Robert Lowell Collected Prose

by Robert Giroux

This is the first collection of Robert Lowell's poetry which reveals a writer of unmistakeable brilliance who has a profound insight into the human condition.

Genres: Essays, Poetry, American, Nonfiction

400 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1987

Reviews

[Jonfaith · Rating 5 out of 5]

In his art, too, Ransom found pain, or a harmony of disequilibrium.

Lowell remained measured--except when he wasn't. He may have erred towards generosity when regarding his peers and their tradition, but I think Lowell was always fair and relentlessly cagey. Derek Walcott said Lowell suffered from a "fanatical humility" but this was a heart's strategy for avoiding the pratfalls of hubris. Especially in the interviews featured here there is a humble bounce which keeps from being flat-footed, it isn't exculpatory, but Lowell appears to have found that most poetic issues lent themselves to a polemical configuration. That wasn't the point at all.

4.5 stars

[Jesse Hilson · Rating 5 out of 5]

There are sentences and insights on literature and life in this book that I actually feel…sad? that I won’t be able to re-experience them for the first time. I’ll study Lowell for the worldly polish of his writing. I want to reread sections of this book as well as rereading some of his poetry that I’ve looked at before. This collection of prose is recommended for those wanting insights into the poetry scene(s) of the post-war 20th century. Lowell was a critic to contend with. A lot of the pieces in this book were incomplete fragments of what could have been longer critical or memoirist works. Maybe next is wanting to read his letters to various other writers, which I guess were plentiful.