The Achievement of T.S. Eliot

by F.O. Matthiessen

A wonderful book for a great collection

272 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1935

Reviews

[Jacky Chan]

Professor Seamus Perry, in his guide to The Waste Land, hailed Matthiessen's study of Eliot as an excellent work, so I ventured to purchase it new despite at a rather high price. It was a disappointment: some of Matthiessen's theoretical conjectures are interesting at best, but many of them are rather bland and dull. His close-readings are in particular superficial and really show New Criticism at its worst. If there is any value in this book its that it elucidates Eliot's criticism quite well. Not a good read.

[Johns]

This is the gold standard analysis of the famed poet's work when written in 1935 and updated (by the author) several times. My HARDBOUND copy which I obtained from a local university library is the version made available by the Oxford University Press in 1958.

Good analysis here. Any serious scholar or researcher intent on knowing T. S. Eliot will need to be conversant on F. O. Matthiessen's effort here.

I learned a lot; you will too: read this book.

('Tis frustrating that there appears to be no way to message this site as to the author's name!)

[Noah]

Matthiessen lays the foundations for Eliot studies with his revolutionary examination of Eliot's poetry. Originally published before the publication of the plays or the Quartets, the second edition includes chapters covering both.