Product Description

The outline of the story of John Keats's life is well known: the archetypal life of the Romantic genius, critically spurned and dying young. This biography aims to enrich the facts with an understanding of how Keats fitted into the intellectual and political life of his time. It includes detailed examination of significant friendships with anti-establishment figures such as Hazlitt and Hunt, and the closeness of Keats's own spirit to the ferment all around, as expressed in his poems. The book also presents information about his schooldays and medical training.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #4227 in Books
• Published on: 2003-02-17
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 672 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
Whitbread Prize-winning biographer Andrew Motion (Philip Larkin: A Writer's Life) aims to broaden our understanding of John Keats (1795-1821) by paying close attention to the historical context in which he wrote and the political opinions he voiced. The poet was "of a sceptical and republican school", Motion argues, and Keats's work reflected his experiences "not just as a private individual, but socially and politically as well." This bracing reinterpretation stresses the vigour of Keats's character as well as his verse, burying for good the sentimental cliché of a sickly dreamer concerned only with art for art's sake.

From the Back Cover
'Keats' is the first major biography of the poet for some thirty years, and it differs from its predecessors in important respects. The outline of the story is well known - it has become, in fact, the stuff of legend: the archetypal life of the Romantic genius, critically spurned and dying young.
What Andrew Motion brings to bear on the subject is a deep understanding of how Keats fitted into the intellectual and political life of his time. Important friendships with such anti-establishment figures as Hazlitt and Hunt are given their full due, and the closeness of his own spirit, as expressed in his poems, to the ferment all around is made clear. Many significant new facts about Keats's schooldays and medical training, in particular, enrich the picture. Keats emerges as a more political figure than he is usually portrayed, but his personal sufferings, too, come into closer focus. Most importantly, Andrew Motion - himself a distinguished poet - demonstrates how the poems continue to exert their power.

About the Author
Andrew Motion was born in 1952. He read English at University College, Oxford and subsequently spent two years writing about the poetry of Edward Thomas for an M. Lit. He is now Professor of Creative Writing at the University of East Anglia. Andrew Motion is the author of eight books of poems, of four biographies, including the authorized life of Philip Larkin, and of critical studies of Larkin and Edward Thomas. He has been the recipient of the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize, the Somerset Maugham Award, the Dylan Thomas Award and the Whitbread Prize for Biography. He was appointed Poet Laureate in May 1999.

Customer Reviews

A welcome insight into the life a marvellous poet
Motion's biography was my first introduction into the life of Keats. I had encountered Keats's poetry in the past, but often at the fringes. Reading this book engendered a still thriving interest in one of the English language's finest poets. Perhaps because it was my first introduction to this marvellous life, this biography held and fired my interest. The telling of the life was laced with some literary criticism. I thought the criticism could have been more penetrating. If there was a flaw in this book, that was it. Keats's short life is revealed in his letters and poetry. For Keats, a criticism of his poetry becomes an essential part of his biography. Overall, it was an agreeable book with a wonderful story ably told.

A disappointment as far as entertainment is concerned.
While the book is well laid out and probably quite accurate, it did little to hold the attention with page after page of what could have been interesting facts about the poets life. As a text book it is probably ideal, but do not look for entertainment here. I found the writing dull and when I look back on the content, it could have been oh so different if presented a bit more cleverly. A struggle to read and a disappoinment.