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Dylan Thomas: A New Life by Lycett, Andrew (2004) Paperback
Stated first edition of the definitive, most up-to-date biography of the Irish poet, with an excellent bibliography of his work. A pristine copy, clean and unmarked.
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First published January 1, 2003
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
November 13, 2021
Dylan Thomas was a biographer’s dream: the Premier League pisshead who was also the most original poet of his generation. No story about him was ever going to end ‘he did a crossword, had a cup of tea, and went to bed early’ - and that’s exactly why we like hearing them.
Lycett takes the many threads running through Thomas’ life - the debts, the drink, the cadging, the American tours, the drink - and weaves them into a literary basket stuffed with interest.
Future biographies of more sober, saner poets will look rather dull by comparison.
Lycett takes the many threads running through Thomas’ life - the debts, the drink, the cadging, the American tours, the drink - and weaves them into a literary basket stuffed with interest.
Future biographies of more sober, saner poets will look rather dull by comparison.
February 21, 2017
A life long reader and fan of Dylan Thomas, I never fully realised just what a chaos his private life was, or how destructive his relationship with Caitlin had been.
This biography pulls no punches, and does not attempt to preserve sensitivities. Since the parties involved are mostly all deceased, there is no need for such niceties. What it does do is reveal in painful clarity the insecurities and and the days to day struggles that Thomas endured, and overcame in order to produce his wonderful verse.
It chronicles in detail Tomas' life from birth to death in some detail, and if I have a criticism it is that the writer did not quote enough of Tomas' verse during course of the book. The quotations are limited to a very few lines.
Nevertheless a worthy effort, and a very readable biography.
This biography pulls no punches, and does not attempt to preserve sensitivities. Since the parties involved are mostly all deceased, there is no need for such niceties. What it does do is reveal in painful clarity the insecurities and and the days to day struggles that Thomas endured, and overcame in order to produce his wonderful verse.
It chronicles in detail Tomas' life from birth to death in some detail, and if I have a criticism it is that the writer did not quote enough of Tomas' verse during course of the book. The quotations are limited to a very few lines.
Nevertheless a worthy effort, and a very readable biography.
October 5, 2015
A fascinating but appalling life.
I have never read Dylan Thomas, except his Christmas story, but I have always been aware of his name. I found out more than I ever wanted to know about him, his family, his life, his wife, his affairs, his friends and his drinking. Sensationalism on the author's part on the way the story and events were told? Maybe, but it has a ring of truth to me.
I listened to this as an audiobook by Blackstone Audio and narrated by Simon Vance. The audio was wonderful and Simon's voices superb but the editing job; the worst I have ever listened to.
I have never read Dylan Thomas, except his Christmas story, but I have always been aware of his name. I found out more than I ever wanted to know about him, his family, his life, his wife, his affairs, his friends and his drinking. Sensationalism on the author's part on the way the story and events were told? Maybe, but it has a ring of truth to me.
I listened to this as an audiobook by Blackstone Audio and narrated by Simon Vance. The audio was wonderful and Simon's voices superb but the editing job; the worst I have ever listened to.
November 3, 2015
Too much of Dylan--
You do get to know the man behind those beautiful and mysterious poems, and while it's illuminating to find out about his upbringing, doomed domestic life with Caitlin, his numerous affairs, and drinking escapades, it does get a little old. I now have no respect whatsoever for Dylan Thomas as a human being, though my respect for his work is undiminished, if not deepened (by contrast?). Takeaway: A poet should be judged by the work he produces, not by the life he leads.
The biography itself is well written (though the audiobook repeated certain passages twice throughout, and the redundancy of the author's phrase, "brief respite" annoyed me at one point). So as a biography, it's good. But as for the act of reading biographies of famous people I have to repeat what I said in my earlier review of Wittgenstein's biography, that biographies tend to be ultimately dissatisfying because there's SO MUCh fluff there—things you'd rather not know either because it's TMI or just boring. The problem is inherent in the genre: it assumes that everything the subject of the biography does is necessarily interesting. To some extent it's true. MANY things are interesting precisely because that particular famous person does them, but surely not everything a biographer is capable of unearthing.
As a fiction writer, I suppose I tend to cling to the maxim, "Cut the stuff people tend to skip." And here, as in other biographies I have read (granted, it's not many), I found it chockfull of stuff I wanted to skip.
In the very words of Dylan Thomas:
"I think I'm always attracted to the idea of extremely concentrated poetry. I know I could like the poetry that allowed itself great breathing spaces, tediums and flatnesses between essential passages. I want and wanted every line to be the essence of the poem, even the flourishes, the exaggerations. This, naturally, I never could achieve, but it still remains an ideal for me.. I never could reconcile myself to reading 6 weak lines, lines of mechanical verse, or worst still, of poetical mechanics, in order to get to the strong, qualified poetry of the seventh."
And I, too, am attracted to the idea of concentrated narratives.
You do get to know the man behind those beautiful and mysterious poems, and while it's illuminating to find out about his upbringing, doomed domestic life with Caitlin, his numerous affairs, and drinking escapades, it does get a little old. I now have no respect whatsoever for Dylan Thomas as a human being, though my respect for his work is undiminished, if not deepened (by contrast?). Takeaway: A poet should be judged by the work he produces, not by the life he leads.
The biography itself is well written (though the audiobook repeated certain passages twice throughout, and the redundancy of the author's phrase, "brief respite" annoyed me at one point). So as a biography, it's good. But as for the act of reading biographies of famous people I have to repeat what I said in my earlier review of Wittgenstein's biography, that biographies tend to be ultimately dissatisfying because there's SO MUCh fluff there—things you'd rather not know either because it's TMI or just boring. The problem is inherent in the genre: it assumes that everything the subject of the biography does is necessarily interesting. To some extent it's true. MANY things are interesting precisely because that particular famous person does them, but surely not everything a biographer is capable of unearthing.
As a fiction writer, I suppose I tend to cling to the maxim, "Cut the stuff people tend to skip." And here, as in other biographies I have read (granted, it's not many), I found it chockfull of stuff I wanted to skip.
In the very words of Dylan Thomas:
"I think I'm always attracted to the idea of extremely concentrated poetry. I know I could like the poetry that allowed itself great breathing spaces, tediums and flatnesses between essential passages. I want and wanted every line to be the essence of the poem, even the flourishes, the exaggerations. This, naturally, I never could achieve, but it still remains an ideal for me.. I never could reconcile myself to reading 6 weak lines, lines of mechanical verse, or worst still, of poetical mechanics, in order to get to the strong, qualified poetry of the seventh."
And I, too, am attracted to the idea of concentrated narratives.
February 23, 2021
This extraordinary biography digs into the everyday life of this brilliant but deeply flawed poet. It's a tragic story of a man who could not save himself and appears to have associated with friends and associates that were, for the majority, self-absorbed to the extent they could not see the damage they were doing to a frail character. His life was a counterpoint to his poems and voice plays and makes their beauty all the more delicate and ephemeral.
June 6, 2012
Quite a well-written biography.
July 27, 2019
Well first off it was Ivor Novello not Victor Novello. Furthermore, the author did try to see Caitlin's point of view but ended up shoving all the blame on her shoulders by the book's end. Which is very unfortunate as there was no one to blame clearly than Dylan Thomas for his own demons. Although a woman did push him to be creative, she could easily because she wasn't married to him, far from simple and yet it seems simple. It seems to me from this book that Dylan was busy trying to be something he wasn't, whether it was the Infant Terrible or showcasing his bete noir, or anything in between. But for a man to appreciate Oscar Wilde he forgot the crucial things: "It is better to have a permeant income than to be fascinating" and "Education is a wonderful thing, but it's worth remembering from time to time that nothing worth knowing can ever be taught". If he had kept those words with him he would have stayed off the bottle, took a break from poetry to write other wonderful things and return to poetry in his 50s. I don't believe poetry ever leaves those that engage in poetry, so he would have never had to fear loosing his touch. Otherwise a fairly engaging book to read.
September 16, 2018
Having visited Laugharne over the summer holidays, I had to read a biography of Dylan Thomas to put the bits of him I knew about into some sort of context. A fascinating if sad life story. Everybody in the book is written as a human with good bits and bad bits. I felt I lacked a bit of understanding through not knowing the characters of the day because there were a lot of names bandied around and I had to concentrate hard to keep track of the people with smaller roles. Ultimately, a book that feels definitive and, well, how could it not be with the life being told when you already know the ending, exciting.
March 27, 2021
Another cherished icon laid bare. Long a favorite poet, I simply wasn’t prepared for the poet’s manifold shortcomings. As the story unfolds, it becomes evermore heart-breaking, especially his tortured, explosive marriage. This is not a brisk, casual read. His loathsome behavior may cause one to dismiss his poetic achievements (a tormented soul with an amazing gift), but one can take heart knowing Thomas has left us with a wealth of inestimable verse which will live on for generations, especially his rhythmic wordplay, alliteration and that voice. That sublime voice! Of several biographies to select from, I recommend this book for a start as well as the incredible "Dylan Thomas Caedmon Collection" box set on CD.
July 3, 2024
Just as a heads up. I used an audiobook for this book and not sure if the copy I checked out from Libby or the narrator lost his place multiple times during his reading of it. But every other chapter he would just repeat a line he previously read which got annoying in a 18 hour long book.
August 26, 2019
I'm a fan of Dylan Thomas's best-known work. But the man led such a dissolute and self-destructive life that it's hard to be sympathetic to the man.
September 20, 2020
From Simon, good to know more about DTs life
March 22, 2024
Very good biography. Will be happy to explore more of Andrew's works.
June 9, 2013
The problem is that in real life there may be three days, or even a fortnight between one drunken party and another. In this book, there may be only a paragraph. And then a 'three day bender' on one page, followed by another on the next. And the LOVERS! They pop up right left and centre. In fact, some of them became 'lovers' before I even realised they'd properly said hello.
I like Dylan Thomas's poetry enormously, or at least some of it. It has always meant a great deal to me. Sadly, it seems I could never ever in a million years have got on with the man. Half the time he was behaving like a complete numpty, as we say in Scotland. And as for he and Caitlin (his wife) together - they double the problem. They were embarrassingly awful. How on earth did people put up with them? How on earth were so many women attracted to Dylan? As a small time poetry publisher myself, I don't think I would even have published him, no matter how good he was. I don't think I could have borne the embarrassment of the launch and the fear that he would have been too drunk to perform the poems (though apparently he nearly always pulled it off blotto voce).
But I think our attitudes have changed. Have they changed? I hope so. I think we see chronic alcoholism as an illness now, not a life choice.
And poor Caitlin -- seduced by the monstrous Augustus John, and then after that a life of serious sexual not-coping-ness, manifested in despair, drink and rampant promiscuity. And pregnancies -- one after another -- and then abortions. I didn't think Andrew Lycett liked her much, and one can see why. But I felt very sorry for her.
They seem like children to me, Dylan and Caitlin. Babes in the long lost wood (and not even Milk Wood, which seems alarmingly stable by comparison).
Yes, the biography is compelling to read. But it is also somehow all too fast and too packed with detail: not enough about the poetry. Not enough about what on earth was going on in his head -- what a horrendous MESS.
At least I can go back to the poems now and celebrate their immense lucidity. At least that space is untouched by the maelstrom of the life (not all of which can have been spent drunk) and the far too early but horribly inevitable death.
I feel as though the hangover of finishing this book will drag on for days . . . .
I like Dylan Thomas's poetry enormously, or at least some of it. It has always meant a great deal to me. Sadly, it seems I could never ever in a million years have got on with the man. Half the time he was behaving like a complete numpty, as we say in Scotland. And as for he and Caitlin (his wife) together - they double the problem. They were embarrassingly awful. How on earth did people put up with them? How on earth were so many women attracted to Dylan? As a small time poetry publisher myself, I don't think I would even have published him, no matter how good he was. I don't think I could have borne the embarrassment of the launch and the fear that he would have been too drunk to perform the poems (though apparently he nearly always pulled it off blotto voce).
But I think our attitudes have changed. Have they changed? I hope so. I think we see chronic alcoholism as an illness now, not a life choice.
And poor Caitlin -- seduced by the monstrous Augustus John, and then after that a life of serious sexual not-coping-ness, manifested in despair, drink and rampant promiscuity. And pregnancies -- one after another -- and then abortions. I didn't think Andrew Lycett liked her much, and one can see why. But I felt very sorry for her.
They seem like children to me, Dylan and Caitlin. Babes in the long lost wood (and not even Milk Wood, which seems alarmingly stable by comparison).
Yes, the biography is compelling to read. But it is also somehow all too fast and too packed with detail: not enough about the poetry. Not enough about what on earth was going on in his head -- what a horrendous MESS.
At least I can go back to the poems now and celebrate their immense lucidity. At least that space is untouched by the maelstrom of the life (not all of which can have been spent drunk) and the far too early but horribly inevitable death.
I feel as though the hangover of finishing this book will drag on for days . . . .
July 3, 2011
I've been listening to this at bedtime for a couple of months. It's not an ideal way to read a new book, as each night I would have to figure out where I fell asleep the night before, and start over from there. The story of Thomas' life is not a happy one, as probably everyone knows. There are some parts of this bio that felt pretty judgmental to me- there are several times something gratuitous is added such as one character was introduced as homosexual, and then for no apparent reason we are given a précis of said character's partner's sexual kinks. The partner is otherwise not germane to the story, nor is the sexual orientation of the character.
The narrator is lovely. His accents are gorgeous. There were times, half-asleep, that I thought I was actually listening to Thomas.
Recommended for DT fans, but do yourself a favor and don't listen to it at bedtime.
The narrator is lovely. His accents are gorgeous. There were times, half-asleep, that I thought I was actually listening to Thomas.
Recommended for DT fans, but do yourself a favor and don't listen to it at bedtime.
October 12, 2011
While this is a good book I am having trouble muddling through it. I'm getting the impression the author had trouble deciding what to do; write a literary study or a gossip rag. Instead of choosing he did both at the same time so the tempo and the way the story is told varies over the course of the book.
I can't say I was familiar with Dylan Thomas as Dylan Thomas before starting on this book on a recommendation. While reading I did realize that a lot of the poetry is familiar and it's interesting to have it placed in the cultural and historical context.
I can't say I was familiar with Dylan Thomas as Dylan Thomas before starting on this book on a recommendation. While reading I did realize that a lot of the poetry is familiar and it's interesting to have it placed in the cultural and historical context.
July 29, 2011
In one of my movie reviews, I stated that the film did nothing to raise my curisity about Dylan Thomas, but in a way it did. I found the character so offensive in the film, I thought I'd read the book to see what he was like.
The film made him out to be better. This book is very well written, well reserched, that I found myself completely disliking the character.
I am sure if I ever met Dylan Thomas and his wife Caitlin, I would not have been fans of them at all.
The film made him out to be better. This book is very well written, well reserched, that I found myself completely disliking the character.
I am sure if I ever met Dylan Thomas and his wife Caitlin, I would not have been fans of them at all.
June 2, 2008
a fairly balanced and well told account of thomas' life. there is a sense that the author knows more than he discloses, which is irritating in its smugness, though. enjoyed this, but probably mostly because i love biographies. the story is linear, but rarely includes years along the way, which makes it strangely difficult to follow.
September 11, 2014
While this book may be “a New Life” of Dylan Thomas, it is certainly not the best that I’ve read. The problem: way too much extraneous material. Every person introduced in the ms. deserves a mini-biography and too often a genealogy as well. Inconsequential details load the pages, so the reader is tempted to skim for what might prove significant.
July 14, 2007
Have become enamoured with biography, and this is certainly among the best (especially since Thomas is such a colourful person). Very honest, though another (short) biographical account I have read was a bit more sympathetic and endearing.
November 22, 2007
DT's life was not boring, and I was sometimes bored by this book-- the author wants to share all the details he's relished in at the books disadvantage.
Accompanied me on the Pembrokeshire coast trail.:)
Accompanied me on the Pembrokeshire coast trail.:)
August 19, 2008
"Never date an alcoholic poet"
June 13, 2013
Listened to this book: Dylan was a party animal!
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews