The Waste Land and Other Poems: Including The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock Mass Market Paperback – February 1, 1998

I carry this in my car to memorize a verse when I have the time. So as to have a thought on tap that will snap me out of a news-induced what-become fury.

Very nice pocket poetry. Would make a great gift for someone just starting to get into poetry.

Once upon a time I was sitting in a college poetry class being assigned to read a collection of T.S. Eliot’s poetry and being completely out of my element and over my head. And even though time has passed, and I have recently finished this collection again, I still confess to having to try to work my way through their meaning. But isn’t that the beauty of poetry? Years later, I have come to appreciate and love the profound level of depth contained in these remarkable poems after fumbling my way through years ago.Eliot captures and illustrates with precision such themes as ethics and morality, politics, religion, the essence of time and lost chances, and many other weighty issues. Although this collection is brief, it contains many of his hallmark and signature poems.Obviously, the main event in this book is the title poem and one of the most significant poems of the 20th century, “The Waste Land.” There is so much to say and think about this poem that it is quite difficult to articulate in words. So, I will just describe this one as an explosion of ideas and thoughts. Eliot interposes his own take on society and its ills and depicts it in terms of a proverbial and literal wasteland. So, we see images of this in a fragmented, stream of conscious form of thought. The imagery of this poem is really off the charts, and the repeated mental pictures of decay and disillusion make for a vivid scene. I will admit that I was stuck on this one for days, and am still trying to sort it all out, but there is an undeniable power to this poem despite it being such a daunting poem to read.I think one of my personal favorites from my reading years ago is “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock.” One of the striking things about this poem is simply the rhythm and the lyrical quality. In this one, Eliot takes on several subjects: disillusion, the element of time, lost opportunities, insecurities. This one, like many of Eliot’s poems, has so many quotables, and here is an example of one of my favorites:“For I have known them all already, known themAll:---Have known the evenings, mornings, afternoons,I have measured out my life with coffee spoons;”Another important poem regarding Eliot is “Ash-Wednesday”, which is his “conversion” poem. I thought it a very thought-provoking poem. It deals with and examines the struggle of one who is going from not believing to turning towards God. One of the recurring ideas seems to be that the struggle to keep faith is an ongoing struggle with the various pitfalls and obstacles that life throws our way on a daily basis, and that it is a continual renewal the individual must make along this daily struggle. There are some very powerful lyrics, and as is Eliot’s trademark, he incorporates both symbolism and allusions to strike home his message:“Suffer us not to mock ourselves with falsehoodTeach us to care and not to careTeach us to sit still”Other notables contained within the collection: “Sweeney Among the Nightingales”, “The Hippopotamus”, “Whispers of Immorality”, “The Death of Saint Narcissus”, and “Journey of the Magi.”I think it is easy to see why Eliot had such an influence on the modernist poets and why his poems have become so regarded and significant over the past century. This collection is a fantastic sampling of his genius and his power to craft language to create meaning through various timely themes.(By the way, this review is for the 1998 Signet Classic Paperback Edition, as I know some people have been scammed by other versions).

Without doubt, The Wasteland is my favorite book of poetry. I fell hard for Eliot as a high school junior, and even deeper in adoration, when I received my first copy of it from a beloved English teacher as a graduation present. I have read it so often, that its binding is shredded and no longer in place, and it's pages lay separated in a sad little pile. Beloved to distraction, from the moment I received it. Read and reread, over and over in small samplings I still barely understand in parts. and how they weave together. It contains some of the most beautifully sewn together words one will ever read in English. It's dated in a lovely way that makes it all the more precious, and singularly outstanding, like a worn down wedding band, intricate, resoundingly jaw dropping, and precious beyond measure, at least to me. I'll never fully get it, but will always appreciate its beauty and complexity. It makes me sad that it's no longer the seminal work of poetry it was, and taught as regular required fare in high schools. You are either going to love it or hate it, roll your eyes over it, or swoon. I often hear it rumbling around in the back of my mind. It's definitely a downer. Fussy and forma. I doubt anyone's ever walked away from it cheerful and motivated. It incapsulates a time so formal and precisely confined and different than our own, that I can't understand how students can leave high school without parts of it stitched into their pockets To me it will always be distinctly unique, outstandingly beautiful and bleak. It's like someone playing the the ending note of taps, for the last of a generation to leave a room.

Book came in early and in good (like new) condition. The only problem I had with it was that it was not the same edition as the picture shown.

The book had many markings and was of inferior quality.