false 438544 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1174774230m/438544.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1174774230s/438544.jpg Literature and the Gods is the culmination of Roberto Calasso’s lifelong study of the gods in the human imagination. By uncovering the divine whisper that lies behind the best poetry and prose from across the centuries, Calasso gives us a renewed sense of the mystery and enchantment of great literature.

From the banishment of the classical divinities during the Age of Reason to their emancipation by the Romantics and their place in the literature of our own time, the history of the gods can also be read as a ciphered and splendid history of literary inspiration. Rewriting that story, Calasso carves out a sacred space for literature where the presence of the gods is discernible. His inquiry into the nature of “absolute literature” transports us to the realms of Dionysus and Orpheus, Baudelaire and Mallarmé, and prompts a lucid and impassioned defense of poetic form, even when apparently severed from any social function. Lyrical and assured, Literature and the Gods is an intensely engaging work of literary affirmation that deserves to be read alongside the masterpieces it celebrates.]]> 438544 6 1050161 2001 Literature and the Gods total:33|5:10|4:13|3:7|2:2|1:1| 33 128 62 3 62357 4.19 353 59 16043690 125 438544 0375725431 9780375725432 2 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1174774230m/438544.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1174774230s/438544.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/438544.Literature_and_the_Gods 3.83 29 Literature and the Gods is the culmination of Roberto Calasso’s lifelong study of the gods in the human imagination. By uncovering the divine whisper that lies behind the best poetry and prose from across the centuries, Calasso gives us a renewed sense of the mystery and enchantment of great literature.

From the banishment of the classical divinities during the Age of Reason to their emancipation by the Romantics and their place in the literature of our own time, the history of the gods can also be read as a ciphered and splendid history of literary inspiration. Rewriting that story, Calasso carves out a sacred space for literature where the presence of the gods is discernible. His inquiry into the nature of “absolute literature” transports us to the realms of Dionysus and Orpheus, Baudelaire and Mallarmé, and prompts a lucid and impassioned defense of poetic form, even when apparently severed from any social function. Lyrical and assured, Literature and the Gods is an intensely engaging work of literary affirmation that deserves to be read alongside the masterpieces it celebrates.]]> 2001 4 0 false Fri Feb 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Thu Feb 21 19:05:36 -0800 2008 Thu Feb 21 19:07:10 -0800 2008 31267747 1414276 438565 8433961780 9788433961785 1 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1174774261m/438565.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1174774261s/438565.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/438565.La_Literatura_y_los_Dioses 4.00 2 Literature and the Gods is the culmination of Roberto Calasso’s lifelong study of the gods in the human imagination. By uncovering the divine whisper that lies behind the best poetry and prose from across the centuries, Calasso gives us a renewed sense of the mystery and enchantment of great literature.

From the banishment of the classical divinities during the Age of Reason to their emancipation by the Romantics and their place in the literature of our own time, the history of the gods can also be read as a ciphered and splendid history of literary inspiration. Rewriting that story, Calasso carves out a sacred space for literature where the presence of the gods is discernible. His inquiry into the nature of “absolute literature” transports us to the realms of Dionysus and Orpheus, Baudelaire and Mallarmé, and prompts a lucid and impassioned defense of poetic form, even when apparently severed from any social function. Lyrical and assured, Literature and the Gods is an intensely engaging work of literary affirmation that deserves to be read alongside the masterpieces it celebrates.]]> 2001 5 0 false Tue Aug 26 16:46:09 -0700 2008 Tue Aug 26 16:46:32 -0700 2008 65664019 418909 438544 0375725431 9780375725432 2 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1174774230m/438544.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1174774230s/438544.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/438544.Literature_and_the_Gods 3.88 33 Literature and the Gods is the culmination of Roberto Calasso’s lifelong study of the gods in the human imagination. By uncovering the divine whisper that lies behind the best poetry and prose from across the centuries, Calasso gives us a renewed sense of the mystery and enchantment of great literature.

From the banishment of the classical divinities during the Age of Reason to their emancipation by the Romantics and their place in the literature of our own time, the history of the gods can also be read as a ciphered and splendid history of literary inspiration. Rewriting that story, Calasso carves out a sacred space for literature where the presence of the gods is discernible. His inquiry into the nature of “absolute literature” transports us to the realms of Dionysus and Orpheus, Baudelaire and Mallarmé, and prompts a lucid and impassioned defense of poetic form, even when apparently severed from any social function. Lyrical and assured, Literature and the Gods is an intensely engaging work of literary affirmation that deserves to be read alongside the masterpieces it celebrates.]]> 2001 1 0 false Fri Aug 07 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Fri Jul 31 10:20:43 -0700 2009 Fri Aug 07 09:38:10 -0700 2009 81471968 1630617 438544 0375725431 9780375725432 2 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1174774230m/438544.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1174774230s/438544.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/438544.Literature_and_the_Gods 3.88 33 Literature and the Gods is the culmination of Roberto Calasso’s lifelong study of the gods in the human imagination. By uncovering the divine whisper that lies behind the best poetry and prose from across the centuries, Calasso gives us a renewed sense of the mystery and enchantment of great literature.

From the banishment of the classical divinities during the Age of Reason to their emancipation by the Romantics and their place in the literature of our own time, the history of the gods can also be read as a ciphered and splendid history of literary inspiration. Rewriting that story, Calasso carves out a sacred space for literature where the presence of the gods is discernible. His inquiry into the nature of “absolute literature” transports us to the realms of Dionysus and Orpheus, Baudelaire and Mallarmé, and prompts a lucid and impassioned defense of poetic form, even when apparently severed from any social function. Lyrical and assured, Literature and the Gods is an intensely engaging work of literary affirmation that deserves to be read alongside the masterpieces it celebrates.]]> 2001 0 0 false Sat Dec 19 06:35:42 -0800 2009 Sat Dec 19 06:35:42 -0800 2009 79838337 2854516 438544 0375725431 9780375725432 2 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1174774230m/438544.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1174774230s/438544.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/438544.Literature_and_the_Gods 3.88 33 Literature and the Gods is the culmination of Roberto Calasso’s lifelong study of the gods in the human imagination. By uncovering the divine whisper that lies behind the best poetry and prose from across the centuries, Calasso gives us a renewed sense of the mystery and enchantment of great literature.

From the banishment of the classical divinities during the Age of Reason to their emancipation by the Romantics and their place in the literature of our own time, the history of the gods can also be read as a ciphered and splendid history of literary inspiration. Rewriting that story, Calasso carves out a sacred space for literature where the presence of the gods is discernible. His inquiry into the nature of “absolute literature” transports us to the realms of Dionysus and Orpheus, Baudelaire and Mallarmé, and prompts a lucid and impassioned defense of poetic form, even when apparently severed from any social function. Lyrical and assured, Literature and the Gods is an intensely engaging work of literary affirmation that deserves to be read alongside the masterpieces it celebrates.]]> 2001 0 0 false Thu Dec 03 22:29:49 -0800 2009 Thu Dec 03 22:29:49 -0800 2009 75397295 677374 438544 0375725431 9780375725432 2 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1174774230m/438544.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1174774230s/438544.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/438544.Literature_and_the_Gods 3.88 33 Literature and the Gods is the culmination of Roberto Calasso’s lifelong study of the gods in the human imagination. By uncovering the divine whisper that lies behind the best poetry and prose from across the centuries, Calasso gives us a renewed sense of the mystery and enchantment of great literature.

From the banishment of the classical divinities during the Age of Reason to their emancipation by the Romantics and their place in the literature of our own time, the history of the gods can also be read as a ciphered and splendid history of literary inspiration. Rewriting that story, Calasso carves out a sacred space for literature where the presence of the gods is discernible. His inquiry into the nature of “absolute literature” transports us to the realms of Dionysus and Orpheus, Baudelaire and Mallarmé, and prompts a lucid and impassioned defense of poetic form, even when apparently severed from any social function. Lyrical and assured, Literature and the Gods is an intensely engaging work of literary affirmation that deserves to be read alongside the masterpieces it celebrates.]]> 2001 0 0 false Thu Oct 22 12:56:41 -0700 2009 Thu Oct 22 12:56:41 -0700 2009 75186633 2225219 438544 0375725431 9780375725432 2 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1174774230m/438544.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1174774230s/438544.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/438544.Literature_and_the_Gods 3.88 33 Literature and the Gods is the culmination of Roberto Calasso’s lifelong study of the gods in the human imagination. By uncovering the divine whisper that lies behind the best poetry and prose from across the centuries, Calasso gives us a renewed sense of the mystery and enchantment of great literature.

From the banishment of the classical divinities during the Age of Reason to their emancipation by the Romantics and their place in the literature of our own time, the history of the gods can also be read as a ciphered and splendid history of literary inspiration. Rewriting that story, Calasso carves out a sacred space for literature where the presence of the gods is discernible. His inquiry into the nature of “absolute literature” transports us to the realms of Dionysus and Orpheus, Baudelaire and Mallarmé, and prompts a lucid and impassioned defense of poetic form, even when apparently severed from any social function. Lyrical and assured, Literature and the Gods is an intensely engaging work of literary affirmation that deserves to be read alongside the masterpieces it celebrates.]]> 2001 4 0 false Tue Oct 20 18:23:18 -0700 2009 Tue Oct 20 18:23:18 -0700 2009 74570023 2841268 438544 0375725431 9780375725432 2 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1174774230m/438544.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1174774230s/438544.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/438544.Literature_and_the_Gods 3.88 33 Literature and the Gods is the culmination of Roberto Calasso’s lifelong study of the gods in the human imagination. By uncovering the divine whisper that lies behind the best poetry and prose from across the centuries, Calasso gives us a renewed sense of the mystery and enchantment of great literature.

From the banishment of the classical divinities during the Age of Reason to their emancipation by the Romantics and their place in the literature of our own time, the history of the gods can also be read as a ciphered and splendid history of literary inspiration. Rewriting that story, Calasso carves out a sacred space for literature where the presence of the gods is discernible. His inquiry into the nature of “absolute literature” transports us to the realms of Dionysus and Orpheus, Baudelaire and Mallarmé, and prompts a lucid and impassioned defense of poetic form, even when apparently severed from any social function. Lyrical and assured, Literature and the Gods is an intensely engaging work of literary affirmation that deserves to be read alongside the masterpieces it celebrates.]]> 2001 5 0 false Wed Oct 14 18:48:44 -0700 2009 Sun Nov 29 08:28:12 -0800 2009 72470717 408887 438544 0375725431 9780375725432 2 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1174774230m/438544.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1174774230s/438544.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/438544.Literature_and_the_Gods 3.88 33 Literature and the Gods is the culmination of Roberto Calasso’s lifelong study of the gods in the human imagination. By uncovering the divine whisper that lies behind the best poetry and prose from across the centuries, Calasso gives us a renewed sense of the mystery and enchantment of great literature.

From the banishment of the classical divinities during the Age of Reason to their emancipation by the Romantics and their place in the literature of our own time, the history of the gods can also be read as a ciphered and splendid history of literary inspiration. Rewriting that story, Calasso carves out a sacred space for literature where the presence of the gods is discernible. His inquiry into the nature of “absolute literature” transports us to the realms of Dionysus and Orpheus, Baudelaire and Mallarmé, and prompts a lucid and impassioned defense of poetic form, even when apparently severed from any social function. Lyrical and assured, Literature and the Gods is an intensely engaging work of literary affirmation that deserves to be read alongside the masterpieces it celebrates.]]> 2001 0 0 false Fri Sep 25 12:27:30 -0700 2009 Fri Sep 25 12:27:35 -0700 2009 69473223 889667 438544 0375725431 9780375725432 2 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1174774230m/438544.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1174774230s/438544.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/438544.Literature_and_the_Gods 3.88 33 Literature and the Gods is the culmination of Roberto Calasso’s lifelong study of the gods in the human imagination. By uncovering the divine whisper that lies behind the best poetry and prose from across the centuries, Calasso gives us a renewed sense of the mystery and enchantment of great literature.

From the banishment of the classical divinities during the Age of Reason to their emancipation by the Romantics and their place in the literature of our own time, the history of the gods can also be read as a ciphered and splendid history of literary inspiration. Rewriting that story, Calasso carves out a sacred space for literature where the presence of the gods is discernible. His inquiry into the nature of “absolute literature” transports us to the realms of Dionysus and Orpheus, Baudelaire and Mallarmé, and prompts a lucid and impassioned defense of poetic form, even when apparently severed from any social function. Lyrical and assured, Literature and the Gods is an intensely engaging work of literary affirmation that deserves to be read alongside the masterpieces it celebrates.]]> 2001 0 0 false Sun Aug 30 14:40:26 -0700 2009 Sun Aug 30 14:40:26 -0700 2009 68429286 2116632 1787565 0099287196 9780099287193 0 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1188351777m/1787565.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1188351777s/1787565.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1787565.Literature_and_the_Gods 0.0 0 Literature and the Gods is the culmination of Roberto Calasso’s lifelong study of the gods in the human imagination. By uncovering the divine whisper that lies behind the best poetry and prose from across the centuries, Calasso gives us a renewed sense of the mystery and enchantment of great literature.

From the banishment of the classical divinities during the Age of Reason to their emancipation by the Romantics and their place in the literature of our own time, the history of the gods can also be read as a ciphered and splendid history of literary inspiration. Rewriting that story, Calasso carves out a sacred space for literature where the presence of the gods is discernible. His inquiry into the nature of “absolute literature” transports us to the realms of Dionysus and Orpheus, Baudelaire and Mallarmé, and prompts a lucid and impassioned defense of poetic form, even when apparently severed from any social function. Lyrical and assured, Literature and the Gods is an intensely engaging work of literary affirmation that deserves to be read alongside the masterpieces it celebrates.]]> 2001 0 0 false Sat Aug 22 03:27:31 -0700 2009 Sat Aug 22 03:28:21 -0700 2009 64099935 194689 438544 0375725431 9780375725432 2 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1174774230m/438544.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1174774230s/438544.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/438544.Literature_and_the_Gods 3.88 33 Literature and the Gods is the culmination of Roberto Calasso’s lifelong study of the gods in the human imagination. By uncovering the divine whisper that lies behind the best poetry and prose from across the centuries, Calasso gives us a renewed sense of the mystery and enchantment of great literature.

From the banishment of the classical divinities during the Age of Reason to their emancipation by the Romantics and their place in the literature of our own time, the history of the gods can also be read as a ciphered and splendid history of literary inspiration. Rewriting that story, Calasso carves out a sacred space for literature where the presence of the gods is discernible. His inquiry into the nature of “absolute literature” transports us to the realms of Dionysus and Orpheus, Baudelaire and Mallarmé, and prompts a lucid and impassioned defense of poetic form, even when apparently severed from any social function. Lyrical and assured, Literature and the Gods is an intensely engaging work of literary affirmation that deserves to be read alongside the masterpieces it celebrates.]]> 2001 0 0 false Sun Jul 19 11:00:47 -0700 2009 Sun Jul 19 11:00:47 -0700 2009 58796912 2228413 438544 0375725431 9780375725432 2 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1174774230m/438544.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1174774230s/438544.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/438544.Literature_and_the_Gods 3.88 33 Literature and the Gods is the culmination of Roberto Calasso’s lifelong study of the gods in the human imagination. By uncovering the divine whisper that lies behind the best poetry and prose from across the centuries, Calasso gives us a renewed sense of the mystery and enchantment of great literature.

From the banishment of the classical divinities during the Age of Reason to their emancipation by the Romantics and their place in the literature of our own time, the history of the gods can also be read as a ciphered and splendid history of literary inspiration. Rewriting that story, Calasso carves out a sacred space for literature where the presence of the gods is discernible. His inquiry into the nature of “absolute literature” transports us to the realms of Dionysus and Orpheus, Baudelaire and Mallarmé, and prompts a lucid and impassioned defense of poetic form, even when apparently severed from any social function. Lyrical and assured, Literature and the Gods is an intensely engaging work of literary affirmation that deserves to be read alongside the masterpieces it celebrates.]]> 2001 4 0 false Sun Jun 07 18:43:00 -0700 2009 Sun Jun 07 18:43:00 -0700 2009 58111760 2374736 438565 8433961780 9788433961785 1 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1174774261m/438565.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1174774261s/438565.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/438565.La_Literatura_y_los_Dioses 3.88 33 Literature and the Gods is the culmination of Roberto Calasso’s lifelong study of the gods in the human imagination. By uncovering the divine whisper that lies behind the best poetry and prose from across the centuries, Calasso gives us a renewed sense of the mystery and enchantment of great literature.

From the banishment of the classical divinities during the Age of Reason to their emancipation by the Romantics and their place in the literature of our own time, the history of the gods can also be read as a ciphered and splendid history of literary inspiration. Rewriting that story, Calasso carves out a sacred space for literature where the presence of the gods is discernible. His inquiry into the nature of “absolute literature” transports us to the realms of Dionysus and Orpheus, Baudelaire and Mallarmé, and prompts a lucid and impassioned defense of poetic form, even when apparently severed from any social function. Lyrical and assured, Literature and the Gods is an intensely engaging work of literary affirmation that deserves to be read alongside the masterpieces it celebrates.]]> 2001 0 0 false Mon Jun 01 17:17:53 -0700 2009 Mon Jun 01 17:17:53 -0700 2009 55553414 1384521 438544 0375725431 9780375725432 2 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1174774230m/438544.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1174774230s/438544.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/438544.Literature_and_the_Gods 3.88 33 Literature and the Gods is the culmination of Roberto Calasso’s lifelong study of the gods in the human imagination. By uncovering the divine whisper that lies behind the best poetry and prose from across the centuries, Calasso gives us a renewed sense of the mystery and enchantment of great literature.

From the banishment of the classical divinities during the Age of Reason to their emancipation by the Romantics and their place in the literature of our own time, the history of the gods can also be read as a ciphered and splendid history of literary inspiration. Rewriting that story, Calasso carves out a sacred space for literature where the presence of the gods is discernible. His inquiry into the nature of “absolute literature” transports us to the realms of Dionysus and Orpheus, Baudelaire and Mallarmé, and prompts a lucid and impassioned defense of poetic form, even when apparently severed from any social function. Lyrical and assured, Literature and the Gods is an intensely engaging work of literary affirmation that deserves to be read alongside the masterpieces it celebrates.]]> 2001 0 0 false Sun May 10 03:01:29 -0700 2009 Sun May 10 03:01:29 -0700 2009 48760004 2106570 1063521 0375411380 9780375411380 0 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1180670069m/1063521.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1180670069s/1063521.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1063521.Literature_and_the_Gods 4.50 2 The Marriage of Cadmus and Harmony and Ka, a stunning summation of his lifelong study of the role of the gods in the human imagination. Based on the prestigious Weidenfeld Lectures Roberto Calasso gave at Oxford in May 2000, Literature and the Gods traces the return of pagan divinities to Western literature from their first reappearance at the beginning of the modern era to their place in the literature of our own time.

Calasso sets out to uncover the divine— godly or otherwise—in specific texts, and finds it in what he calls "absolute literature." With its roots in early Vedic verse, absolute literature reached the apex of its expression during the period beginning with the German Romantics in 1798 and ending with Mallarmé's death in 1898. But Calasso also discovers the divine in the work of Valéry, Auden, Yeats, Montale, Borges, and Nabokov, and he reveals how these writers, in their own very particular ways, were articulating the same unnameable thing. Finally, he delineates the timeless, ever-mysterious laws that surround the creative act itself.

With Literature and the Gods, Roberto Calasso profoundly deepens our understanding of our literary tradition. It is, itself, a literary masterpiece.]]> 2001 0 0 false Mon Mar 09 19:58:30 -0700 2009 Mon Mar 09 19:58:30 -0700 2009 48707243 2110116 438544 0375725431 9780375725432 2 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1174774230m/438544.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1174774230s/438544.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/438544.Literature_and_the_Gods 3.88 33 Literature and the Gods is the culmination of Roberto Calasso’s lifelong study of the gods in the human imagination. By uncovering the divine whisper that lies behind the best poetry and prose from across the centuries, Calasso gives us a renewed sense of the mystery and enchantment of great literature.

From the banishment of the classical divinities during the Age of Reason to their emancipation by the Romantics and their place in the literature of our own time, the history of the gods can also be read as a ciphered and splendid history of literary inspiration. Rewriting that story, Calasso carves out a sacred space for literature where the presence of the gods is discernible. His inquiry into the nature of “absolute literature” transports us to the realms of Dionysus and Orpheus, Baudelaire and Mallarmé, and prompts a lucid and impassioned defense of poetic form, even when apparently severed from any social function. Lyrical and assured, Literature and the Gods is an intensely engaging work of literary affirmation that deserves to be read alongside the masterpieces it celebrates.]]> 2001 5 0 false Mon Mar 09 11:17:49 -0700 2009 Mon Mar 09 11:17:49 -0700 2009 48614012 1827296 438544 0375725431 9780375725432 2 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1174774230m/438544.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1174774230s/438544.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/438544.Literature_and_the_Gods 3.88 33 Literature and the Gods is the culmination of Roberto Calasso’s lifelong study of the gods in the human imagination. By uncovering the divine whisper that lies behind the best poetry and prose from across the centuries, Calasso gives us a renewed sense of the mystery and enchantment of great literature.

From the banishment of the classical divinities during the Age of Reason to their emancipation by the Romantics and their place in the literature of our own time, the history of the gods can also be read as a ciphered and splendid history of literary inspiration. Rewriting that story, Calasso carves out a sacred space for literature where the presence of the gods is discernible. His inquiry into the nature of “absolute literature” transports us to the realms of Dionysus and Orpheus, Baudelaire and Mallarmé, and prompts a lucid and impassioned defense of poetic form, even when apparently severed from any social function. Lyrical and assured, Literature and the Gods is an intensely engaging work of literary affirmation that deserves to be read alongside the masterpieces it celebrates.]]> 2001 0 0 false Sun Mar 08 13:04:56 -0700 2009 Sun Mar 08 13:04:59 -0700 2009 47398287 1603656 438544 0375725431 9780375725432 2 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1174774230m/438544.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1174774230s/438544.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/438544.Literature_and_the_Gods 3.88 33 Literature and the Gods is the culmination of Roberto Calasso’s lifelong study of the gods in the human imagination. By uncovering the divine whisper that lies behind the best poetry and prose from across the centuries, Calasso gives us a renewed sense of the mystery and enchantment of great literature.

From the banishment of the classical divinities during the Age of Reason to their emancipation by the Romantics and their place in the literature of our own time, the history of the gods can also be read as a ciphered and splendid history of literary inspiration. Rewriting that story, Calasso carves out a sacred space for literature where the presence of the gods is discernible. His inquiry into the nature of “absolute literature” transports us to the realms of Dionysus and Orpheus, Baudelaire and Mallarmé, and prompts a lucid and impassioned defense of poetic form, even when apparently severed from any social function. Lyrical and assured, Literature and the Gods is an intensely engaging work of literary affirmation that deserves to be read alongside the masterpieces it celebrates.]]> 2001 0 0 false Mon Aug 03 16:46:35 -0700 2009 Tue Feb 24 12:52:56 -0800 2009 Mon Aug 03 16:46:35 -0700 2009 46978959 276811 438544 0375725431 9780375725432 2 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1174774230m/438544.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1174774230s/438544.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/438544.Literature_and_the_Gods 3.88 33 Literature and the Gods is the culmination of Roberto Calasso’s lifelong study of the gods in the human imagination. By uncovering the divine whisper that lies behind the best poetry and prose from across the centuries, Calasso gives us a renewed sense of the mystery and enchantment of great literature.

From the banishment of the classical divinities during the Age of Reason to their emancipation by the Romantics and their place in the literature of our own time, the history of the gods can also be read as a ciphered and splendid history of literary inspiration. Rewriting that story, Calasso carves out a sacred space for literature where the presence of the gods is discernible. His inquiry into the nature of “absolute literature” transports us to the realms of Dionysus and Orpheus, Baudelaire and Mallarmé, and prompts a lucid and impassioned defense of poetic form, even when apparently severed from any social function. Lyrical and assured, Literature and the Gods is an intensely engaging work of literary affirmation that deserves to be read alongside the masterpieces it celebrates.]]> 2001 0 0 false Fri Feb 20 13:20:44 -0800 2009 Fri Feb 20 13:20:44 -0800 2009 8 http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=438544