Reviews for Reading Romantics: Texts and Contexts

The average rating for Reading Romantics: Texts and Contexts based on 2 reviews is 3.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2012-11-12 00:00:00 Steve Mclaughlin Five stars or four? or whatever. Hugely erudite, no one could ever accuse Clemoes of not knowing what he was talking about. Perhaps this is an example of a book written by someone who knew too much and lost sight of the argument. As reviewers at the time pointed out he doesn't define some of his key terms and the book can be hard to follow, there are footnotes pointing the reader to other sections of the book, often with footnotes to other parts of the book. As such reading is very much like negotiating a labyrinth. Lots of evidence, and all the OE is translated, which is a bonus. Someone more knowledgeable than I am can decide if the argument for the Dating of Beowulf stacks up but I suspect the book would offer fascinating insights on a range of topics to anyone who is interested in OE poetry and has the patience to read it. It's going to be a useful reference book long after the initial reading.

Review # 2 was written on 2008-04-20 00:00:00 John Johansen Re-tracing Orwell's own steps and making many of her own through modern-day Myanmar/Burma, Emma Larkin writes a convincing case that both 1984 and Animal Farm, George Orwell's most well-known works, are inspired by the paranoia and fear-mongering of the Burmese police state. Orwell spent approximately five years in Burma as a British imperial policeman in the 1920s, and traveled widely around the country. Many of his experiences in the country led to his work Burmese Days, and his experiences there undoubtedly influenced his later work, as well as his philosophies on colonialism, politics, and the future of society. The book is part biography of George Orwell, and part modern-day travelogue and reporting in Myanmar/Burma. Larkin was watched closely as she traveled and researched for this book. The name "Emma Larkin" is actually a pseudonym, to ensure the safety of her many sources, the people she met everyday in her travels.