Birthday Letters: Poems
by Ted Hughes
List Price:
Our Price: $5.44
You Save: $9.56 (64%)
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Buy Used: from $2.00 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions
Book Summary Information
Author: Ted HughesEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 1999-03-30
ISBN: 0374525811
Number of pages: 208
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Book Reviews of Birthday Letters: Poems
Book Review: "Birthday Letters" and the contradiction of Hughes
Summary: 3 Stars
Simply put, "Birthday Letters" is not Ted Hughes's best work. It contains some moving poetry, particularly "Life after Death," but overall it is lax and digressive both in form and in content. Many of the poems assume the titles of Plath's own work, but instead of illuminating her, they merely reiterate familiar images. "Birthday Letters" also exposes a contradiction inherent in Hughes himself: while in many of the poems he seems to abrognate responsibility for his wife's suicide by subscribing to the belief that, in a sense, Sylvia was doomed from the start. In his translation of Alcestis, one senses that the character of Admetos is one with whom Hughes identifies: Look what you did: you let her die instead. You live now Only because you let Death take her. You killed her. Point-blank She met the death that you dodged..."Birthday Letters" should not be read biographically, for it is art, not a memoir of Plath or their marriage. To obtain a deeper understanding of Hughes and his marriage, one should read the visionary poetry of Alcestis and Hughes's masterpiece, Crow.
Poetry Books
Book Subjects
- Arts & Photography
- Biographies & Memoirs
- Business & Investing
- Children's Books
- Comics & Graphic Novels
- Computers & Internet
- Cooking, Food & Wine
- Entertainment
- Gay & Lesbian
- Health, Mind & Body
- History
- Home & Garden
- Horror
- Law
- Literature & Fiction
- Mystery & Thrillers
- Nonfiction
- Outdoors & Nature
- Parenting & Families
- Professional & Technical
- Reference
- Religion & Spirituality
- Romance
- Science
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Sports
- Teens
- Travel
Most talked about in Poetry Books
FOUR QUARTETS.by T. S. Eliot
Faber & Faber; Published: 1944; Hardcover; Book
Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyamby Omar Khayyam
St. Martin's Press; Published: 1983-08-15; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $2.75
Price in other shops:
The Priapus Poems: EROTIC EPIGRAMS FROM ANCIENT ROMEUniversity of Illinois Press; Published: 1999-05-12; Paperback; Book
Best price: $180.00
Beowulfby Seamus Heaney
Penguin Books; Published: 2000-09-28; Audio CD; Book
Best price: $14.90
Void of Course (Poets, Penguin)by Jim Carroll
Penguin (Non-Classics); Published: 1998-10-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.94
Price in other shops:
Speaking of Siva (Penguin Classics)by Anonymous
Penguin Classics; Published: 1973-08-30; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.67
Price in other shops:
A Night Without Armor : Poemsby Jewel
It Books; Published: 1999-08-03; Paperback; Book
Best price: $0.80
Price in other shops:
Given Sugar, Given Salt: Poemsby Jane Hirshfield
Harper Perennial; Published: 2002-04; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.46
Price in other shops:
Letters Home: Correspondence 1950-1963by Sylvia Plath
Harper Perennial; Published: 1992-04-08; Paperback; Book
Best price: $12.97
Price in other shops:
Yeats Folklore and Occultismby Frank Kinahan
Unwin Hyman; Published: 1988-10; Hardcover; Book
Price in other shops:
Similar books summaries and other product reviews
The Dream Songsby John Berryman
Farrar, Straus and Giroux; Published: 2007-04-17; Paperback; Book
Best price: $11.12
Price in other shops:
Selected Poems: Anne Sextonby Anne Sexton
Mariner Books; Published: 2000-06-20; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.65
Price in other shops:
The Spoken Word: Sylvia Plath (British Library - British Library Sound Archive)by The British Library
British Library; Published: 2010-07-15; Audio CD; Book
Best price: $10.07
Price in other shops:
Plath: Poems (Everyman's Library Pocket Poets)by Sylvia Plath
Everyman's Library; Published: 1998-10-13; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $6.89
Price in other shops:
Ariel: The Restored Edition: A Facsimile of Plath's Manuscript, Reinstating Her Original Selection and Arrangementby Sylvia Plath
Harper; Published: 2004-11-09; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $7.99
Price in other shops:
The Colossus and Other Poemsby Sylvia Plath
Vintage; Published: 1998-05-19; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.43
Price in other shops:
The Collected Poems (P.S.)by Sylvia Plath
Harper Perennial Modern Classics; Published: 2008-09-02; Paperback; Book
Best price: $10.19
Price in other shops:
Ariel: The Restored Edition: A Facsimile of Plath's Manuscript, Reinstating Her Original Selection and Arrangement (P.S.)by Sylvia Plath
Harper Perennial Modern Classics; Published: 2005-10-25; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.39
Price in other shops:
The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plathby Sylvia Plath
Anchor; Published: 2000-10-17; Paperback; Book
Best price: $11.20
Price in other shops:
The Bell Jarby Sylvia Plath
Harper Perennial Modern Classics; Published: 2006-10-17; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.99
Price in other shops: