Product Description

Widely regarded as the finest poet of his generation, Seamus Heaney is the subject of numerous critical studies; but no book-length portrait has appeared until now. Through his own lively and eloquent reminiscences, "Stepping Stones" retraces the poet's steps from his early works, through to his receipt of the 1995 Nobel Prize for Literature and his post-Nobel life. It is supplemented with a large number of photographs, many from the Heaney family album and published here for the first time. In response to firm but subtle questioning from Dennis O'Driscoll, Seamus Heaney sheds a personal light on his work (poems, essays, translations, plays) and on the artistic and ethical challenges he faced, providing an original, diverting and absorbing store of reflections, opinions and recollections.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #65055 in Books
• Published on: 2008-11-06
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 560 pages

About the Author
Dennis O'Driscoll's previous publications include New and Selected Poems (2004), a Poetry Book Society Special Commendation, and Reality Check (2007). He is editor of The Bloodaxe Book of Poetry Quotations (2006), author of a collection of essays and reviews, Troubled Thoughts, Majestic Dreams (2001), and a contributor to The Cambridge Companion to Seamus Heaney(2008). He works as a civil servant in Dublin.

Customer Reviews

What we have Always Hoped from Poets
This is a wonderful book. Seamus Heaney is everything we hoped a poet or artist would be - wise, unpretentious, generous, observant. It may seem a long book at first glance, but it's full of wonderful comments about poetry and life. Well worth reading.

Grounded
If I had to use one word to sum up what I learned about Seamus Heaney from reading the excellent Stepping Stones it would be: grounded. Heaney is a serious man writing serious work and in this collection of questions and responses with Dennis O'Driscoll it is apparent he doesn't take himself too seriously. It is full of insights into the man and his work- how does he keep performing at the top of his game? Heaney says it is simply a matter of "Getting started, keeping going, getting started again".

Stepping Stones Interviews with Seamus Heaney
Let me start by saying that I love his poetry and that this book gives wonderful insights into aspects of his thinking and life that give expression to that creativity.
However, brevity from the man himself, encouraged by the interviewer and perhaps stemming from his Irish heritage is seldom evident. The questions are answered in paragraphs where sentences would have sufficed.
You would not want to be stuck on a desert island with these two!
On balance worth the money, rich in language,as you would expect but remains a challenging read.