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The Music of Time John Burnside

The Music of Time By John Burnside

The Music of Time by John Burnside


$50.99
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Summary

A major new account of poetry in the twentieth century.

The Music of Time Summary

The Music of Time: Poetry in the Twentieth Century by John Burnside

A Financial Times Book of the Year Though we might not realise it, our collective memory of the twentieth century was defined by the poets who lived and wrote in it. At every significant turning point we find them, pen in hand, fingers poised at the typewriter, ready to distil the essence of the moment, from the muddy wastes of the Western front to the vast reckoning that came with the end of empire. This is the first and only history of twentieth century poetry, by the acclaimed poet, author and academic John Burnside. Bringing together poets from times and places as diverse as Tsarist Russia, 1960's America and Ireland at the height of the Troubles, The Music of Time reveals how poets engaged with and shaped the most important issues of their times - and were in their turn affected by their context and dialogue with each other. This is a major work of scholarship, that on every page bears witness to the transformative beauty and power of poetry.

The Music of Time Reviews

A highly personal work by the Scottish poet John Burnside, The Music of Time is above all an urgent defence of the power of poetry. Burnside shows us how words on the page can bring us an understanding beyond words - and beyond science - whether we are in mourning, in love (or out of it but still married to the once beloved), at war, in exile, in despair or - as now - in crisis. Enriched by Burnside's clear, luminous prose, it tackles overlooked - in this country at least - issues of translation and challenges the reader to think more deeply. About death. About life. About everything. -- Fiona Rintoul * The Herald *
A rich, generous and often surprising book * The Scotsman *
Burnside has written a generous, combative, honest book, which will compel re-reading and deserves to survive, as poetry itself survives, alongside the laziness and imaginative carnage of public speech in the 21st century. -- Rowan Williams * The New Statesman *
A rare blend, mixing equal parts intellectual rigour and engaging conversation. -- Maria Crawford * Financial Times *
A good book, combining personal reminiscence and intensive reflection on works by [various] poets ... Burnside argues that 20th-century poetry matters because it continually interacts with contemporary social conditions and political crises, with what he calls - borrowing the phrase from Osip Mandelstam - 'the noise of time.' -- Michael Dirda * Washington Post *
Burnside can describe the material world with astonishing deftness... He is the poet who more than any other writing today sees the material world and the world of thought and ideas as two sides of the most fragile of membranes. -- Fiona Sampson
Burnside, who is also an accomplished poet, writes lyrical prose with virtuoso ease * Guardian *
Burnside has a lovely garrulousness that is distinctively his own -- Tessa Hadley
The joy of Burnside's poems - and part of what makes them moving - is that he does know and never stops registering the ways in which beauty makes life worth living. * Observer *

About John Burnside

John Burnside is a poet, novelist and Professor of English at the University of St Andrews. He has published 14 books of poetry, and has won the Geoffrey Faber Prize, the Whitbread Poetry Prize, the Petrarca Preis and, most recently, the Forward and T.S. Eliot Prizes for his poetry. He has also published eight novels and a memoir. John became a full-time writer in 1994, after working in computer systems analysis for a decade.

Additional information

GOR010089392
9781781255612
178125561X
The Music of Time: Poetry in the Twentieth Century by John Burnside
Used - Like New
Hardback
Profile Books Ltd
20191003
528
N/A
Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.
The book has been read, but looks new. The book cover has no visible wear, and the dust jacket is included if applicable. No missing or damaged pages, no tears, possible very minimal creasing, no underlining or highlighting of text, and no writing in the margins

Customer Reviews - The Music of Time