William Butler Yeats was an Irish poet and dramatist, and one of the foremost figures of 20th century literature. A pillar of both the Irish and British literary establishments, in his later years Yeats served as an Irish Senator for two terms. He was a driving force behind the Irish Literary Revival, and along with Lady Gregory and Edward Martyn founded the Abbey Theatre, serving as its chief during its early years. In 1923 he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature for what the Nobel Committee described as "inspired poetry, which in a highly artistic form gives expression to the spirit of a whole nation." He was the first Irishman so honored. Yeats is generally considered one of the few writers who completed their greatest works after being awarded the Nobel Prize; such works include The Tower (1928) and The Winding Stair and Other Poems (1929).
Yeats was born and educated in Dublin but spent his childhood in County Sligo. He studied poetry in his youth, and from an early age was fascinated by both Irish legends and the occult. Those topics feature in the first phase of his work, which lasted roughly until the turn of the century. His earliest volume of verse was published in 1889, and those slow paced and lyrical poems display debts to Edmund Spenser and Percy Bysshe Shelley, as well as to the Pre-Raphaelite poets. From 1900, Yeats' poetry grew more physical and realistic. He largely renounced the transcendental beliefs of his youth, though he remained preoccupied with physical and spiritual masks, as well as with cyclical theories of life. --from Wikipedia
Ero troppo curiosa di questo romanzo perché sono sempre stata appassionata di cultura celtica. Il libro è strutturato in due parti: la prima si concentra sul folklore irlandese e sulle creature che ne fanno parte, mentre la seconda ci fa viaggiare nelle leggende scozzesi e nei luoghi simbolo della nazione. È stato un viaggio tra le pagine molto interessante ed emozionante! Lo consiglio tantissimo a chi vuole conoscere di più sulla cultura irlandese e scozzese in maniera molto ben approfondita!
Ho acquistato la relativa box con grande entusiasmo dal momento che apprezzo enormemente l’argomento trattato. Molto carini i gadget, ma questo libro mi ha deluso moltissimo. Le illustrazioni sono meravigliose (ne avrei volute di più!), ma la traduzione e la cura dell’editing è pessima. Pieno zeppo di refusi e con passaggi che sembrano tradotti con google translate. Anche l’organizzazione stessa dell’opera mi ha lasciato molto delusa: pochi racconti e l’ultima parte sembra una ripetitiva guida turistica per appassionati di ghost tour. Avrei voluto più racconti, più cura nella selezione. Ci sono rimasta male: ho sempre sentito parlare benissimo di questa casa editrice, ma questa è la prima e ultima volta che acquisterò da loro.