Sonnets from various authors - Samuel Taylor Coleridge

Advantages: Poetry of Coleridge, Essay by Hughes
Disadvantages: Only 160 pages

...To the memories of Ted Hughes who died in October 1998 and Samuel Taylor Coleridge who died in July 1834. A Choice of Coleridge’s Verse edited and Introduced by Ted Hughes was published by Faber and Faber on March 18th 1996 and is available from most good book shops for £7.99. There are two reasons why this book is so special, the poetry of Samuel Taylor Coleridge and the introductory essay written by Ted Hughes. Hughes entitled his essay, 'The Snake in the Oak'. Ted Hughes held a belief in the presence of an inner force behind Coleridge’s and indeed his own writing, the Poetic Self. In his essay, Hughes refers frequently to Old Norse mythology and the workings of image and symbol. Hughes suggests that Coleridge was fighting a losing battle between a 'Christian Self' and the 'unleavened Self '. Hughes states that it was whilst... Read review

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Advantages: Unique, colourful, bitingly satirical
Disadvantages: Graphic, obscene, disturbing, explicit

...or hallucinogens. This alone gives a clue to the potential reader that the Naked Lunch is going to be a very strange and disturbing journey. However, the practice of penning drug-inspired visions is nothing new: the French poet Charles Baudelaire was doing it a hundred years before Burroughs and many others, such as the author Samuel Coleridge Taylor are also known for this behaviour. What distinguishes Burroughs is that he pioneered a novel literary style known as the "cut-up technique" which further distorts his prose. Simply put, this style is typified by the slicing up of words and phrases to create new sentences and gives a non-linear flow to his prose, with little regard for chronology or character development. The moment the reader starts this book Burroughs' unique style becomes apparent and for me this is one of the main attractions. ♣... Read review

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Advantages: Great new translation, interesting art
Disadvantages: Sometimes the art and text don't seem to work well together

...Perhaps the phrase, be careful what you ask for, should have been coined for this early story. In the books of Samuel, the nation of Israel essentially 'comes of age', and enters the arena of other nations by forming a central hierarchical structure. The politics of Israel was interesting at this point. From the time of the Exodus (after Moses and Joshua) to the time of Samuel (some 400+ years later, if the Biblical account of years can be trusted -- the exact meaning of some time phrasings is still in doubt), Israel had no central authority, no hierarchy. The people lived in a mostly agrarian culture, with small farming, flocks and herds as the norm. Cities were rare, and generally despised. For instance, the Philistines and the Egyptians were both known primarily as city-dwellers, and both were considered enemies in many respects... Read review

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