Reviews for Rhine Crossings: France and Germany in Love and War

The average rating for Rhine Crossings: France and Germany in Love and War based on 2 reviews is 3.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2013-03-26 00:00:00 Lynn Bass Very good, very interesting in a number of ways. Firstly, probably, you've heard of it because TS Eliot apparently formed his conception of the type of poetry he wanted to write from it. That makes it pretty important in the history of literature. Secondly, its subject matter, the French literature of the 1800s, is something that you may not know anything about. This, in addition to supplying you with a helpful reminder of the importance of humility, will also serve as a memorable bridge to your eventual contact with the authors he writes about. Third, the writing is so clear and forthright, it will sweep you along with it even if you happen to know no French, which is helpful in that long passages remain in the original. The introduction and conclusion are worth reading in their own right as a commentary on the --what's the phrase-- fin de siecle and how it looked and felt to the people living through it. They even have what seems to me to be a very workable, livable philosophy of art and life given in about twenty pages.

Review # 2 was written on 2014-07-18 00:00:00 Larry Deville Gets a little theosophistic at times, but it's easy to see why Eliot and his contemporaries were so enthralled by the first edition of Symons' book. Especially interesting to read a contemporary poet's opinions on Rimbaud just a few years after his death, even if those remarks haven't aged particularly well in the intervening century.