Comments | spiderstars: I met Murder on the way; He had a mask like Castlereagh

spiderstars

I met Murder on the way; He had a mask like Castlereagh

Mar 30, 2009 16:07

The Pursuit by Richard Holmes is the first biography I have read. Well, no, that isn't quite true. I've read part of a biography on Ted Bundy and the first volume of Holmes' Coleridge. Still, this is the first biography I have read that concludes with a death. Shelley died at the age of 29. At the point I am at in the biography he is 27 ( Read more... )

+literature, writer: samuel taylor coleridge, romanticism, writer: percy bysshe shelley

Comments 7

aeirol March 31 2009, 00:02:27 UTC

Well, you found a good biography then; most of the ones I've read, the greatest feeling I've been able to drum up has been a sort of sympathetic pat on the back for the poor person about to die. If you're at 27, you're not far from the end then; hopefully it'll end as well (writing wise, I realize death at 29 is not precisely the happiest of endings for Shelley) as it has been thus far.

spiderstars April 1 2009, 05:35:15 UTC

I think it's just partly me? I get so involved with characters in books, and the fact that, once upon a time, these people were real is incredibly difficult. Moreover, Shelley's biography has been, to some extent, a journey of personal self-discovery. I can see myself & my own passions/interests/&c. reflected in Shelley, and at times even Loleridge Coleridge. Just ... yeah. I get really involved with characters or people I feel I can relate to. Especially when the biographies are as intimate as these two have been.

aeirol April 1 2009, 12:31:37 UTC

Interesting. So if you could go back in time to meet any person from history, would you choose Shelley?

spiderstars April 1 2009, 12:41:18 UTC

Psh. No. Henry V FTW.

lystellion April 1 2009, 00:32:17 UTC

Much kudos that you've actually read the thing. I've picked up that book and its HUGE... what are you reading about him for, with regards to your college work?

I will definitely have to read it myself one day.

spiderstars April 1 2009, 05:57:10 UTC

It's for my 19th Century British Literature class. We have massive biographies of Keats, Shelley, and Coleridge assigned. I don't quite deserve the kudos yet seeing as I've still about 100 pages left to read. It's incredibly interesting, and I really do think you'd like it. There's a lot about Shelley that makes me think of you, actually. There's a strong focus on his political views & his status as a radical, which is something you don't get from a lot of his poetry I think? I really do think you'd like it, though at a leisurely pace. I had to put the reading off in favor of learning the subjunctive mood in Latin and I read 350 pages in 8 hours straight and was about to vomit from Shelley overdose (which was what spurred my Facebook status on the subject, by the way ( ... )

lilian_cho April 2 2009, 06:37:58 UTC

only about two other people actually do the reading, and even then they rarely comment.

That sucks D:
They aren't intimidated by you, are they? (Afraid to sound less intelligent?)
Am reminded of this one Engl Lit seminar I took where we read LOTS of French literary theorists. I read everything, try to rewrite the essays in my own words & use diagrams, and I still can't for the life of me understand what those French theorists are saying D:

if someone doesn't do what they say should be done, say, preaching the values of vegetarianism whilst eating a steak dinner, I feel under no obligation to even consider his/her argument.

Word.

I haven't read that many biographies at all, but I did enjoy one of Antoine de Saint-Exupery's wife, Consuelo(sp?). It might be because I'm crazy-obsessed with The Little Prince though =D (She's the basis of the rose in The Little Prince)