LEADER 00000cam  2200373Ii 4500 
001    958799399 
003    OCoLC 
005    20171205165053.0 
008    160918t20172017nju      b    000 0beng d 
020    9780691163765 
020    0691163766 
040    BTCTA|beng|erda|cBTCTA|dYDX|dBDX|dERASA|dMTG|dEYM|dGZD
       |dIDU|dOCLCF|dOCL|dCHVBK|dOCLCO|dOCLCA|dUtOrBLW|dAS 
050 04 PR6009.M7|bZ96 2017 
082 04 821/.912|bW877o|223 
100 1  Wood, Michael,|d1936-|eauthor 
245 10 On Empson /|cMichael Wood 
264  1 Princeton, New Jersey ;|aOxford :|bPrinceton University 
       Press,|c[2017] 
264  4 |c©2017 
300    212 pages ;|c20 cm 
336    text|btxt|2rdacontent 
337    unmediated|bn|2rdamedia 
338    volume|bnc|2rdacarrier 
490 1  Writers on writers 
504    Includes bibliographical references (pages 207-212) 
505 0  Empson's Intentions -- The Strangeness of the World -- 
       Large Dreams -- The Other Case -- All in Flight -- 
       Sibylline Leaves -- The Smoke of Hell 
520 8  Are literary critics writers? As Michael Wood says, "Not 
       all critics are writers--perhaps most of them are not--and
       some of them are better when they don't try to be." The 
       British critic and poet William Empson (1906-84), one of 
       the most important and influential critics of the 
       twentieth century, was an exception--a critic who was not 
       only a writer but also a great one. In this brief book, 
       Wood, himself one of the most gifted writers among 
       contemporary critics, explores Empson as a writer, a 
       distinguished poet whose criticism is a brilliant literary
       performance--and proof that the act of reading can be an 
       unforgettable adventure. Drawing out the singularity and 
       strength of Empson's writing, including its unfailing wit,
       Wood traces the connections between Empson's poetry and 
       criticism from his first and best-known critical works, 
       Seven Types of Ambiguity and Some Versions of Pastoral, to
       later books such as Milton's God and The Structure of 
       Complex Words. Wood shows why this pioneer of close 
       reading was both more and less than the inventor of New 
       Criticism - more because he was the greatest English 
       critic since Coleridge, and didn't belong to any school; 
       and less because he had severe differences with many 
       contemporary critics, especially those who dismissed the 
       importance of an author's intentions. Beautifully written 
       and rich with insight, On Empson is an elegant 
       introduction to a unique writer for whom literature was a 
       nonstop form of living 
600 10 Empson, William,|d1906-1984 
600 10 Empson, William,|d1906-1984|xCriticism and interpretation 
650  0 Critics|zEngland|vBiography 
650  0 New Criticism 
655  7 Biography.|2fast|0(OCoLC)fst01423686 
655  7 Criticism, interpretation, etc.|2fast|0(OCoLC)fst01411635 
830  0 Writers on writers