Ariel (1965) contains many of Sylvia Plath’s best-known poems written in an extraordinary burst of creativity just before her death in 1963. The first of four collections to be published by Faber and Faber, it is the volume on which her reputation as one of the most original, daring and gifted poets of the twentieth century rests.
Ariel: The Restored Edition: The Restored Edition
and over one million other books are available for Amazon Kindle. Learn more
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Book Description
Frequently Bought Together
Product Details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
Product Description
From Publishers Weekly
Along with withholding (or allegedly destroying) one of Plath’s journals after her death in 1963, Plath’s husband, the late English poet laureate Ted Hughes, brought out a version of her second and final book of poems, Ariel, that differed from the manuscript she left on her desk. That edition—for which Hughes dropped 12 poems, added 12 composed a few months later, shifted the poems’ ordering and included an introduction by Robert Lowell—has become a classic. The present edition restores the 12 missing poems, drops the 12 added ones, and prints the manuscript in Plath’s own order, followed by a facsimile of the typescript Plath left, along with a foreword by Plath and Hughes’s daughter Frieda Hughes (Wooroloo), several hand- and typewritten drafts of the book’s title poem and notes by David Semanki. The original manuscript’s contents have been widely known since Hughes published them in the 1981 Collected Poems, but there is an undeniable thrill to reading Plath’s book as she left it—the lacerating "The Rabbit Catcher," left out of the Ted Hughes edition, comes third here, with its rhyme of "force" with "gorse," the flowers of which "had an efficiency, a great beauty,/ And were extravagant, like torture." As to whether this version is a better book, only time will tell. For now, despite Frieda Hughes’s repeated references to her father’s respect for Plath’s work, tally another shot in the Plath wars.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.
From Booklist
Plath and her indelible writings have been subjected to a veritable hurricane of commentary. The storm seems to be subsiding, and although it does leave devastation in its wake--the unfair vilification of poet Ted Hughes, Plath's husband, the father of their two children and the holder of the copyright to Plath's writing--it has also kept Plath's work in the public eye, and it has inspired the publication of this treasure: the original manuscript for Plath's masterpiece, Ariel. As Frieda Hughes, a poet and an artist, explains in her set-the-record-straight foreword, her mother left behind a manuscript of 40 poems ordered by a table of contents as well as around 30 more poems written in what Frieda calls the "Ariel voice." When Ted Hughes published Ariel, he replaced and rearranged poems, editorial decisions that have been harshly criticized. Now, finally, readers can see Plath's actual manuscript in this handsome facsimile, which provides a missing piece in the Plath annals and proves that there's nothing like going to the source. Donna Seaman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
Most helpful customer reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Sylvia Plath is one of those poets who seems to loom large as an iconic figure in popular and literary culture. This may be as much due to the details of her life as to her work. But putting the "legend" of Plath aside, I found her book "Ariel" to be quite an intriguing collection of poems.
There are many mentions of death in general and suicide in particular throughout "Ariel." The dark, cutting nature of many of the poems make them feel like glimpses of Plath's inner torment; also, a number of the poems seem to challenge conventions regarding traditional female roles in society. Structurally, many of the poems have an engaging musicality and demonstrate a witty use of rhyme and other effects.
Many of the poems have a grimly playful quality. Plath uses a strange, unsettling constellation of images and allusions: "Mein Kampf," the Ku Klux Klan, rubber breasts, carbon monoxide, schizophrenia, the Vatican, etc. There are some really arresting turns of phrase.
Some of the most striking poems include the following: "The Applicant," a disturbing satire of marriage; "Lady Lazarus," in which she writes "Dying / Is an art"; "Tulips," a horrific vision told by a hospitalized woman (this one is reminiscent of Charlotte Perkins Gilmans' classic story "The Yellow Wall-paper"); "Lesbos," a glimpse into the unfulfilling lives of two mothers; "Daddy," a frightening hate-letter from the speaker to her father; and "Balloons," a playful but edgy poem about balloons.
In the poem "Kindness," Plath writes, "The blood jet is poetry, / There is no stopping it." So many decades after Plath's death, it appears there is no stopping her poetic voice.
1 of 2 people found the following review helpful
By belladena
Format:Paperback
How typical. A race of men classifying Plath's genius as enhanced symptoms of PMS. Is it that hard to believe that a woman could give birth to poems so incredibly rich and textured purely because she is mentally capable to do so? Of course not. Therefore, why pigeon-hole Plath as an over-emotional woman, who, rather than Windexing and cooking her troubles away, chose to compose some of the most heralded lyrics of the twentieth century? It's difficult to excuse the Ariel poems as the simple mind-barf of a harried, lonely woman. Sylvia Plath was a genius. Period.
Format:Paperback
I first encountered one of Sylvia Plath's poems in my English course at college. I became engaged and decided to buy this book. I wasn't dissapointed. Although I don't like all of the poems, there are some that are really haunting. She always put forth what she though, which is really admirable. They are easy to read. My favorites are:"Daddy" and "Lady Lazarus".
Want to see more reviews on this item?
›
Go to Amazon.com to see all 63 reviews
4.7 out of 5 stars
Most recent customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Sylvia's most revealing work
There is no doubt that "Ariel" is Plath's most celeberated work.
The poems were written the last months of her life (Before she put her head into an oven) They seem to written... Read more
Published on Mar 21 2002 by "siammuse"
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Mythos of Death
It may seem like an exaggeration, but I think Ariel really is all about death and its various aspects: physical, emotional, spiritual. Read more
Published on April 17 2001 by "lotusgirl"
5.0 out of 5 stars
An Insightful Depiction of a Human Condition
Ariel is a collection of the last poems Sylvia Plath ever wrote. Furthermore, the poems were written during the last months of her life, which were very bleak months indeed. Read more
Published on Nov 15 2000 by "neeterskeeter27"
5.0 out of 5 stars
Sylvia Plath gets you to feel and think about every emotion
I just recieved Ariel as a gift by a new friend and was introduced to Syliva Plath and her inner world at the same time. Read more
Published on July 5 2000 by Tascha Dresser
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Volume to Own
Sylvia Plath and Denise Lermontov were the two most powerful female American poets of the 20th century. Read more
Published on Jun 30 2000 by Bruce Kendall
5.0 out of 5 stars
very good compellation of poetry...
This book of poems by plath is an excellent read. i use her poetry as a springboard for poems i write and it's a wonderful help. Read more
Published on May 16 2000 by lauren walls
5.0 out of 5 stars
Pure acetylene
To say that ARIEL is a stunning book of poetry does not seem adequate. Reading ARIEL is like opening a Pandora's box of strange beauties, nightmares, furies, sorrows, and surreal... Read more
Published on Jan 29 2000 by Joanie McMillan
5.0 out of 5 stars
STRENGTH, FIRE, CRYSTAL CLEAR
Some of the poems are difficult to understand the first time, others are like a window where you can watch life. Read more
Published on Dec 4 1999
5.0 out of 5 stars
Breathtaking
These poems are scathing and beautiful. It is not a long work, but it requires multiple readings to break into its core. Read more
Published on Nov 2 1999
Listmania!
|
|
Look for similar items by category
Feedback
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
