Edgar Lee Masters
Paperback | Pages: 112 pages Rating: 4.03 | 8855 Users | 663 Reviews
Identify Books Concering Spoon River Anthology
| Original Title: | Spoon River Anthology |
| ISBN: | 1406946133 (ISBN13: 9781406946130) |
| Edition Language: | English |
| Setting: | Illinois(United States) |
Ilustration In Favor Of Books Spoon River Anthology
From spoonriveranthology.net: "Edgar Lee Masters's Spoon River Anthology was an immediate commercial success when it was published in 1915. Unconventional in both style and content, it shattered the myths of small town American life. A collection of epitaphs of residents of a small town, a full understanding of Spoon River requires the reader to piece together narratives from fragments contained in individual poems."Define Containing Books Spoon River Anthology
| Title | : | Spoon River Anthology |
| Author | : | Edgar Lee Masters |
| Book Format | : | Paperback |
| Book Edition | : | Deluxe Edition |
| Pages | : | Pages: 112 pages |
| Published | : | 2006 by Hard Press (first published 1915) |
| Categories | : | Poetry. Classics. Fiction. Literature |
Rating Containing Books Spoon River Anthology
Ratings: 4.03 From 8855 Users | 663 ReviewsWrite-Up Containing Books Spoon River Anthology
Not a bad book, but not one I would read again or recommend to others. It's a collection of free-verse poems, crafted as epitaphs of the former citizens of the Midwestern town Spoon River. While there were some meaningful poems and well-developed characters, there were quite a few sections that I did not care for at all. I've never been an ardent fan of poetry, though, and this one, while a good read, did nothing to change that.Here's my favorite poem from the book:"George Gray:I have studiedThe dead tell their secrets where they are buried. With no reason to lie we find that all is not what it seemed to be: some of the "pillars" of the community were rotten to the core and some of the "dregs" of the town were the best citizens. I think of this book every time I see a homeless person and wonder: has society abandoned this person while (somewhere) a CEO commits crimes that will never come to light?
This was a fascinating walk through a graveyard of lives lived and ended in passion-whether it was despair, yearning, resentment, or remembered dreams. Each poem gave a brief glimpse into the most emotional portion of the person's life. Stories were interwoven as names cropped up in other people's poems or epitaphs. Opposing perspectives showed unreliable narrators-liars, those who were just plain delusional, and maybe two equally true but incompatible sides to a story. Below are the titles that
I told a friend while reading this I had no idea how vindictive dead people could be. As I continued reading, I realized that this delightful book, with poems told from the perspectives of the people buried in Spoon River Cemetery, was about more than just vindictiveness; it was about humanity - about love, regret, success, failure, bitterness, joy, resentment, and pride. How can a single page-long poem summarize the person speaking it? I wouldnt have thought it possible, but Masters brilliantly
I've trawled through many a 19th century small town newspaper for various research projects, and one's dirty linen was often hung out to dry for public view in the printed word. Old men running off with the serving girls, errant wives being tracked down and found in flagrante with their lovers, etc. I've even got a great-great-uncle whose wife was run out of town on a rail by "The Community" for her illicit affair with a neighbor. Nasty little Victorian Peyton Places. Reading Spoon River
I can appreciate why, at the time of its publication in 1915, the book was seen as creative in its structure -- lots of short poems, each in the voice or a different deceased former resident of the town of Spoon River, Illinois -- and bracingly blunt in its substance. Some of the deceased admit to having committed murder or adultery; others offer sardonic reflections - all is vanity and chasing the wind. Since then, of course, the themes have become commonplace, and been explored with greater
surprising and experimental. Im in the area where this book was read, so Im reading this as a form of radical tourism
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