What do you think?
David Jones: Engraver, Soldier, Painter, Poet
Among the revolutions of the last century, none was more important or potentially more lasting than the one in the arts called “Modernism”. Among the giants of that movement were writers who changed our conceptions of poetry and prose forever.
David Jones (1895-1974) was a painter, a wood- and copper-engraver and maker of painted inscriptions, but it was as a poet that he left his most lasting mark. Eliot called him “one of the most distinguished writers of my generation” and Dylan Thomas said he “would like to have done anything as good as David Jones has done.” Auden praised his poem In Parenthesis as “the greatest book [ever] about the Great War”, and The Anathemata as one of the “truly great poems in Western Literature.” His work, the whole of it, enables him to stand alongside Eliot, Pound, and James Joyce as an incomparable figure in literary Modernism.
David Jones (1895-1974) was a painter, a wood- and copper-engraver and maker of painted inscriptions, but it was as a poet that he left his most lasting mark. Eliot called him “one of the most distinguished writers of my generation” and Dylan Thomas said he “would like to have done anything as good as David Jones has done.” Auden praised his poem In Parenthesis as “the greatest book [ever] about the Great War”, and The Anathemata as one of the “truly great poems in Western Literature.” His work, the whole of it, enables him to stand alongside Eliot, Pound, and James Joyce as an incomparable figure in literary Modernism.
- GenresBiographyArtNonfiction
432 pages, Hardcover
First published April 6, 2017
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
April 8, 2017
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b08lglt1Description: Thomas Dilworth's biography of the visual artist and poet, David Jones, illuminates the life and work of one of the great but lost Modernists. His epic war poem, In Parenthesis, based on his experiences in the trenches was heralded by WH Auden as' the greatest book about the First World War'. His paintings, the watercolours in particular, reveal an extraordinary talent, and his engravings and inscriptions were inventive and critically acclaimed. This biography not only examines his work, it also shines a light on his personal life, examining his Catholic faith, his deep interest in his Welsh roots, and also the psychological damage resulting from his experiences on the front during the Great War.
Thomas Dilworth is an authority on David Jones and his work, and has written extensively about him. Commissioned in 1987 David Jones: Engraver, Soldier, Painter has been a labour of love for some thirty years.
1. Beginnings
2. The Great War
3. The Art of Engraving
April 8, 2017
From BBC radio 4 - Book of the week:
Thomas Dilworth's biography of the visual artist and poet, David Jones, illuminates the life and work of one of the great but lost Modernists. His epic war poem, In Parenthesis, based on his experiences in the trenches was heralded by WH Auden as' the greatest book about the First World War'. His paintings, the watercolours in particular, reveal an extraordinary talent, and his engravings and inscriptions were inventive and critically acclaimed. This biography not only examines his work, it also shines a light on his personal life, examining his Catholic faith, his deep interest in his Welsh roots, and also the psychological damage resulting from his experiences on the front during the Great War.
Thomas Dilworth is an authority on David Jones and his work, and has written extensively about him. Commissioned in 1987 David Jones: Engraver, Soldier, Painter has been a labour of love for some thirty years.
Abridged by Sara Davies
Read by Nicholas Farrell
Produced by Elizabeth Allard.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b08lglt1
Thomas Dilworth's biography of the visual artist and poet, David Jones, illuminates the life and work of one of the great but lost Modernists. His epic war poem, In Parenthesis, based on his experiences in the trenches was heralded by WH Auden as' the greatest book about the First World War'. His paintings, the watercolours in particular, reveal an extraordinary talent, and his engravings and inscriptions were inventive and critically acclaimed. This biography not only examines his work, it also shines a light on his personal life, examining his Catholic faith, his deep interest in his Welsh roots, and also the psychological damage resulting from his experiences on the front during the Great War.
Thomas Dilworth is an authority on David Jones and his work, and has written extensively about him. Commissioned in 1987 David Jones: Engraver, Soldier, Painter has been a labour of love for some thirty years.
Abridged by Sara Davies
Read by Nicholas Farrell
Produced by Elizabeth Allard.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b08lglt1
March 27, 2018
This is the best biography I've read in a while. But I am partial, a fan of Jones and a believer, with many others, that he wrote 2 of the most remarkable poems of the 20th century in The Anathemata and In Parenthesis. So I was mostly rapt while reading this account of Jones's life.
First, I wondered at how Dilworth decided on the ordering of Jones's lifetime activities. My edition carries the title David Jones: Engraver, Soldier, Painter, Poet. I consider him most important as a poet, and my interest in him is as a poet. People like Eliot and Auden considered him the most important poet of the 20th century. His paintings are well-regarded and treasured. He was an excellent engraver who learned the craft from the famous Eric Gill. I think he'd consider soldier the least important as well as the least desirable of his distinctions and would've been happy to forget his experiences during the Great War. Whatever reasons Dilworth had for arranging them in this order, Jones was certainly all of them.
The book itself is a delightful thing to read. Aside from the comprehensive study of Jones as artist and poet, it's full of color reproductions of his most important drawings, watercolors, and inscriptions. To return to this beautiful book each day and to hold it in my lap and turn the pages revealing the art woven into the printed account of his life was a pleasure.
He was a fascinating man, and he wrote 2 of the most significant expressions of myth in the language, which is my primary interest in him. Dilworth fills his telling of the life with wonderful stories. One I liked was the visit by Auden, the celebrity, to meet the more monkish Jones, another of Jones having to correct the awe-inspiring and upright Eliot who wanted to call him Davy. I smiled at Dilworth's writing that David Jones was no Davy. Interesting, too, was his early decision to forego marriage for the sake of his art. But he was strongly and romantically drawn to several women in his life without, apparently, entering into a relationship with them.
Reading Dilworth has inspired me into another--3d? 4th?--reading of In Parenthesis. I'm reminded of the critic Frederick Turner's comment that in postmodernism we find only yesterday's newspaper, but for wisdom we have to return to tradition, and it's there that we find David Jones.
First, I wondered at how Dilworth decided on the ordering of Jones's lifetime activities. My edition carries the title David Jones: Engraver, Soldier, Painter, Poet. I consider him most important as a poet, and my interest in him is as a poet. People like Eliot and Auden considered him the most important poet of the 20th century. His paintings are well-regarded and treasured. He was an excellent engraver who learned the craft from the famous Eric Gill. I think he'd consider soldier the least important as well as the least desirable of his distinctions and would've been happy to forget his experiences during the Great War. Whatever reasons Dilworth had for arranging them in this order, Jones was certainly all of them.
The book itself is a delightful thing to read. Aside from the comprehensive study of Jones as artist and poet, it's full of color reproductions of his most important drawings, watercolors, and inscriptions. To return to this beautiful book each day and to hold it in my lap and turn the pages revealing the art woven into the printed account of his life was a pleasure.
He was a fascinating man, and he wrote 2 of the most significant expressions of myth in the language, which is my primary interest in him. Dilworth fills his telling of the life with wonderful stories. One I liked was the visit by Auden, the celebrity, to meet the more monkish Jones, another of Jones having to correct the awe-inspiring and upright Eliot who wanted to call him Davy. I smiled at Dilworth's writing that David Jones was no Davy. Interesting, too, was his early decision to forego marriage for the sake of his art. But he was strongly and romantically drawn to several women in his life without, apparently, entering into a relationship with them.
Reading Dilworth has inspired me into another--3d? 4th?--reading of In Parenthesis. I'm reminded of the critic Frederick Turner's comment that in postmodernism we find only yesterday's newspaper, but for wisdom we have to return to tradition, and it's there that we find David Jones.
April 10, 2021
This is an excellent biography of David Jones. I have to confess that prior to March 2021 my knowledge of David Jones was limited to the fact that he had written a book called 'In Parenthesis' that was about World War One. I bought a copy and then it sat on my shelf for, well, a couple of years in its austere Faber & Faber cover. Then I read it. Having finished it I was convinced this was one of the best things I'd ever read. So, I wanted to know more about David Jones.
I bought the Kindle edition, but I'd advise you to splash out on a hard copy because this book contains a lot of examples of his artwork and the Kindle doesn't do them justice.
This biography manages to do two things well. It gives you an insight into Jones as a human being and it gives you an idea of his intellectual and artistic history. You get the full picture of an artist. Sometimes biographies do one, but not the other. Jones comes across as a fascinating human being and this books makes me want to go track down as many of his paintings as I possibly can. I also want to read more of his poetry. I have a copy of The Anathemata, which is his other long poem, after In Parenthesis so I think I'll start there.
You get the impression that, somehow, David Jones has slipped out of the national mindset. I think 'In Parenthesis', hard though it is, should be taught in every British school because it serves both as a fantastic work in its own right and a door to a whole list of other artwork. Perhaps Jones isn't the superstar he should be because religion was such an influence, perhaps because he wasn't a left-wing rebel or a particularly rock 'n' roll type of poet.
He seems to have struggled post-World War One. He seemed to struggle with the real world after that. He was the poet who spent the longest time on the frontline in World War One and that kind of thing, as I know from other reading I've done, has a lifelong effect on you.
But yes if you want to know more about David Jones as both artist and person this is the book for you. And you'll come out the other side with a long reading list.
I bought the Kindle edition, but I'd advise you to splash out on a hard copy because this book contains a lot of examples of his artwork and the Kindle doesn't do them justice.
This biography manages to do two things well. It gives you an insight into Jones as a human being and it gives you an idea of his intellectual and artistic history. You get the full picture of an artist. Sometimes biographies do one, but not the other. Jones comes across as a fascinating human being and this books makes me want to go track down as many of his paintings as I possibly can. I also want to read more of his poetry. I have a copy of The Anathemata, which is his other long poem, after In Parenthesis so I think I'll start there.
You get the impression that, somehow, David Jones has slipped out of the national mindset. I think 'In Parenthesis', hard though it is, should be taught in every British school because it serves both as a fantastic work in its own right and a door to a whole list of other artwork. Perhaps Jones isn't the superstar he should be because religion was such an influence, perhaps because he wasn't a left-wing rebel or a particularly rock 'n' roll type of poet.
He seems to have struggled post-World War One. He seemed to struggle with the real world after that. He was the poet who spent the longest time on the frontline in World War One and that kind of thing, as I know from other reading I've done, has a lifelong effect on you.
But yes if you want to know more about David Jones as both artist and person this is the book for you. And you'll come out the other side with a long reading list.
May 14, 2022
An excellent biography of David Jones, especially useful for my research purposes--identifying and listing the influences for his poetry. I wish the chapters hadn't been SO long. The biography does a good job of establishing Jones as a Christian modernist who rivals Eliot and Auden. I don't know why more people don't know Jones; because they should.
July 10, 2017
Exceptional. The book of the year so far. Sublime biography of an incredible and singular artist, poet and believer.
June 23, 2018
First-rate biography of modernist poet and artist.
September 17, 2024
I think I’m going to be thinking about this book (or more so about the life of David Jones) for the next 60 years, and then probably a few more after that.
August 19, 2017
It is not easy to write a good biography about an artist. Not only do you have to understand the artist, be absorbed in his life, do the history and be sensitive. You still have to put together a good book.
What a good book this is! How refreshing to read a good telling of an important artist’s life. Dilworth illuminates the man and his work, and does it all with good prose, with interesting paragraphs, with an approach devoid of tediousness. The great interesting thing, David Jones, is always properly displayed. Dilworth has done outstandingly.
David Jones was wounded in the battle of the Somme. He was an artist who made important engravings, metaphysical watercolors and ambitious poetry. He was a difficult poet. Considering the manuscript of The Anathemata, T. S. Eliot remarked that one had to read it three times to understand it. I’ve read elsewhere that Auden kept reading it without really understanding it. It is not an incomprehensible work, but it is ambitious in what it seeks to accomplish. If you have seen any of his paintings you’ll understand. They seem scribbly. You have to keep looking at them. They need explication, actually, and Dilworth provides it. One of the things difficult genuine art requires is a critic who can guide the non-specialist in appreciation. Dilworth provide this.
One learns about the people who befriended Jones (Christopher Dawson and Kenneth Clark), about the books he read and re-read (Finnegan’s Wake and Morte d’Arthur), about his poverty and financial difficulties, and many other useful bits. One of the best things about this book does is the lavishly illustrations (you get some very generously large reproductions of Jones’ best works), with the reproduction usually on or facing the section of the text discussing it. Indeed, the size of the margins, the typesetting, the colors used, all these are part of the enjoyment of this book. It is properly bound, not just glued, weighs nicely, and only has one peculiarity: a bad, rubbery smell. This last may seem odd, but when you spend so much time in close proximity to an object so otherwise enjoyable, it stands out. It is an intriguing failure.
Which can easily be forgiven. David Jones is as worth investing yourself in as T. S. Eliot is. Dilworth has drawn him nigh to you in his excellent biography. I urge you, draw nigh to David Jones.
What a good book this is! How refreshing to read a good telling of an important artist’s life. Dilworth illuminates the man and his work, and does it all with good prose, with interesting paragraphs, with an approach devoid of tediousness. The great interesting thing, David Jones, is always properly displayed. Dilworth has done outstandingly.
David Jones was wounded in the battle of the Somme. He was an artist who made important engravings, metaphysical watercolors and ambitious poetry. He was a difficult poet. Considering the manuscript of The Anathemata, T. S. Eliot remarked that one had to read it three times to understand it. I’ve read elsewhere that Auden kept reading it without really understanding it. It is not an incomprehensible work, but it is ambitious in what it seeks to accomplish. If you have seen any of his paintings you’ll understand. They seem scribbly. You have to keep looking at them. They need explication, actually, and Dilworth provides it. One of the things difficult genuine art requires is a critic who can guide the non-specialist in appreciation. Dilworth provide this.
One learns about the people who befriended Jones (Christopher Dawson and Kenneth Clark), about the books he read and re-read (Finnegan’s Wake and Morte d’Arthur), about his poverty and financial difficulties, and many other useful bits. One of the best things about this book does is the lavishly illustrations (you get some very generously large reproductions of Jones’ best works), with the reproduction usually on or facing the section of the text discussing it. Indeed, the size of the margins, the typesetting, the colors used, all these are part of the enjoyment of this book. It is properly bound, not just glued, weighs nicely, and only has one peculiarity: a bad, rubbery smell. This last may seem odd, but when you spend so much time in close proximity to an object so otherwise enjoyable, it stands out. It is an intriguing failure.
Which can easily be forgiven. David Jones is as worth investing yourself in as T. S. Eliot is. Dilworth has drawn him nigh to you in his excellent biography. I urge you, draw nigh to David Jones.
May 18, 2019
A thoroughly enjoyable biography, appropriately set in Gill’s Perpetua. The typographical layout, with most pages illustrated and often in colour, is a pleasure. Thomas Dilworth displays his matured knowledge of his subject, entourage and works. Dilworth explains the symbolism in Jones’ instantly recognisable paintings. I went on to read In Parenthesis, but only once. It will need several more times.
December 1, 2025
This is a superb biography of David Jones both as a person and as an artist. I've just done an interview with Thomas Dilworth for my BookTube Channel so I'm not going to say much else here.
Suffice it to say if you're interested in David Jones this is a great place to start (apart from his own work of course.)
Suffice it to say if you're interested in David Jones this is a great place to start (apart from his own work of course.)
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews