Recollections of the Lakes and the Lake Poets

by Thomas de Quincey

Thomas De Quincey's lively and controversial memoirs of his friends, the 'lake poets' William Wordsworth, Samuel Taylor Coleridge and Robert Southey, were controversial in their day for their candid and sometimes unflattering portraits of these great artists. The book remains one of the most fascinating ever written about this literary circle, and provides modern readers with a unique insight into what life amongst the literati of the early-nineteenth-century Lake District was like.

This electronic edition has been carefully prepared from the text of the first edition of 1862, and contains all the original illustrations.

Genres: Nonfiction, Poetry, Biography, Romanticism, Memoir, Classics, Literary Criticism

267 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1834

About the author

Thomas de Quincey was an English author and intellectual, best known for his Confessions of an English Opium-Eater (1821).
See also http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_d...

Reviews

[Andy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Probably a 3.5* read. Some real nuggets of insight, some self-indulgent rambling, and a fair amount of bias and literary revenge. Some beautiful descriptions of the lakes as well. A lot of shifting required to find the gold though. Quite tedious in parts.

[Czarny Pies · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is great treat for fans of de Quincey and his literary entourage: Southey, Coleridge, Grasmere and above all Wordworth. At some point all readers succumb to the guilty pleasure of wanting to hear gossip about their favourite readers and pretending that they are among the charmed inner circle of the author's friends who are doing the gossiping. In this way the book offers the same pleasures as Hemingway's Moveable Feast or Simone de Beauvoir's Mandarins.

[Grace (alatteofliterature) · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little dry but a good overview of the famous lake poets and the area in which they lived.

[Lysergius · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thomas De Quincey is that slightly mad relative you like having come to tea. His essays on the Lake Poets, Coleridge, Southey and Wordsworth are informative without being fawning. He is able to establish a distance from the leading lights and yet maintain an intimacy which comes across in a thousand small details.

[Muaz Jalil · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting, but the writing style is too long and winding. De Quincey often strays, and there are innumerable notes and footnotes. The first 200 pages are a general biographical sketch rather than his first-hand interactions. I did visit Dove Cottage in Grasmere and have been to other places he mentions, like Penrith Keswick, etc.

There is a funny quote from Southey about Wordsworth; he says, "To introduce Wordsworth into one's library is like letting a bear into a Tulip Garden." Quincey gives examples of how WW would rip apart pages or books while reading. Coleridge was much better and used to leave behind thoughtful comments beside the margin, unlike WW. According to Quincey, Coleridge, and Southey are more intelligent than WW. Southey was apparently more reserved and mostly talked about his books, dealing less with life (I like him ), while WW was animated and colorful.

Quincey criticizes Coleridge for delving into the Political economy, but I feel Coleridge was pretty good. For instance, in one case, Coleridge said that taxation is like moisture coming out of the ground, momentarily bad for nearby vegetation but better as a whole when it comes down as rain. In another case, Coleridge criticizes another economist who states that vine-dresser add nothing to the economy unless they earn a surplus. Coleridge states we should also take into non-monetary value, including personal satisfaction, and not judge solely based on money and productivity. This is a very modern approach, much like Michael Sandel. I would love to read Coleridge's essays.

Near the end Quincey talks about other lesser know lake poets like Charles Lloyd, Elizabeth Smith, etc. Quincey's relationship with WW soured near the end. The book also has his first letter, as a Cambridge student, to WW.

[Max Wightwick · Rating 4 out of 5]

This surprised me in its brevity. Yes, Quincey rambled and maundered as he is wont to do, but it was nothing grievous or tortuous. He kept it as succinct as he could. The insight into Wordsworth was fascinating, too. The rose-tinted glasses come off, by the conclusion of this book of memoirs. The whole hypocrisy and oddity of the Lake District shines through also.

[Cooper Renner · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read no more than a quarter of these pages, maybe not a sixth! I was interested primarily in the writers as people, not as thinkers, and I certainly didn’t care much for descriptions of scenery or overdone praise of the poems.

[Amanda mcguire]

Dnf p.16

[Tentatively, Convenience · Rating 3 out of 5]

This didn't impress me as much as DeQuincy's "Confessions of an English Opium Eater" but that's probably b/c I had so little interest in the subject of the poets.

[Kbrooke · Rating 4 out of 5]

Worth it if only for de Quincey's hilarious disquisition on Wordsworth's legs.