Summer: A Folio Anthology

Folio Seasons

by Sue Bradbury (Editor), Petra Börner (Illustrator), Storm Dunlop (Preface)

Anthology of prose and poetry, in series with other seasonal anthologies.

Genres: Poetry, Classics, Summer, Anthologies

96 pages, Hardcover

Published January 1, 2018

Reviews

[Trish · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was the last of Folio Society's season anthologies I hadn't had yet. As the title already says, it contains an assortment of poems about summer.

We get poems by famous names such as Pablo Neruda, Samuel Beckett, Emily Bronte, Lord Alfred Tennyson, Walt Whitman or Christina Rossetti (there are many more). However, there were also a number of authors I hadn't yet heard about, thus introducing me to as-yet unknown poem which was a nice surprise.

It might seem unoriginal, but some of my favourites were Shakespeare's Sonnet 18 (Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer's Day?) as well as Christina Rossetti's excerpt of Goblin Market. The little linguist in me best loved Samuel Beckett's Poem in French and English. Though you usually can't go wrong with other classic poets with me either. ;)

As usual, the truly special thing about this book is that it is interspersed with small and large illustrations. Here are the four 2-page-spreads contained in this book:


Sorry, for some reason, GR isn't showing these two so here are the direct links:
https://i.ibb.co/JFzgv7R/IMG-2748.jpg
https://i.ibb.co/jwBb89V/IMG-6220.jpg
(Interesting colour selection.)

It's always hard for any curator to find the perfect mix of well-known (and beloved) pieces while also enchanting the reader with unknown and beautiful ones. The poems in this anthology might not have been the best selection imaginable but reading this hommage to the hot season was nevertheless quite wonderful.

[Ehryn · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is filled with lots of hints and outright love for the summer day, having writings by authors like Edward Thomas, Leo Tolstoy, Christina Rossetti, and Edith Sitwell.

Some of the selections felt a bit out of place, that’s why I’m not giving this book four stars, but I did greatly enjoy this small selection, so three stars seems appropriate.

[Catherine Mason · Rating 2 out of 5]

As with others in this series I wondered what some of the entries had to do with the season, and also they were rather dull. I enjoyed it better near the end, especially if I read it out loud.

[Julian White · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fourth and presumably last in this series of seasonal anthologies, illustrated in shades of yellow and grey with Petra Börner's paper-cut creations. The range of selected extracts is much as standard with a few unexpected ones - some Lake Woebegon, forinstance.

[Georgina · Rating 4 out of 5]

A book I’ll know I’ll come back to and reread pages or the entire thing. Beautiful illustrations, really enjoyed this.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

An intelligently curated anthology of prose and poetry. As usual with Folio books, the production values and aesthetic qualities of the book are a pleasure in themselves.

[Neyly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hmm ... I like it more than I like Spring: A Folio Anthology.

An assortment of poetry and prose.

Lovely, in and of itself, as expected with a Folio Society book.