An edition of The prolific and the devourer (1981)

The prolific and the devourer

1st trade ed.
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Last edited by ImportBot
February 28, 2022 | History
An edition of The prolific and the devourer (1981)

The prolific and the devourer

1st trade ed.
  • 5 Want to read
  • 1 Have read

From Publishers Weekly
First published some 10 years ago in Antaeus magazine, this series of brief meditations was begun by Auden in 1939 and left unfinished. In it the poet seeks truth--political, moral, personal, spiritual--in cautionary reflections and finely ventured definitions that can sting with their meticulously objective slant, yet curiously passionate resonance. Auden will at times advise subversion, for instance, with the steely authority of a priest, but also seems only too aware of the pain that sinners--"all men are sinners"--must feel, regardless. He is most convincing when most palpably aware of the pain and the balancing of pain with the need for judgment. The mounting abstractness of Auden's discourse may be either blessed or damned, but it is exacting, and to some will seem irksome, too persistently high-minded. Yet from his struggles over art and politics, divine and human moral necessities, Auden tore--and honed--remarkably clear and committed thoughts, and they stick: " 'Work' is action forced on us by the will of another"; "Pure evil would be pure passivity"; " . . . intelligence only functions when the animal is unafraid"; and "To be forgiven means to realise that one has never been judged except by oneself."
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal
Composed during the portentous summer of 1939, soon after he arrived in America from England, this collection of aphorisms documents poet W. H. Auden's precipitate conversion from Marxism to conservative Christianity. Auden abandoned the work in September of that year, dissatisfied with its "mandarin" tone, and it remained unpublished until 1981, when the complete manuscript appeared in Antaeus. Although the text contains a number of biographical and psychological insights into Auden's psyche, it is essentially too s ui generis to be of general interest. Auden's decision not to publish was probably a wise one, and one questions the need for a book following the magazine publication. For specialized research collections only.
- Shelley Cox, Southern Illinois Univ. Lib., Carbondale
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Publish Date
Publisher
Ecco Press
Language
English
Pages
101

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Previews available in: English

Edition Availability
Cover of: The prolific and the devourer
The prolific and the devourer
1994, Ecco Press
in English - 1st trade ed.
Cover of: The Prolific and the Devourer
The Prolific and the Devourer
1981, The Ecco Press
in English

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Book Details


Edition Notes

Published in
Hopewell, NJ

Classifications

Dewey Decimal Class
818/.5202
Library of Congress
PR6001.U4 P76 1993, PR6001.U4P76 1993

The Physical Object

Pagination
x, 101 p. ;
Number of pages
101

ID Numbers

Open Library
OL1395108M
Internet Archive
prolificdevourer00aude
ISBN 10
0880013451
LCCN
93002409
OCLC/WorldCat
70403799
Library Thing
87251
Goodreads
3290636

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History

Download catalog record: RDF / JSON
February 28, 2022 Edited by ImportBot import existing book
February 13, 2020 Edited by MARC Bot remove fake subjects
July 22, 2017 Edited by Mek adding subject: In library
March 7, 2017 Edited by TJ Added description from two different publishers of book, and tags, person, places, year set in.
December 9, 2009 Created by WorkBot add works page