The Waste Land
By T. S. Eliot
4/5
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About this ebook
Famous for juxtaposing Eastern cultures with Western literary references, T. S. Eliot’s The Waste Land has been celebrated for its eloquence, depth of meaning, and endlessly interwoven subtleties. Rich with allusions to the religious texts of Hinduism and Buddhism, Western literature, and Eliot’s own life, the poem continues to provoke, inspire, and delight.
First published in 1922, The Waste Land quickly ascending to the status of literary classic. It is widely considered to be Eliot’s finest work, representing maturity in his style and confidence in both expression and research.
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T. S. Eliot
THOMAS STEARNS ELIOT was born in St Louis, Missouri, in 1888. He moved to England in 1914 and published his first book of poems in 1917. He received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1948. Eliot died in 1965.
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Reviews for The Waste Land
161 ratings9 reviews
- Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5Yeah, I'm going to be that guy who gives T.S. Elliot 2 stars. Sorry, Mr. Elliot. I'm not a fan of non-narrative poetry. I gave it my best shot, but quite honestly it read like complete gibberish to me.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5I can't help it, I have always loved T.S. Eliot's diction and modes of expression. Now I have it in e-book form. I know Thomas Stearns isn't the best model for human behavior, but he surely could express himself. This poem, an elegy, a summoning of Buddhist and Christian traditions, a description of the ruptures of civilization, couldn't be more timely.
- Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5Blijft een weerbarstig werk. Met de begeleidende commentaar komt de rijkdom wat beter tot zijn recht, maar het hermetisme bemoeilijkt de lectuur toch iets teveel. De persoonlijke interpretatie van Paul Claes (de impotentie van Eliot) op het einde overtuigt niet helemaal.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Genuine poetry can communicate before it is understood. - T.S EliotLess understanding on my part, though some communication on Mr. Eliot's, so by his owndefinition, The Waste Land must be genuine poetry. If that sounds less than enthusiastic, it's probably a reflection of my disappointment at not being totally blown away by what is generally reckoned to be one of the greatest poems of the twentieth century. I'm sure the deficit is on my side, and I'll certainly return to this poem as there are undoubtedly depths I've not plumbed.Four stars, nonetheless, because there's some nice stuff about the cruelty of April, drowned Phoenicians, and overheard gossip about abortions.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5While I liked all the classical references (and Tiresias was familiar to me, having just recently reread Oedipus Rex!), I didn't really understand this poem. However, the rhyme and meter are enjoyable so I will be trying this again!
- Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5Blijft een weerbarstig werk. Met de begeleidende commentaar komt de rijkdom wat beter tot zijn recht, maar het hermetisme bemoeilijkt de lectuur toch iets teveel. De persoonlijke interpretatie van Paul Claes (de impotentie van Eliot) op het einde overtuigt niet helemaal.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5This was my second attempt to read a book by this author, and I did not appreciate it. To be fair, I'm not much of a poetry fan, so if you like poetry, you might like this.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5What the fuck was that. Genuinely do not know what was happening here. It’s a poem I guess. Can’t say I recommend the audiobook.Needed more cats. I'm only giving it three stars because I assume I would like it more if I cared to look up the references. I didn’t, though.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5As is true for most readers, when I first encountered The Waste Land in the 1960s, I found myself in a very foreign poetic land. I read the annotations and explications. I listened to my professors. I reread and mad innumerable margin notes. I felt the poem's power and despair. But its meaning seemed hard to parse.
Now, decades later, rereading yet again, I know the poem and the poem knows me. We still live in The Waste Land. The loss of all mooring after WWI still remains a debris we drift with. But the poem itself seems very approachable now, its discordant ballet of voices powerful as ever, but its sense much more apparent to me.
You must read and reread this poem. My critical opinion of it had moved over time to it being overrated---but now, no. It is a seminal poem of the last century. And its relevance today is profound.1 person found this helpful
Book preview
The Waste Land - T. S. Eliot
The Waste Land
T. S. Eliot
logo2FOR EZRA POUND
IL MIGLIOR FABBRO
I. The Burial of the Dead
April is the cruellest month, breeding
Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing
Memory and desire, stirring
Dull roots with spring rain.
Winter kept us warm, covering
Earth in forgetful snow, feeding
A little life with dried tubers.
Summer surprised us, coming over the Starnbergersee
With a shower of rain; we stopped in the colonnade,
And went on in sunlight, into the Hofgarten,
And drank coffee, and talked for an hour.
Bin gar keine Russin, stamm’ aus Litauen, echt deutsch.
And when we were children, staying at the arch-duke’s,
My cousin’s, he took me out