Reviews for Poetry project

The average rating for Poetry project based on 2 reviews is 3 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2020-09-17 00:00:00 Tamberlynn Kroeck I had always heard that Johnson was one of the great literary critics, but only knew him through scattered quotations, and the image that crops up in popular culture of a fat, imperious lexicographer. So I was extremely glad to finally find the time to read these wonderful short biographies. Though many of the poets he chose to write about are obscure, and many of the biographies really are very short (like, 2-3 pages), this is an extraordinary collection of English prose, worth dipping into or reading all the way through. My favourite lives were the Life of Richard Savage, which is a gripping story of genius, murder and low life, told with magisterial judgement, and the Life of Swift, which I found extremely touching. Other great lives here include the lives of Cowley, Milton, Dryden, Pope and Addison. I was disappointed to learn that Johnson did not actually write the included life of Edward Young. Johnson's prose is magnificent, his critical judgements are always striking and usually provocative, and the lives are filled with quotable maxims, which you should treasure up and let loose at dinner parties.

Review # 2 was written on 2020-09-15 00:00:00 Alan Pennington It is not Johnson's fault that I am not included: I came along too late for that. Notwithstanding this unavoidable, but lamentable, omission, this is among the very greatest of biographical works, endlessly entertaining and informed by wisdom.