of the work!

"The Waste Land" is covered in great detail, but most of the explication is now obviously misguided because it is mostly based on Eliot's footnotes which, after the discovery of the original drafts and Ezra Pound's comments, are now understood as something of a joke.

If you are looking for insight into the poetry of T.S. Eliot, the CLIFFS NOTES guide is not the way to go. Try one of the latest books, such as the one by Cambridge University Press. ... Read more

Product Description
The Waste Land by T. S. Eliot
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Product Description
Lyndall Gordon's biographical work on T. S. Eliot has won many dramatic accolades. In this "nuanced, discerning account of a life famously flawed in its search for perfection" (The New Yorker), Gordon captures Eliot's "complex spiritual and artistic history . . . with tact, diligence, and subtlety" (Boston Globe). Drawing on recently discovered letters, she addresses in full the issue of Eliot's anti-Semitism as well as the less-noted issue of his misogyny. Her account "rescues both the poet and the man from the simplifying abstractions that have always been applied to him" (New York Times), and is "definitive but not dogmatic, sympathetic without taking sides. . . . Its voice rings with authority" (Baltimore Sun). Praised by Cynthia Ozick as "daring, strong, psychologically brilliant," Gordon's study remains true to the mysteries of art as she chronicles the poet's "insistent search for salvation." ... Read more

Customer Reviews (12)

Boring drivel from a self-important biographer
I generally enjoy biography and autobiography, but not Gordon's treatment of Eliot.Except in the case that a subject's life has been covered in minute detail times previously, and the biographer is trying to show something new and different, the first responsibility of the biographer is to tell the story of the subject's life.The biographer should demonstrate, like a good historian, not tell, like a dinner guest.If there is interpretation to be done, it should be through the details included and the structure of the book.With Gordon, everything is wrong.She tells and speculates, and uses detail and anecdote as ornaments for her thoughts and writing.I quote here a short passage from the book, picked by opening the book at random:

"Viviene's moods and nervous states must have given her husband ample cause for self-pity, but I think their marriage was also blighted by something else, something in Eliot, that he half-recognised as the underlying cause of their troubles.What exactly it was, one can only conjecture from other fragmentary remarks in his poems... He seemed to suffer from an inability to empathise with suffering ouside his own experience.In a strange guilty poem he published..."

Seven-hundred pages of this! Arrgh!!

THere are two ways a biography gets written like this: (1) the biographer does not have a good grasp of the subject; (2) the biographer is really more interested in her own opinions than in the subject's life.In this case, I could believe either.Anyhow, definitely not recommended.

Hagiography
This is not a biography, but a hagiography.Others have noted that it seems more about his work than his life.There is probably a good reason for that.For a corrective, see Carole Seymour-Jones, Painted Shadow: The Life of Vivienne Eliot.This gives us a better idea of what Eliot was like.I find it hard to understand that a book published in 1998 as this was is so terrified that Eliot was a homosexual.The portrait she paints of his idyllic marriage to Valerie Fletcher is hilarious--a 68 year old famous man finds "love" for the first time with a 30 year old who worships him.Well, it takes all kinds.Perhaps this author does not believe that gays can "love" one another.This book does not even deserve one star.

One of the best biographies of anyone
I've probably read hundreds of biographies in my life and this one stands out as one of the most literate and fascinating.I've actually begun to read it a second time and I can't remember the last time I reread a biography.Yes, it's complex and not the standard "Eliot's favorite toothpaste was Crest" kind of minutiae that seldom are more than compendiums of trivia.It focuses on Eliot the poet and thinker and tortured soul.If that's not what you're looking for, read something else.

The most frustrating and subjective biography ever written!!
I have always been impressed with the man T.S. Eliot but I cannot say the same about his biogrpaher, Lyndall Gordon.This book made my eyes go buggy and released the bats in the bellfry of my brain!I read this book when I was very sick and it was a very poor choice to say the least.I found her writing style thick with euphemisms, abrstractions, and other vague notions.Very little is mentioned about the man Eliot himself!What a ridiculous concept for a biography.She includes far too many segments of his poetry that only make sense in context.She spews them all over the book and leaves the reader wondering aloud, "Say what?".Though this book has a marvelous, intriguing cover it has nothing but blurry accounts of the man, T.S. Eliot.Find another biographer and you will be better off.

The most frustrating and subjective biography ever written!!
I have always been impressed with the man T.S. Eliot but I cannot say the same about his biogrpaher, Lyndall Gordon.This book made my eyes go buggy and released the bats in the bellfry of my brain!I read this book when I was very sick and it was a very poor choice to say the least.I found her writing style thick with euphemisms, abrstractions, and other vague notions.Very little is mentioned about the man Eliot himself!What a ridiculous concept for a biography.She includes far too many segments of his poetry that only make sense in context.She spews them all over the book and leaves the reader wondering aloud, "Say what?".Though this book has a marvelous, intriguing cover it has nothing but blurry accounts of the man, T.S. Eliot.Find another biographer and you will be better off. ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (2)

Entertainment by allegory
Eliot's penultimate play (and second comedy) is markedly different from his earlier efforts.It is well-written but decidedly less poetic: although printed in verse form, the sound is almost conversational.In addition, Eliot's usual Christian themes are here allegorical rather than explicit.The handling is quite skillful: there is none of the ham-handed "X stands for Y, you morons!" that mars so many allegories.One can easily dig down into the Christian messages if desired, but the play is also satisfying at the top level.

By the standards of Eliot's output as a whole, a rating of 3.5 stars is more appropriate than 4.One can regret the loss of intensity in the writing while still enjoying the play itself.

I LOVE THE BOOK!
This book is wonderful.I truly loved it.It was the most interesting piece of work! ... Read more

Product Description
It is always something of a revelation to listen to a poet reading his own words, and these tapes are no exception. Eliot clearly and evenly characterises and reveals the voices of some of his most important works in this excellent reading.'The Waste Land' caught the imagination of the age with its powerful emotional impact. Eliot felt that the modern Western city had become a sterile desert wasteland, and in it life had become a sham pretence, with no content but stale conventionality.The 'Four Quartets' express the poet's whole-hearted acceptance of the Christian faith. Each poem describes a meditation which leads to a reconciliation with the burden of the past. ... Read more

Product Description
Featuring rare archival recordings of the featured poet reading his own work!Each program in Random House Audio Voices' exclusive THE VOICE OF THE POET series is accompanied by a book containing the text of the poems and a commentary by J.D.McClatchy. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Voice of the Poet - T S Eliot
this is T S Eliot's poetry as he heard it in his own mind, without "interpretation" by an actor, an unmissable experience. The recordings are archive material, so not up to modern standards, but that is a small price to pay!

Reading the peoms the way they were meant to be read.
This audio CD is a must-have for all fans of T. S. Eliot. Poetry is supposed to be read out loud; it is a pleasure and privilege to hear one of the greatest poets of the 20th century read his poems out loud, allowing us to hear the lines the way they were meant to be heard--and read.

This collection contains a short book with an introduction by J. D. McClatchy and the text of all the poem found on the audio CD. The CD contains 9 tracks: La Figlia Che Piange, The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock, Gerontion, Sweeney Among the Nightingales, The Waste Land, The Hollow Men, The Journey of the Magi, Ash-Wednesday, and East Coker. The poems are arranged in chronological order, offering insights into the development of both language and themes throughout Eliot's career.

The first track, "La Figlia Che Piange," is one of Eliot's earliest poems and explores, like much of his earlier poetry, the frustrations of a young man and thwarted love. It is a lovely short poem, full of the images that Eliot is well known for. Published at the same time (in the same volume in fact) was also "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock." One of the most well known poems, "The Love Song" is a culmination of Eliot's early poetry.

The highlight of the CD is the reading of "The Waste Land." The epic poem is the longest found in this collection, going over 25 minutes. "The Waste Land" by far is one of my personal favorites and I have read it countless of time. However, reading the poem along with this CD has allowed me to shed new meaning to this enormously difficult and marvelous poem. Eliot dramatizes his reading, allowing the dozens of narratives and narrators to come through. Spinning a multifaceted account of the deterioration of society in the early 20th century, a collage of the decay of love and fidelity, a haunting vision of the death of man and his rebirth; all shifting through time and space, drawing upon different histories and languages and cultures, all coalesced through the eyes of Tiresias.Indeed, "a heap of broken images."

"The Hollow Men" is the worst quality recording found on this CD.However it is still evocative as ever. Eliot's hypnotizing monotone, which prevails much of his readings, is exetremely effective in this case, bringing to life the hopelessness and stagnation of the hollow men.

"The Journey of the Magi" is a particularly fitting poem for December and the holiday season. It marks a progression of Eliot's poetry to more theological themes yet still picks on Eliot's fascination with death and rebirth, ending and beginnings.

"East Coker" is the second highlight of the CD. It is the last track and also one of the last poems Eliot composed before his death in 1965. "East Coker" is the second volume in his masterpiece "The Four Quartets." The poem draws upon Eliot's study into Christianity, philosophy, and mysticism. It is a deep exploration of the meaning of time and change. The poem is almost 15 minutes on the CD. Eliot's reading highlights his supreme command of the English language, his sophistication in diction, rhythm and meter. The first and last of the "East Coker" is engraved on Eliot's grave site in England as his chosen epitaph: in my beginning is my end, in my end is my beginning.

This is a well chosen collection of poems which highlights the body of Eliot's work. Hearing the poems being read by their author is a valuable experience. I definitely recommend this to anyone who reads Eliot and would like to learn more about his poetry.

Superb!
This was better than expected.I read a lot, esp TSE, have many cds of recorded poetry and already had recordings of his work by "specialist" or celebrity actors, most absolutely dissappointing: you get the feeling that they were going for an effect without having grasped the essences of TSE's poetry, especially wrt the Wasteland from a recorded version of which I expect a lot of specific nuances and hues.When I ordered this product, I didn't set my expectation too high, as poets, though they are the creators, are not always necessarily the best oral communicators.However, TSE was not only amazing in his delivery, pace and colour, his readings actually gave me fresh insights, in some cases revelatory.This is an absolute must for any lovers of poetry.I must add, I was quite surprised at the extent of his accent's anglification.

Excellent
You can hear The Waste Land as it was meant to be heard.T. S. Eliot's reading made the poem come alive.Be warned.Not all of the CD is high quality recordings.Some have background noise. Some are low quality.I don't think the tracks are listed anywhere, so I'll list them for you.

1. La Figlia Che Piange
2. The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock
3. Gerontion
4. Sweeney Among the Nightingales
5. The Waste Land
6. The Hollow Men
7. The Journey of the Magi
8. Ash-Wednesday
9. East Coker

This is worth it for The Wate Land alone.The rest is just icing on the cake.

Just a wonderful experience.
It is a great experience to hear the voice of this master poet. ... Read more

Product Description

CONTENTS:

Customer Reviews (2)

confused
I am only able to read the titles on this download.My kindle is new.Can anyone tell me how I'm meant to read the actual poems?

Many important poems are missing from this selection.
Caveat emptor: nothing later than 1922 in this collection - i.e. nothing from 'The Hollow Men', 'Ash-Wednesday', 'Ariel' poems, the Four Quartets,etc. etc. A seriously deficient selection. ... Read more

Product Description
A succinct and readable introduction to the work of T. S. Eliot. ... Read more

Product Description
T. S. Eliot reads

• The Four Quartets,
• The Waste Land,
• The Hollow Men

and some of his other poems."It is always something of a revelation to listen to a poet reading his or her own words, and this is no exception. Eliot clearly and evenly characterizes and reveals the voices of some of his most important works in this excellent reading."-Library Journal

Customer Reviews (5)

A Perfect Pairing
As someone who has spent months studying Eliot, I can say with conviction that the people who have given this work unfavorable ratings do not understand his poetry.Eliot reads his work with a dry, depressing voice that does not necessarily pay attention to the punctuation and is, admitedly, not always pleasant to listen to.
His reading of the poetry, however, is exactly how it is meant to be read.His interpretation of his poems becomes clear through the reading, and this harsh unmoving voice serves only to further the mood that each poem evokes.While it is not something to listen to at a party or other lighthearted gathering, if one wants to get the most realistic view of Eliot's poetry, it is necessary to listen to his recordings.

Tedious and dismal
The poetry itself is great, but you wouldn't know it listening to this tedious depressing voice.I supose it could be good to know how Eliot himself thought the poetry should sound, but I think I will stick with my own fantasy of how it should sound.

I suspect anyone coming to Eliot for the first time through this collection would probably give up and turn to someone else.

How could this not be great!
Eliot's voice reading his own poems.The sound of a pair of ragged claws scratching across the shores of silent seas...Anyway, although a rough reference there, I know, his dry, almost detached demeanor reflected in hismonophonic, monotonic voice perfectly captures the true tenor and substanceof the poems.I would highly recommend these tapes for anyone intoElliot's work.

Unpleased
Dear Amazon reader (or listerner for this matter) please read this before you buy T.S. Eliot's tapes. When I first opened the box and placed the tape into the player, it was as though I had let a demon out into my room. T.S.Eliot's voice is very unattractive, and utterly disgraceful. I love T.S.Eliot's works and to listen to him read them (with absolute no rythym)wasunbearable. Rather than buying this, you should just buy His completeworks. Thank you.

Eliot's excellent oratory enhances his poetic genius.
T. S. Eliot is a fantastic orator. Listening to him read his masterpieces-arguably the best body of work written in English in this century- hasimmeasurably enhanced my appreciation of the bizzarre and beautiful musicof his lines. Before hearing these tapes, I had been indifferent to someof Eliot's poems; now his tapes have shown me how to read his rhythms andstart to untangle his tropes, allowing me to better appreciate his verbaland metaphysical mastery. Anyone who likes Eliot's poetry, and anyone whohas trouble appreciating it on the printed page alone, should definitelybuy these tapes, and more. ... Read more

Product Description
Thomas Stearns Eliot (1888-1965) was a poet, a dramatist and a literary critic. His works The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock (1917), The Waste Land (1922), The Hollow Men (1925), and Four Quartets (1945) were considered major achievements of twentieth century Modernist poetry. He won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1948. Although he was born an American, he moved to the United Kingdom in 1914 (at age 25) and was naturalised as a British subject in 1927 at age 39. French poetry was a strong influence on Eliot's works, in particular that of Charles Baudelaire, whose clear-cut images of Paris city life provided a model for Eliot's own images of London. In his critical and theoretical writing, he was known for his advocacy of the "objective correlative, " the notion that art should not be a personal expression, but should work through objective universal symbols. He died of emphysema in London in 1965. ... Read more