Carpenter's is too superficial... a shopping list of Pound... Stoneking ----- Original Message ----- From: Richard Edwards <[log in to unmask]> To: <[log in to unmask]> Sent: Tuesday, October 12, 1999 11:59 AM Subject: Re: Tytell's _Solitary Volcano_ > I can't help you on the subject of The Solitary Volcano, as I haven't read > it. Perhaps though you and others would be interested to know (if you don't > know already) that there is a new Pound biography in the course of being > prepared by Professor Moody at York University. Since I know this only > because it has been announced ("Not yet available") on amazon.co.uk I can't > tell you anything about it except that I would expect it to be well worth > reading. If Professor Moody can hear us, I wonder whether he'd care to tell > us something to whet our appetites? > > I'd be interested to know what people think of Carpenter's biography. I > approached it with some trepidation after reading Geoffrey Hill's savage > review of it in Agenda but actually I think it is very good. Hill's main > complaints are that it is too long and that Carpenter doesn't understand > what is involved in writing poetry. So far as length is concerned I think > the last third or so of the book is diffuse and could have been pruned down > a little but on the whole there is not all that much information I would > regard as irrelevant or uninteresting. As for Carpenter's understanding of > poetry, it is true that he contributes little of his own to the critical > appreciation of Pound's poetry. But in some ways I think it is a good thing > to be able to read a biography written by someone who is neither a Poundian > nor a literary critic. On balance I think I prefer Stock but Carpenter > certainly adds many things I didn't know before and which I am glad to know. > > Hill singles out for modest praise the section on the "trial". This is > indeed well worth reading, even by those who don't have the time or > inclination to plough through the whole thing. > > Richard Edwards > > > > > >From: Robert Yunk <[log in to unmask]> > >Reply-To: Ezra Pound discussion list of the University of Maine > > <[log in to unmask]> > >To: [log in to unmask] > >Subject: Tytell's _Solitary Volcano_ > >Date: Mon, 11 Oct 1999 22:54:58 -0400 > > > >John Tytell's _Ezra Pound: The Solitary Volcano_ New York: Anchor, 1987. > > > >Does anyone have an opinion of this biography they'd care to share? I've > >read Carpenter's _Serious Character_ and Wilhelm's _Pound 1908-1925_... > > > > ______________________________________________________ > Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com >