Friends and Apostles: The Correspondence of Rupert Brooke and James Strachey, 1905-1914

by Keith Hale (Editor)

The correspondence between the English poet Rupert Brooke (1887-1915) and his friend James Strachey, later the primary English translator of the works of Sigmund Freud, here appears in print for the first time. These rich and varied letters―often irreverent, sometimes humorous, and so disturbingly honest that Brooke`s literary executors long opposed their publication―illuminate one of the last pieces of the complex puzzle of Brooke`s life. It is an important piece, for Brooke wrote more frequently to Strachey than to anyone other than his mother. And he was more candid with Strachey than in letters to others, in which he often assumed a variety of carefully constructed poses.

Friends from boyhood, Brooke and Strachey were at Cambridge when James fell in love with his handsome, charming schoolmate. As well as their shared interest in politics, literature, art, and theater, the letters deal often and explicitly with the subject of homosexuality, and also with the sometimes scandalous activities of many in their close circle. Brooke and Strachey compare observations of fellow members of the exclusive Cambridge group known as "the Apostles" (which included James`s brother Lytton Strachey, John Maynard Keynes, E. M. Forster, and Bertrand Russell, among others), of mutual friends in Bloomsbury (including Virginia Woolf, Duncan Grant, Vanessa Bell, and George Mallory), and of such fellow Fabian Socialists as Hugh Dalton and Beatrice Webb. The correspondence provides important new biographical, psychological, and cultural insights into Brooke and his poetry, and it reveals the complexities of the real man behind the heroic legend that his early death inspired.

Genres: Nonfiction

338 pages, Paperback

First published October 12, 1998

About the author

Keith Hale grew up in central Arkansas and Waco, Texas. He received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Texas at Austin. Following a five-year career as a journalist in Austin, Amsterdam, and Little Rock, Hale earned a Ph.D. in literature from Purdue and took a position teaching British and Philippine literature at the University of Guam. Hale writes both fiction and scholarly works including his groundbreaking novel Clicking Beat on the Brink of Nada (Cody), first published in the Netherlands, and Friends and Apostles, his edition of Rupert Brooke's letters published by Yale University Press, London.

Keith's books are available from Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Apple, Smashwords, Scribd, Odilo, Gardners, and OverDrive. Readers may follow new releases on the Watersgreen House website or Twitter account (watersgreenhaus).

Reviews

[Shane Pennell · Rating 5 out of 5]

As we approach the centennial anniversary of Brooke's death, the poet has been on my mind of late. This is my second-favorite book written by or about Brooke. In this book, readers get to know him better than in any other collection of his letters or in any biography. The editor, Keith Hale, has added so much helpful material to the volume that, as another reviewer pointed out brilliantly, it almost reads like a Brooke auto-biography. Hale also is responsible for the book that I would rate even higher than this one. In his "Collected Poems and Letters from America With Photographs and a New Introduction," readers get the best of Brooke's poetry and prose, a fancifully weird introduction to the Letters from America by Henry James, and an introduction to the volume (written by Hale) that is both a mini-biography and mini-historical commentary that contains things I suspect Yale UP would not allow in Friends & Apostles, as good as it is. Of course if you get them both, then you have the best of Brooke's poetry, prose, letters, and the best commentary on Brooke. But do beware of so many of the other Brooke biographies in print. Some of them were written by gushing adorers who distort Brooke's story even more than Geoffrey Keynes did back in the day when he was turned into a national hero. Personally, I'd stick to the two books I've mentioned here. All the others are lacking in some way or are homophobic or contain horrible inaccuracies.

[Tony · Rating 5 out of 5]

If I only had one book of Brooke's letters, this would be it.

[Helen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think this is Rupert at his most raw and uncensored. These letters give a unique insight into his complicated, tormented and flawed but endlessly fascinating personality. Keith Hale, the editor, has provided excellent notes and narrative providing explanations and context to illuminate the letters.

[Karen]

Extremely absorbing. Poor James was hopelessly in love with Rupert, who was kind of an asshole. And now I cannot think of John Maynard Keynes as anything other than an "iron copulating machine."