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21+ Obras 271 Miembros 5 Reseñas

Sobre El Autor

William Logan is Alumni/ae Professor at the University of Florida. His works of criticism include Broken Ground: Poetry and the Demon of History (Columbia, 2021), and he is the author of eleven books of poetry. Logan has won the inaugural Randall Jarrell Award in Poetry Criticism, the Aiken Taylor mostrar más Award in Modern American Poetry, the Staige D. Blackford Prize for Nonfiction, the Allen Tate Prize, and the National Book Critics Circle Award in Criticism. mostrar menos

Obras de William Logan

Obras relacionadas

After Ovid: New Metamorphoses (1994) — Contribuidor — 153 copias
60 Years of American Poetry (1996) — Contribuidor — 28 copias
Praising It New: The Best of the New Criticism (2008) — Prólogo — 23 copias

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Broken Ground: Poetry and the Demon of History by William Logan collects some of his critical writings and offers a nice glimpse into both his strengths and weaknesses as a critic. Even if you find him over the top and largely pompous, as I do, you will still be able to learn a lot, though maybe not always specifically what he would wish.

You have to come to this collection with an understanding that his view of what passes for good poetry is very narrow. I don't simply mean that he expects a certain level of skill or creativity, though that is part of it and no doubt what he believes his opinions to be. But more important is his disdain for the vast majority of anything other than very formal, conservative poetry (speaking of form here, not politics). This applies to his appraisal of others as well as the poetry he writes himself. If you only value that same narrow portion of poetic expression, you may well agree with much of his criticism.

Even with his inflated sense of self he offers a reader a lot of insight into the ways in which a poem can be more or less effective. Paying attention to the elements he looks at within a poet's work helps us to also look at those same things. We may disagree with him about how well they succeed, especially if it is something outside his narrow preference, but looking at a poem through the eyes of a poet is useful for those of us who are not poets (in the sense of verse) even if we are trained in literature but mostly prose, which he views with disdains except, maybe, in "small doses."

One thing I noticed is that when I went back and reread some of what he was so negative about I both understand it better (thanks to him) and appreciated it more (in spite of him). So if you enjoy poetry but don't enjoy wrestling with it at times, then you might not enjoy this book, even though it is entertaining. I can't say I was laughing with him but I don't think he much cares that I was laughing at him. If you enjoy reading poetry and find pleasure in word choice and the sound of some words when strung together, you will likely find a lot to appreciate about this book, no matter what your opinion of his opinions are.

Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley.
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pomo58 | otra reseña | Feb 4, 2021 |

Dickinson's Nerves, Frost's Woods: Poetry in the Shadow of the Past (Hardcover) by William Logan is the examination of several well-known poems. Logan is Alumni/ae Professor and Distinguished Teaching Scholar at the University of Florida. He is the author of The Undiscovered Country: Poetry in the Age of Tin (2005); Our Savage Art: Poetry and the Civil Tongue (2009); and Guilty Knowledge, Guilty Pleasure: The Dirty Art of Poetry (2012), all from Columbia University Press, as well as eleven books of poems and other works of criticism.

Poetry is a subject I recently picked up without much background on the subject except for an undergraduate English Literature class. I enjoy classic poetry as well as review modern poetry. I will admit that sometimes poetry does not make sense, for example, Gertrude Stein's Tiny Buttons is still a mystery to me, and it took over a year before I could get a grasp on Eric Linsker's La Far.

Logan puts the poems in his essays into historical context. This is something I can appreciate as my undergraduate degree is in history. The compositions start right off with a double dose of history with Shelley's "Ozymandias." History is presented in both the Egyptian king and in Shelley's life. The poem is well dissected and compared to Horace Smith's of the same title. Logan, in his essays, examines the title poem to another of a similar time or subject. Ezra Pound's "In A Station of the Metro" is discussed. Pound is another poet that I have trouble with and the information presented is beneficial. The complexity of Pound's condensed work paired with William Carlos Williams' "The Red Wheelbarrow. It seems like a simple poem is rather complex when analyzed. Logan goes deep into the poem. The wheelbarrow and chickens belonged to Thaddeus Marshall and old African-American that Williams knew growing up. Logan includes census information, a map, and pictures of Marshal and his house.

Shakespeare is compared to Shakespeare. Dickinson, Lowell, Heaney, Wilbur, Longfellow, and Frost, twice are included. The placement of an editor's comma changed the meaning of the original line "The woods are lovely, dark and deep" to "The woods are lovely, dark, and deep." The comma creates a real change to the meaning. Here too, the poem goes much deeper than a simple reflection on a winter's night

Logan's essays provide insight into the poems and to their context in time. Poetry does not stand alone. It has a history and its own roots in time and place. I received a review copy of this book but was unable to read the text in the electronic copy. I was taken in by the premise so much that I bought a hardback copy to review. I was not disappointed. Very informative and enlightening.
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evil_cyclist | otra reseña | Mar 16, 2020 |
For the uninitiated, poetry can sometimes be daunting and intimidating. Many times the reader is left in the dark regarding the references and allusions, structures and significance of the verse. In Dickinson's Nerves, Frost's Woods, William Logan provides some excellent guidance for the reader who seeks to better understand some of English Literature's most famous poems. His collection of essays juxtapose two contemporaries from various points in the evolution of poetry, with extensive information about the historical, social and cultural contexts in which they were written. Logan even presents images of original copies and includes draft versions to illustrate the process of creation and refinement. The weather and influential major events of the time are included as well. This book would be a useful guide for university-level students with a basic literature background, but would also appeal to anyone seeking to gain a clarified appreciation for this wonderful art form.… (más)
 
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jnmegan | otra reseña | Jul 31, 2018 |
This is an intelligent and entertaining book of poetry criticism, roughly divided into alternating sections of short reviews and longer critical articles. The approach reminded me of Randall Jarrell even before I got to Logan's appreciative piece on Jarrell. These pieces appeared mostly in middle-to-high brow periodicals and are written for the well-educated general reader. Logan's reviews read more like what we now expect from film critics than what we usually get from poetry critics. He is merciless in his exposure of self-importance, cant, and posturing even from "big names", yet sensitive to the virtues and value of each poet. Generally, when he reviews poets I have read, he is right, or at least acute. The longer articles are models of their kind. Unlike the reviews of many well-read but unscholarly poets, these reflect both the value of a poet's sensitivity to language (the way a poem works) as well as the value of scholarship, without the paraphernalia of academic apparatus and jargon.. They range widely from Milton's sonnets, to Whitman's vernacular, Robert Lowell's development, and are unfailingly thought provoking, and yes, entertaining.… (más)
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sjnorquist | Apr 11, 2013 |

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Obras
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Miembros
271
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3.9
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