Autobiographies

by R.S. Thomas

Translated from the original Welsh, AUTOBIOGRAPHIES is a collection of the most personal writings of one of this century's most important poets.

Genres: Poetry, Nonfiction, Biography

240 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1997

About the author

Ronald Stuart Thomas (1913-2000) (otherwise stylised as R.S. Thomas) was a Welsh poet and Anglican priest who was noted for his nationalism, spirituality and deep dislike of the anglicisation of Wales.

Reviews

[Domhnall · Rating 3 out of 5]

A few stabs at autobiography by one of the very best poets but they don't take off, they don't do him justice and I admit I stopped halfway through. The time is better spent with his poems.

[Justin Griffiths-Bell · Rating 2 out of 5]

While he was certainly a world class poet, his talents as a writer of prose were, on this evidence, limited. For those who take an interest in the myth of RS, this collection (two essays and two short autobiographical works) is useful in confirming a number of prejudices that have grown up around him.
Others who are bound to enjoy this book are fans of Vladimir Nabokov's unreliable narrators. Thomas unwittingly achieves the same effect Nabokov does with skill. The grandstanding of some of the most banal and trivial elements of his life has created deep gaps and silences through which the true nature of his being seem to howl on every page.

[Giles Denmark · Rating 3 out of 5]

for lovers of welsh, birds, nature, and poetry. he is a better poet than writer.