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Title: An Introduction to Poetry
ISBN: 0321470346
Author:
X. J. Kennedy
Dana Gioia
Publicate Date: 2006-12-08
Publish: 2006-12-08
List Price: $72.80
Average Customer Rating: 4.0
Format: Paperback
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Amazon Lowest New Price: $33.29
Amazon Lowest Used Price: $33.50
Amazon Merchant Price: $65.52
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| Customer Review: |
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1: Honesty is the best policy
First time I bought a used book that actually looked brand NEW!! Thanks for being honest.
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2: MIssing Pages
When i ordered this book, it did not say anything about the book having missing pages. There are several sections of pages that are ripped out of the book, which i needed for class. I was not satisfied with this product.
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3: A Good, but Conservative, Anthology
Much to like in this book; despite a lot of dreary examples of ancient poets writing drearily about dreary topics, there's actually a very good selection of vigorous, interesting stuff from the modern era. I can highly recommend the book as a whole, but do pity the beginning student trying to wade through the dry-as-dust academic treatment of some topics and poets. Despite the impeccable credentials and good intentions of the editors, they pick 'way too many pre-20th century poets whose intellectual milieu is totally lame, man, and they too often "academize" and make dull what could be lively, fresh, and compelling. I'd hope that X.J. and Dana would think hard about what it's like for a college freshman to be confronted with turgid, overly-long, and frankly unimaginative essays such as the one that launches this volume: "Reading a Poem," instead of sparking some real interest through any of thousands of current-day examples that might really hook post-literate teenagers, drags out a piece of road-kill by W.B. Yeats (Lake Isle of Innisfree), follows with a museum-piece by D.H. Lawrence, and then astoundingly unearths a bland piece by 22-year-old Adrienne Rich (written before she learned how to set a page on fire and leave nothing but holy ash behind). Too many of the introductory sections have this faded, trudging-toward-M.A. feel, which is too bad, since the overall selection of poems (setting aside the overrepresentation of dead white European males) is pretty darned good, and you've gotta know that these two editors do have more salsa on their burritoes than they're admitting to in this book.
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4: A wonderful textbook on poetry.
This was a wonderful book, very easy to read, and including hundreds of poems of all eras and genres... it provides a good education on poetic forms and ideas, with each chapter including many examples of the topic being discussed... and at the end there is a huge anthology of poems, many of which were new to me, which made it a real bonus.
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5: This Is A Textbook?
Maybe I shouldn't have even used the term "textbook". After all that word generally connotes a book that is tedious, dry and full of obscure jargon. This is a different book, however. It is indeed a sprightly introduction to poetry that informs and entertains. It has sections on Irony, Tone, Words, Metaphors, Sound, Rhythm, Form, Symbol, Myth, and Narrative, just to mention a few. The discussion of each topic is illustrated by the provision of relevant poems. The poems are generally analyzed, and the reader is asked pertinent questions about them. I can't praise the authors enough for their choice of poems. Most are relatively brief works, but they are excellent examples of the topic at hand. What could be a better poem exemplifying Irony than this little classic deploring child labor written by Sarah N. Cleghorn in 1917: The golf links lie so near the mill/That almost every day/The laboring children can look out/ And see the men at play. There are many other goodies in this book: 1. A chapter that provides poems and brief critical essays on the works of Langston Hughes, and Emily Dickinson.
2. A section that provides brief but informative biographies of many of the poets represented in the book.
3. A large chapter of more poems for reading and enjoying. These are very accomplished poems that are generally very accessible to the general reader.
4. A section on literary criticism. Yes, I know that is a dreaded term, but the authors do a good job of clearly presenting the material -even when deconstructionism is the topic- and provide brief extracts from noted literary critics.
5. At the end of the book is a convenient glossary of literary terms.
6. For those who become enthused about writing poetry there is a chapter covering this topic. There are other introductory books on the market (such as "The Poetry Reader's Toolkit", by Marc Polonsky, and the venerable "Understanding Poetry" by Cleanth Brooks), but this is a truly astounding work. It's a big book of over 700 pages that is guaranteed to make any reader a poetry lover..
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