The Sacred Wood and Major Early Essays

by T.S. Eliot

Book Overview

Part of T. S. Eliot's lofty standing among 20th-century poets is directly attributable to his vast knowledge and deep appreciation of his literary predecessors. The importance of Eliot's role as an erudite critic of literary and cultural matters cannot be overstated. With the l920 publication of The Sacred Wood his reputation as a critical force was established. In his first collection of essays, Eliot defines the critic's role as one "to...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0486299368
• ISBN13: 9780486299365
• Release Date: July 1997
• Publisher: Dover Publications
• Length: 144 Pages
• Weight: 0.38 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.3" x 5.5" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

Criticism as it should be

It is a great injustice that The Sacred Wood, which ranks amongthe greatest works of literary criticism, has fallen out ofprint...These essays reveal Eliot's mastery of language. While writing on subjects as abstruse as the blank verse of Christopher Marlowe, Eliot maintains supreme eloquence, never stumbling or descending into awkwardness. Moreover, Eliot has managed to keep his subject matter--which at times is quite obscure--very accessible, comprehensible to anyone willing to make the effort to finish any given essay.What sets apart Eliot's essays, however, is neither their eloquence nor their accessibility. Rather, it is that Eliot exemplifies the form that good literary criticism should take. Today's literary criticism is largely descriptive, doing little more than dissecting works and analyzing them. Eliot's criticism is critical--he takes a prominent, and extremely complex literary work or trend, and renders a cogent, logical verdict on it. Eliot is not afraid to lambast the staples of the Western literary pantheon. He almost convinces the reader that Hamlet is a bad play. This is criticism as it should be.