The Symbolist Movement in Literature

Rating:
Summary: Interesting, but unremarkable
Review: Symons was a poet and critic of the Symbolist movement, and this book was meant to be a general introduction to the French Symbolists. As an introduction, it is superb--it familiarized me with the works, lives, and styles of many important Symbolist writers such as Nerval, Merimee, Villiers, Verlaine, etc. There is an appendix which includes writers that aren't really Symbolist, like Flaubert, Balzac, Goncourt, but even this appendix is informative and interesting.

However, when the work tries to go beyond a mere descriptive primer, it fails. His attempts to define Symbolism are muddled and contradictory. His "interpretations" of Rimbaud and Verlaine are just completely off base. Basically, this book is a light, basic introduction to French Symbolist authors, and it loses its charms when it tries to be critical or definitive.

Rating:
Summary: Interesting, but unremarkable
Review: Symons was a poet and critic of the Symbolist movement, and this book was meant to be a general introduction to the French Symbolists. As an introduction, it is superb--it familiarized me with the works, lives, and styles of many important Symbolist writers such as Nerval, Merimee, Villiers, Verlaine, etc. There is an appendix which includes writers that aren't really Symbolist, like Flaubert, Balzac, Goncourt, but even this appendix is informative and interesting.

However, when the work tries to go beyond a mere descriptive primer, it fails. His attempts to define Symbolism are muddled and contradictory. His "interpretations" of Rimbaud and Verlaine are just completely off base. Basically, this book is a light, basic introduction to French Symbolist authors, and it loses its charms when it tries to be critical or definitive.