Customer Reviews
Lose yourself in one of the 20th century's finest voices - By: Martin Turner, 07 Feb 2004 
The poems of TS Eliot are a spiritual journey from the cynical through the barren to an expected rebirth & the rise of a rich, mature & positive voice. The highlights of the journey are The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock, The Waste Land, Ash Wednesday, Journey of the Magi & Four Quartets. But the scenery by the way-side such as Portrait of a Lady, the Hollow Men, is worth a long visit. Even the minor & unfinished poems have their moments.
As a bonus, this volume contains all of Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats. Eliot is herein off duty mode, having fun & allowing his genius for rhythm & language to seep into our minds without demanding our attention.
The plays get better as they go on. Many people only know Eliot's plays for the perennial school classic Murderin the Cathedral. This is a pity because it is the least typical. The Coctail Party is probably the best. To understand what Eliot was doing, though, you really need to read some of his critical writing on drama & on religion.
This book lacks some very necessary apparatus. Translations of the cryptic Greek & Italian quotations would be helpful. Of course, enormous volumes have been written detailing all the referencesin the Waste Land, & we are better off not having themin this master copy.
Ultimately, this is the most economical & useful way of acquiring Eliot's published creative works - but remember that Eliot the critic was as great as Eliot the poet, & probably greater than Eliot the playwright. To understand him, read first his critical writings before you go on to what others have written about Eliot.
get this book - By: Peter Amue, 10 Dec 2001 This is the only complete works by Eliot & should bein the library of every person interestedin Literature. Faber have done an excellent jobin compiling this work.
