<< 1 >>
Rating: 
Summary: Personal revelations by a great writer.
Review: These diaries reveal much about the personal life of the writer John Cowper Powys and his companion Phyllis Playter.They begin in America and end in a Welsh village where he has settled down to write.Powys writes about his everyday life and habits,his love-life,and family.The book shows how he used his imagination to overcome day to day practical difficulties and intensify his responses to life.It is a must read and a true delight for all Powys fans.
Rating:
Summary: Not just another english eccentric
Review: This diary is compelling in its revelation of JCP's inner nature, and for the picture given to us of a life lived on the margins. (Allowing for that slight fictionalization present in almost all writers, and writers of diaries.) Not just the margins geographically (the country life of new york state in the 1930s, not the urban existence in new york city; dorset [and, later, wales], not london, in the 1930s-1960s), and in the publishing world (Powys was never truly an "in" novelist), but also where a public life leads into Powys' mythopoetic view of reality wherein are mysteries, superstitions, legends, unresolvable puzzles, and quiet epiphanies. These are present in this diary and in its successor, _The Dorset Year: The Diary of John Cowper Powys, June 1934-July 1935_ (which in some ways is even better than _Petrushka..._).What is also present (in both volumes) is abundant affection for, and reflection on, Powys' long-time companion Phyllis Playter, without whom JCP could not have lived as he did. When writing about her, Powys is both amusing and self-lacerating. He exposes himself in such a way as to invite an observer in, while also deflecting further examination through his candour (a candour which is now and then a defensive, self-protecting device). Often the writing is quite touching, heart-wrenching on some occasions, and these moments never seem false, or surprising, since the diary is an organic whole, presenting one man as he goes about his days. Those seeking gossip or inside information on the literary figures of the day will be disappointed. Those looking to know more about this fascinating, sadly neglected writer will thank Morine Krissdottir for her extraordinary work. She provides detailed notes at the beginning of each year and interspersed throughout the book, and when one sees (on the inside covers of _Petrushka..._) a sample of what she worked with, one can only applaud her for deciphering Powys' handwriting. Her selections are excellent, poignant, and meticulously chosen. In _The Dorset Year..._, Krissdottir (with help from Roger Peers) extends her work further, and the book (published in 1998 by The Powys Press; ISBN: 1 87 4559 19 8) contains many photographs and maps, copious marginalia, and an excellent introduction, giving the diary the context and underpinning it needs, and without which the reader would be lost. She has done a wonderful service to Powys studies, and to scholarship in general. In the absence of a comprehensive biography (which I would love Krissdottir to undertake), these two books are essential for understanding some of the life of John Cowper Powys. They are warm, living documents.
Rating:
Summary: Not just another english eccentric
Review: This diary is compelling in its revelation of JCP's inner nature, and for the picture given to us of a life lived on the margins. (Allowing for that slight fictionalization present in almost all writers, and writers of diaries.) Not just the margins geographically (the country life of new york state in the 1930s, not the urban existence in new york city; dorset [and, later, wales], not london, in the 1930s-1960s), and in the publishing world (Powys was never truly an "in" novelist), but also where a public life leads into Powys' mythopoetic view of reality wherein are mysteries, superstitions, legends, unresolvable puzzles, and quiet epiphanies. These are present in this diary and in its successor, _The Dorset Year: The Diary of John Cowper Powys, June 1934-July 1935_ (which in some ways is even better than _Petrushka..._). What is also present (in both volumes) is abundant affection for, and reflection on, Powys' long-time companion Phyllis Playter, without whom JCP could not have lived as he did. When writing about her, Powys is both amusing and self-lacerating. He exposes himself in such a way as to invite an observer in, while also deflecting further examination through his candour (a candour which is now and then a defensive, self-protecting device). Often the writing is quite touching, heart-wrenching on some occasions, and these moments never seem false, or surprising, since the diary is an organic whole, presenting one man as he goes about his days. Those seeking gossip or inside information on the literary figures of the day will be disappointed. Those looking to know more about this fascinating, sadly neglected writer will thank Morine Krissdottir for her extraordinary work. She provides detailed notes at the beginning of each year and interspersed throughout the book, and when one sees (on the inside covers of _Petrushka..._) a sample of what she worked with, one can only applaud her for deciphering Powys' handwriting. Her selections are excellent, poignant, and meticulously chosen. In _The Dorset Year..._, Krissdottir (with help from Roger Peers) extends her work further, and the book (published in 1998 by The Powys Press; ISBN: 1 87 4559 19 8) contains many photographs and maps, copious marginalia, and an excellent introduction, giving the diary the context and underpinning it needs, and without which the reader would be lost. She has done a wonderful service to Powys studies, and to scholarship in general. In the absence of a comprehensive biography (which I would love Krissdottir to undertake), these two books are essential for understanding some of the life of John Cowper Powys. They are warm, living documents.
<< 1 >>
|
