Research Catalog

Title

On Empson / Michael Wood.

Author

Wood, Michael, 1936-

Publication

• Princeton, New Jersey : Princeton University Press, [2017]
• ©2017

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Description

212 pages; 19 cm

Summary

Are literary critics writers? As Michael Wood says, "Not all critics are writers--perhaps most of them are not--and some of them are better when they don't try to be." The British critic and poet William Empson (1906-84), one of the most important and influential critics of the twentieth century, was an exception--a critic who was not only a writer but also a great one. In this brief book, Wood, himself one of the most gifted writers among contemporary critics, explores Empson as a writer, a distinguished poet whose criticism is a brilliant literary performance--and proof that the act of reading can be an unforgettable adventure. Drawing out the singularity and strength of Empson's writing, including its unfailing wit, Wood traces the connections between Empson's poetry and criticism from his first and best-known critical works, Seven Types of Ambiguity and Some Versions of Pastoral, to later books such as Milton's God and The Structure of Complex Words. Wood shows why this pioneer of close reading was both more and less than the inventor of New Criticism - more because he was the greatest English critic since Coleridge, and didn't belong to any school; and less because he had severe differences with many contemporary critics, especially those who dismissed the importance of an author's intentions. Beautifully written and rich with insight, On Empson is an elegant introduction to a unique writer for whom literature was a nonstop form of living.

Series Statement

Writers on writers

Uniform Title

Writers on writers.

Subjects

• New Criticism
• Critics > England > Biography
• Empson, William, 1906-1984 > Criticism and interpretation

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references (pages 207-212).

Contents

Empson's Intentions -- The Strangeness of the World -- Large Dreams -- The Other Case -- All in Flight -- Sibylline Leaves -- The Smoke of Hell.

Call Number

JFC 17-549

ISBN

• 9780691163765
• 0691163766

OCLC

958799399

Author

Wood, Michael, 1936- author.

Title

On Empson / Michael Wood.

Publisher

Princeton, New Jersey : Princeton University Press, [2017]

Copyright Date

©2017

Type of Content

text

Type of Medium

unmediated

Type of Carrier

volume

Series

Writers on writers

Writers on writers.

Bibliography

Includes bibliographical references (pages 207-212).

Research Call Number

JFC 17-549