R. S. Thomas: Serial Obsessive

by M. Wynn Thomas

During his lifetime, R. S. Thomas (1913–2000) achieved notoriety as the Ogre of Wales, a Welsh extremist, and a poet of serial obsessions. This volume explores those elements that fueled Thomas’s fiercely intense imagination, including Wales, his family, and his vexed relationship with religion, as well as with his best-known character, Iago Prytherch. Here, these familiar obsessions are set in several unusual contexts that bring his poetry into new relief: his war poems are considered alongside his early work focusing on the English topographical tradition; comparisons with Borges and Levertov underline the international dimensions of his concerns; the intriguing “secret code” of some of his Welsh-language references is cracked; and his painting-poems, including several hitherto unpublished, are brought to the forefront.

335 pages, Hardcover

First published February 1, 2013

About the author

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Reviews

[Ruth Brumby · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book contains too much, explicated in too great detail, without an overriding linking theme. It reads a bit like an extended PhD thesis, without a very clear research question.
I enjoyed the close textual analysis, especially as I think the use of form is RS Thomas' great strength and appeal. However sometimes it just goes too far, referring to words that aren't actually in the text but sound like ones that are, for example. Interesting but extreme guesswork.
Sections comparing RS Thomas to Denise Levertov and critiquing paintings in an exhibition of artwork about his poems are interesting but feel tangential. One of them could have made an interesting book in itself; the coverage is over extensive but somehow not quite in depth.
There is an unpleasantly critical tone and a combative approach to other authors which I didn't like.
However I did learn some things about RS Thomas' life and ideas.