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46th out of 374 books
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453 voters
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The Waste Land and Other Writings
by
T.S. Eliot
First published in 1922, "The Waste Land" is T.S. Eliot's masterpiece, and is not only one of the key works of modernism but also one of the greatest poetic achievements of the twentieth century. A richly allusive pilgrimage of spiritual and psychological torment and redemption, Eliot's poem exerted a revolutionary influence on his contemporaries, summoning forth a rich n...more
paper, 272 pages
Published
July 29th 2009
by Modern Library
(first published 1922)
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My road trip read while visiting the in-laws. I've read most of these before, but in this case what I'm gaining from my previous Eliot readings are 1) Mary Karr's outstanding introductory essay, and 2) a number of the Eliot essays. To be honest, I don't know if I'll read all of the essays. But back to Karr, she sets up the "Wasteland" wonderfully, explaining the importance of Eliot in his time, while at the same time arguing for his accessibility -- and his continuing relevance. She c...more
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I've always preferred The Lovesong of J. Alfred Prufrock to The Waste Land, but this little book brings me freshly to a worthy work I'd only seen in textbooks. I still think Lovesong is as gorgeous and stimulating as ever.
This is a small book, but not so easily read. In the critical essays, each sentence spawns a dozen thoughts, of which half one may discard, and half of the remaining arguable. Reading straight through develops a sense in the reader that this is a look into the mind of...more
This is a small book, but not so easily read. In the critical essays, each sentence spawns a dozen thoughts, of which half one may discard, and half of the remaining arguable. Reading straight through develops a sense in the reader that this is a look into the mind of...more
I'd only ever read bits and pieces of The Waste Land and a random assortment of his other works, so I figured I might as well sit down and properly read them.
I quite enjoyed myself. I know that The Waste Land is supposed to be massively depressing, and I understand that, I do. It's just that while the picture that Eliot paints is bleak, he paints it so vividly, and with such hauntingly beautiful colors.
*Also, just a note on Mary Karr who edited this volume. I really apprecia...more
I quite enjoyed myself. I know that The Waste Land is supposed to be massively depressing, and I understand that, I do. It's just that while the picture that Eliot paints is bleak, he paints it so vividly, and with such hauntingly beautiful colors.
*Also, just a note on Mary Karr who edited this volume. I really apprecia...more
I admit I never had a love for T.S. Eliot. His was some of the first poetry I was (un)fortunate enough to be "taught" in high school. It was Eliot that solidified for many years the idea that poetry was inaccessible except to a select gifted few, of which I was not.
This collection contains his major poems, including The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock and The Waste Land, along with a collection of his literary essays. I gave Eliot another chance because I felt surely, afte...more
This collection contains his major poems, including The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock and The Waste Land, along with a collection of his literary essays. I gave Eliot another chance because I felt surely, afte...more
I had always seen this book when I walked into bookshops but had never bothered to pick it up and look at it. I see it now as I wasn't ready for it then. But over Christmas a very, very dear friend of mine bought it for me as a gift. I read it; and now am a devout Eliot follower. I think "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" is the best in the collection, though "The Waste Land" does have its wonder "shantih, shantih, shantih" and "Ash-Wednesday" is to me,...more
Gordon McCullough
rated it
Recommends it for:
anyone who wants to read something by the polar opposite of Walt Whitman
Recommended to Gordon by:
College Prof
Shelves:
poetry
Why do I sense a link between the speaker/voice of The Waste Land and the character Pink in the movie The Wall? Perhaps it is the feeling that the soul is under seige from the powers that be, that we all are indeed robotic caricatures of ourselves because we are being manipulated to think and act in similar ways. We are indeed taught to be consumers, slaves to name brand products drummed into our brains from cradle to grave. I remember asking our 3rd grade why the history book said Columbus d...more
What the ...? Genius, unintelligible, meaningful, beautiful, crude, challenging, profound, nonsense, brilliant. I loved it and hated it, but in the end, I more loved it. I found the introductory essay very helpful--I took the suggested approach of just "listening" to the poems rather than trying to figure out line by line the meaning. But still, it was frustrating when Eliot broke into Latin or French or various other languages, as then I couldn't fully appreciate either the sound or t...more
Okay.
What?
I have no idea what went on here. Even after reading Sparknotes in hopes that it would help me out I just didn't get the meaning and point behind this poem.
Perhaps, once it's explained to me then I will appreciate it. But, until then, I will go on thinking that it is a confusing piece of overrated literature.
Maybe my professor though, will change my current feelings of the poem, once we analyze it in class. Until then though...
I guess modernism just is...more
What?
I have no idea what went on here. Even after reading Sparknotes in hopes that it would help me out I just didn't get the meaning and point behind this poem.
Perhaps, once it's explained to me then I will appreciate it. But, until then, I will go on thinking that it is a confusing piece of overrated literature.
Maybe my professor though, will change my current feelings of the poem, once we analyze it in class. Until then though...
I guess modernism just is...more
Eliot (my partial namesake. My middle name is Elliot after him, which lead to a lot of "what the FUCK, mom?" when I was old enough to read and get Eliot) isn't necessarily as talented a poet as Pound, but he's also slightly less of an anti-Semite. These are the trades one must make when studying Modernist poetry.
Gerardo
added it
The poem itself is full of allegories and allusions to people and other literary work. It is an extremely difficult poem as it has many voices and many themes to study; however, this poems once you read it and begin understanding it, you have epiphanies and moments of self reflection...
The reason why I gave this 3 stars is NOT because of the poem itself (I think it is one of the greatest ever written). My main problem is the book itself and its lack of annotations, which to many makes this poem semi-impossible to understand. It would also be a big help for students; for a reader in general who would want to know what Elliot was trying to convey some annotations and minor translations would gave helped. With notes this publication of the poem could have easily been a 5 star rat...more
An excellent collection of T.S. Eliot's most influential and celebrated works. This was the first collection by Eliot that I purchased and read, and it will always remain of the best books of poetry that I own.
I need to reread it. I have a hard time with most poetry and this was pretty complex stuff. For me anyway.
I remember ploughing through 'The Wasteland' and 'Love song of Arthur J Prufrock' at school, maybe resenting it a little at the time, but always remembering the poems. Lines from them appear to me at the most inopportune moments, so I thought it was time to read them again. Am loving the re-reading.
The poems are excellent but why do people revere him and hate Harold Bloom? It's the same guy.
Luciano
marked it as to-read
Tierra valdía, me mata ese poema es fantástico, no se me siento en los zapatos del autor.
The Wasteland is the perfect encapsulation of the haunting and incalcuable effect of World War I on literature and life. From the opening lines which mock the jaunty lead to The Canterbury Tales to the final words, a sanskrit invocation to peace and possibly hope, "Shantih, shantih, shantih", Eliot weaves a tapestry of images, words and arresting moments that say so much and give away nothing.
And Prufrock is simply the best poem ever...in our poetic lives, we'd all like to...more
And Prufrock is simply the best poem ever...in our poetic lives, we'd all like to...more
I read The Wasteland probably six times a year. I love this poem.
jennifer
added it
My favorite poet. There's nothing better than Prufrock.
While I do enjoy poetry (I love Larkin, Petrarch, Baudelaire, Whitman, Dante, and Rimbaud), I just can't find a way into to Eliot. Perhaps it's because the poetry is SO intertextual (and Eliot is aware of that as he appended notes to the Wasteland) that I find it impossible to immerse myself in the actual poem. Instead, I get overwhelmed by the constant flux of languages and literary references.
His work certainly references and interweaves varies fascinating sources, but ultimately i...more
His work certainly references and interweaves varies fascinating sources, but ultimately i...more
i really shouldn't like eliot. he's as pretentious as poets get, and not only that, he's responsible for the musical cats. but he's good at what he does. so freaking good. i swear, prufrock was written from my thoughts and the waste land...well, that's just on its own planet. i don't care what cut you come from in life, if you have any artistic sense in your bones, there's something to be found in eliot's writing.
I loved the all the poems under The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock. Didn't care for the next section: Poems and The Waste Land could have been very interesting if not for being chock-full of obscure references. I would not be opposed to exploring those references and understanding it better at another time in my life, but I simply don't have that kind of time.
I glanced over the literary criticisms also included in this book, but they're a bit too textbook for me right now.
I glanced over the literary criticisms also included in this book, but they're a bit too textbook for me right now.
I’m not sure what to say about this one… yet. This book contained many of Eliot’s poems, not just The Waste Land. I found his earlier work easier on the brain. I read The Waste Land twice and though it left me with distinct images, I’m still not sure what was going on. It’s strange to thoroughly enjoy a poem and yet not really know why. The essays in the book bored me.
I haven't read a lot of modern poetry but this was excellent. "The Wasteland" itself is intense and moving, and you can read it through and just start again at the beginning, over and over, and find new things to like about it. The collection also has some other great poems in it (Love Song of J. Alfred. Prufrock, notably) but it's missing "The Hollow Men" which is a bit disappointing.
I'm speechless. The amount of information packed into this poem, the allusion, the complexity of thought...its honestly like looking down Alice's rabbit hole and allowing your head to swim.
Maybe that makes me a little crazy, but I love stuff like that. I get the distinct feeling I can back to this poem again and again and find something new in it each time.
Maybe that makes me a little crazy, but I love stuff like that. I get the distinct feeling I can back to this poem again and again and find something new in it each time.
Ok, so TS Eliot doesn't have rock star status like Rimbaud, and he got all stodgy and Anglican probably because he couldn't handle all the intense existential angst and despair over society which reflect so nicely in his early works. But as a poet, he's pure magic, and the power of his works were, and still are, like fuel in my own drive for meaning.
Brillaint, haunting, forbidding, difficult, evocative, atmospheric, surreal, erudite, spooky.
About as good as poetry gets, in its best places and moments....
this is a wonderful collection, worth getting because of the inclusion of some of the essays which are deeply reasoned and pretty well written in their own right....
About as good as poetry gets, in its best places and moments....
this is a wonderful collection, worth getting because of the inclusion of some of the essays which are deeply reasoned and pretty well written in their own right....
I can understand why English professors make us suffer through poetry like this, but I would never willingly read this on my own. It is very tedious to get through all of the references and then spend even more time figuring out what in the world Elliot is trying to say, if anything at all.
This is another poet I'm revisiting from high school. I remember "The Lovesong of J. Alfred Prufrock", "Gerontion", and "The Waste Land" - but only vaguely.
But I like old things (simplistic, I know) - and this old, so I'm going to find out what's here. I'll write more after I get into it.
But I like old things (simplistic, I know) - and this old, so I'm going to find out what's here. I'll write more after I get into it.
I was never a fan of poetry until T.S. Eliot. I can read "The love song of J. Alfred Prufrock" a million times and still it entrances me. "They yellow fog that rubs it's back upon the window panes." "In the room the women come and go/ talking of michealangelo."
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Thomas Stearns Eliot was a poet, dramatist and literary critic. He received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1948 "for his outstanding, pioneer contribution to present-day poetry." He wrote the poems The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock, The Waste Land, The Hollow Men, Ash Wednesday, and Four Quartets; the plays Murder in the Cathedral and The Cocktail Party; and the essay Tradition and t...more
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“You gave me hyacinths first a year ago;
They called me the hyacinth girl.'
—Yet when we came back, late, from the Hyacinth garden,
Your arms full, and your hair wet, I could not
Speak, and my eyes failed, I was neither
Living nor dead, and I knew nothing,
Looking into the heart of light, the silence.
Od' und leer das Meer.”
—
32 people liked it
More quotes…
They called me the hyacinth girl.'
—Yet when we came back, late, from the Hyacinth garden,
Your arms full, and your hair wet, I could not
Speak, and my eyes failed, I was neither
Living nor dead, and I knew nothing,
Looking into the heart of light, the silence.
Od' und leer das Meer.”
