Rupert Brooke: Life, Death and Myth

by Nigel Jones

"Rupert Brooke, isn't it a romantic name?" wrote Lytton Strachey to Virginia Woolf, after first meeting the man who became the "star" of an exceptionally brilliant generation. But behind the facade of the stunning looks and the golden-boy image a very different Brooke was concealed that was far from romantic - and is now revealed in this utterly candid biography. After cutting a swathe through his contemporaries at Rugby and Cambridge, Brooke became the central figure in two distinct coteries - the homosexual Cambridge secret society "the Apostles" and the "Neo-Pagans", a group of free-thinking young people sworn to a carefree outdoor life of gypsy camps, nude swimming and the great outdoors. This compartmentalism was typical of Brooke - addicted to secrecy, he was loved by both men and women, and was himself highly sexually ambivalent. His boyish charm bowled over (almost) all those who met him - including the contemporary great and good like Asquith, Churchill, H.G. Wells and Henry James. But the surface self-confidence and the effortless literary and social success hid a darker Brooke - revealed in this book. At the height of his promise, a seemingly trivial setback in love propelled Brooke into a complete mental and physical collapse, which stripped him of his defences and brought his inner complexes seething to the surface.

Genres: Biography, History, Nonfiction, Biography Memoir

462 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1999

Reviews

[Charles Goodger · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent biography. You really get a feel for the man behind the myth. What a shame he had to die so young!

[Jane Scadding · Rating 5 out of 5]

At last a superbly researched and realistic biography of the mythologised "golden haired Apollo" of Brooke's close friend Frances Cornford's sentimental poem. Rupert Brooke's extraordinary intellect is revealed in his massive correspondence with his multitude of friends and lovers/mistresses. We see an emotionally intense and frequently mentally ill young man, burdened with legendary beauty and gifts.

Through his letters, we can observe a how a surfeit of gifts and a narcissistic and sensitive nature led to an extreme level of self-absorption and sometimes emotional cruelties and intense jealousies.

The gifts possessed by this poster boy for the Georgian Poets could be seen from his happy schooldays at Rugby, where Brooke excelled in sport and academia, being admired for his extraordinary charismatic beauty and charm. This success continued at Kings College Cambridge, where Brooke was admitted to the elite Apostles society and became a Fellow by the age of 21. Whilst at Cambridge, Brooke made a large and influential group of like-minded friends
who shared his Fabian and neo-Pagan activities, these friends often overlapping with the Bloomsbury intellectuals whom he came to detest for perceived spite and possible jealousy.

Always gripping, this biography achieved objective and fair analysis, though one never really gets to the crux of such a complex and quixotic personality. Brooke's early and tragic death during the First World War, created a distractingly heroic and sentimental legend around Brooke who never had the opportunity of fulfilling his formidable talents, leaving a short life's work of inevitably fervent immaturity and promise.

[Cat · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a story. What a life! Brooke’s life, albeit cut short, was quite the whirl. The biographer captures it well, given insight into a truly amazing character. Brooke comes to life. Forever England, and more.

[Missclimpson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting view of pre WWI youth. Strange how many of them suffered from various mental problems. Rupert Brooke has been so respected and almost worshipped, it’s a bit shocking to read what a nasty piece of work he was.

[Maria del Pilar]

A poet who wrote about unpleasant themes.

[Christine Parker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Most interesting.