The Waste Land

A Biography of a Poem

De: Matthew Hollis

Narrado por: Matthew Hollis

A riveting account of the making of T. S. Eliot's celebrated poem The Waste Land on its centenary.

Renowned as one of the world's greatest poems, The Waste Land has been said to describe the moral decay of a world after war and the search for meaning in a meaningless era. It has been labeled the most truthful poem of its time; it has been branded a masterful fake. A century after its publication in 1922, T. S. Eliot's enigmatic masterpiece remains one of the most influential works ever written, and yet one of the most mysterious.

In a remarkable feat of biography, Matthew Hollis reconstructs the intellectual creation of the poem and brings the material reality of its charged times vividly to life. Presenting a mosaic of historical fragments, diaries, dynamic literary criticism, and illuminating new research, he reveals the cultural and personal trauma that forged The Waste Land through the lives of its protagonists—of Ezra Pound, who edited it; of Vivien Eliot, who sustained it; and of T. S. Eliot himself, whose private torment is woven into the seams of the work. The result is an unforgettable story of lives passing in opposing directions and the astounding literary legacy they would leave behind.

©2022 Matthew Hollis (P)2023 Tantor

Yeah, but does it help...

I think I'd want to quote Conrad Aiken if I could remember what he said about The Waste Land and it having foot notes. This is like an accumulation of footnotes. MH did an admirable job, no argument. Sad the subject not worthy of it. Not the poem itself but its genesis. If a poem is the product, like Aiken wrote we are better served not seeing what prompted much of it. Conceptually I'd say such a work works if the poem is a condensation of the excessive rather an exaltation of a minimum. I mean, TSE isn't one bursting with energy, so looking back at what preceded the poem feels sad and impoverished more than a discovery of bubbling wealth. The poem has meant less to me the more I've learned about it. I enjoy TSE's prose writing, though sometimes it does feel like self-justification. But he is one writer I don't want to go sit and have a coffee with. Hint of sorditities better than a full menu of them.