tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20407280.post115017743944277930..comments2023-04-16T04:04:24.408-07:00Comments on Booklad: W.H. Auden and "The Dyer's Hand"Ricky Lee Grovehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03588565441793716202noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20407280.post-47397368704996395342007-05-13T09:15:00.000-07:002007-05-13T09:15:00.000-07:00Hi, Booklad! In using a search engine to try and ...Hi, Booklad! In using a search engine to try and help out a scholar doing research for a Tolkien paper, I came across your blog. Perhaps you might be interested in helping this person. Here is what came to me from the Tolkien Society:<BR/><BR/>"Is it also true that W. H. Auden once said if a reader didn\'t like Tolkien, he would never trust his literary judgment again? I have found the Times Auden review of the Fellowship and of the Return of the King, but I didn\'t find the above statement in either place. Am I confusing Auden with someone else? <BR/><BR/>I am also looking for interactions between Tolkien and T. S. Eliot.<BR/><BR/>(being as you are THE Booklad, I thought perhaps you might know of an Eliot/Tolkien connection as well). Thank you for any help you might be able and willing to give!<BR/>janAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20407280.post-1150341388076114572006-06-14T20:16:00.000-07:002006-06-14T20:16:00.000-07:00and Ella, he's primarily known for his poetry, but...and Ella, he's primarily known for his poetry, but he was an excellent essayist and a decent avant-garde playwright. Plus, his life was such and interesting one, with such wide-ranging influence, I just love him. Of course, he could be a jerk at times. He apparently ruined a friends grand piano by leaving his cigarette butt on one corner...my god..but I just love him. I'd sometimes go down into Greenwich village back when I lived in New York, and just walk down St. Marks Street and stare at the window of his apartment that he lived in. Maybe the big brother I lost when i was young...that's a good thought.<BR/><BR/>Thanks!Ricky Lee Grovehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03588565441793716202noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20407280.post-1150341145792027122006-06-14T20:12:00.000-07:002006-06-14T20:12:00.000-07:00litlove, your comment is the ultimate compliment t...litlove, your comment is the ultimate compliment to my blog. If I've steered you towards a favorite writer, I can ask no more. Yes, definitely go out and read his work and read about him. He's often only a poets hero, but he should be for everyday readers like us, too. <BR/><BR/>Thanks!Ricky Lee Grovehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03588565441793716202noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20407280.post-1150320167094179032006-06-14T14:22:00.000-07:002006-06-14T14:22:00.000-07:00I've just discovered Auden's poetry, and now I'll ...I've just discovered Auden's poetry, and now I'll have to go look for "The Dyer's Hand". I had no idea he produced such a wide-ranging body of work. Great post.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20407280.post-1150302057691523082006-06-14T09:20:00.000-07:002006-06-14T09:20:00.000-07:00I've never read any Auden and your post really mak...I've never read any Auden and your post really makes me feel I want to. I'll follow your recommendations.litlovehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10952927245186474480noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20407280.post-1150301013213388452006-06-14T09:03:00.000-07:002006-06-14T09:03:00.000-07:00I'm glad you found the post interesting, Kate. I'm...I'm glad you found the post interesting, Kate. I'm always so happy when you respond to my book blog. Thank you.<BR/><BR/>I'd read the Carpenter bio first and then jump into Dyer's Hand. Having the biographical sense of him as a person will give you a greater sense of his attitude and perspective towards literature, people, and art.<BR/><BR/>He has been a wonderful teacher for me all these years.Ricky Lee Grovehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03588565441793716202noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20407280.post-1150285948293156592006-06-14T04:52:00.000-07:002006-06-14T04:52:00.000-07:00What a wonderful post! I know some of Auden's poem...What a wonderful post! I know some of Auden's poems and I have encountered him here and there in biographies of others or in group biographies (most recently in Sheryl Tippins marvellous <I>February House</I>), but I haven't read any of his essays and didn't know about his championing of mysteries and fantasy. Thanks for highlighting this! I will search out <I>The Dyer's Hand</I> and Carpenter's Auden biography immediately. (I also enjoyed Carpenter's biography of Tolkien but evidently I didn't pick up on the bit about Auden's reviews of LOTR.) In the meantime, I've got a copy of Auden's <I>Forewords & Afterwords</I> that a friend gave me ages ago. Clearly it's time for me to give it a look!Kate S.https://www.blogger.com/profile/16897618197257393697noreply@blogger.com