 Amazing! |
| Review Date: October 27, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Hannah Williams, Oklahoma City, OK |
| Keats love letters the Fanny are so emotional. I loved reading them. It's like he his drawn to her in ways he cannot explain in the beginning and then develops an endless love for her. At times he in enveloped in this feeling and embraces it and other times he is afraid of losing her, and the fear of his own demise. I wish the letters Fanny had written him had also survived, it would have been amazing to read what she had written him as well. I absolutely loved the movie. Keats definitely has a way with words! |
"When I have fears that I may cease to be...." *
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| Review Date: December 3, 2009 |
| Reviewer: H. S. Wedekind, Pennsylvania, USA |
This slim 132 page book was published as a companion to the film "Bright Star" (2009) directed by Jane Campion, who also wrote the introduction. I did not see the movie, as it was shown in only a few theaters in this area for a brief period of time, and hardly any word of it was mentioned in the local newspapers. I understand that it will be out in DVD in January 2010.
Anyone who loves the poetry of the English Romantic Writers, e.g., Byron, Coleridge, Wordsworth, Shelley, et al, is already familiar with the poems of John Keats. It is interesting, though, that these poems and letters were the product of Keats's intense love for Fanny Brawne. Written in the last few years of his life, they are honest, open, touching, and full of life, love, and youthful optimism. They also hint of the tragedy yet to come.
A letter written on 27 February 1821 by Joseph Severn, the friend who accompanied Keats to Rome, recalls Keats's last moments:
"He is gone-he died with the most perfect ease-he seemed to go to sleep. On the 23rd, about 4, the approaches of death came on, 'Severn-I-lift me up-I am dying-I shall die easy-don't be frightened-be firm, and thank God it has come!' I lifted him up in my arms...he gradually sunk into death-so quiet-that I still thought he slept. I cannot say now-I am broken down from four nights' watching, and no sleep since, and my poor Keats gone."
(ENGLISH ROMANTIC WRITERS - David Perkins, Ed. p.1263)
How could I give anything less than 5 stars?
* The first line of "When I Have Fears" by John Keats (1818)
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Great buy!!!
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| Review Date: May 22, 2010 |
| Reviewer: jac, Sacramento, CA |
| This seller delivers what they promised! I would do business with them again in a heartbeat! |
Excellent companion volume to a wonderful film
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| Review Date: July 16, 2010 |
| Reviewer: schmettajames, Washington, DC |
Bright Star, the story of the doomed love story of Romantic poet John Keats and Fanny Brawne, was my favorite film of 2009, and this slim volume is an excellent companion to it. The book contains an introduction by director Jane Campion, all of Keats' letter to his beloved Fanny, and the poems that were inspired by her. If you are new to Keats or want to learn more about the man behind the movie, this is a good place to start. If you're already familiar with Keats' work, this volume may not satisfy you, and I would recommend his Collected Poems.
This book is worth adding to your library for the beautifully written letters to Fanny. In his letters, Keats is passionate, sad, occasionally desperate, and very aware of his own mortality. Unfortunately, we don't have the other side of the story; Fanny's letters to Keats were destroyed (at his request). (Fanny did correspond in later years with Keats' sister, so we know something of her thoughts on the relationship.) But even on their own, Keats' letters are wonderful to read and add another dimension to the experience of the film.
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Luminous But Somewhat Lacking
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| Review Date: September 30, 2009 |
| Reviewer: S. B. Moore, California, USA |
| Published as a companion to the motion picture of the same name directed by Jane Campion [The Piano], this is a collection of the love letters and poems written by John Keats to his beloved Fanny Brawne. For anyone who enjoyed the film, as I did, the book provides a glimpse at the inspiration and source material for Campion's work. Campion's introduction to the collection gives a history of Keats and Brawne's intense love for each other. The love letters are delightful, touching, painful and the poems are amongst the greatest of the Romantic era. One inexplicable exclusion from the collection is "Ode to a Nightingale," a poem of Keats' that figures in the film. The recitation of "Ode to a Nightingale" during the final credits by the actor who portrays Keats, Ben Whishaw, is reason enough to go see the film. Though readily available in poetry collections and on the internet, the absence of this beautiful and key poem from a collection centered around this tragic love story is a shortcoming and may disappoint those who want to savor its words in print. |
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