The best of Betjeman - Hardcover

Betjeman, John Selected By John Guest

3.77

168 ratings by Goodreads

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0719535557 ISBN 13: 9780719535550

Publisher: John Murray, 1978

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Physical description: 236 pages ; 18 cm. Notes: Includes editor's notes and sources. Subjects: Betjeman, John 1906-1984. English poetry. Architecture, British. English literature - 1900-1945. Genre: Literature.

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About the Author:

John Betjeman was born on August 28th, 1906, in London. He was educated at Magdalen College, Oxford. In 1931, his first book of poems, 'Mount Zion', was published by an old Oxford friend, Edward James. His second book was 'Ghastly Good Taste', a commentary on architecture, published in 1934. He was knighted in 1969 and was made Poet Laureate in 1972. John Betjeman died on May 19th 1984, at his home in Trebetherick. He was buried in the nearby church of St.Enodoc.

Review:

'Who could ever tire of the amusing and poignant pictures he painted in verses...' * Oxford Times * 'This "best of", which shows just why Betjeman came to be regarded with more affection than any other poet of the 20th century, lives up to the claim with a selection of his greatest poetry and prose' * Western Daily Press * Betjeman is perhaps as completely original a writer as has ever existed * Times Literary Supplement * His poems spring from what he really feels about real life, and as a result he brings back to poetry a sense of dramatic urgency it had all but lost * Philip Larkin * His humour is remarkably versatile, for it can be used to serve both his deepest love and his most remorseless hatred * Observer *

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