Reviews

Some Versions of Pastoral: Literary Criticism by William Empson

quintusmarcus's review

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2.0

Very disappointing. This book was referenced in Faye Hammill's "Sophistication" and also in Harold Bloom's new book "The Anatomy of Influence." I am very interested in the themes and development of pastoral, and was hoping to learn something new in Empson's book. Didn't happen: Empson is an interesting writer, but extremely diffuse. I prefer a book with good solid arguments and clear use of evidence, and Empson provides neither here. I am sure I will return to this book at some point, but I may need to read some of his earlier books to get a better grasp of his style. As it is, I just couldn't get anything out of these essays.
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