Read ebook Jonathan Raban - Oxford Books of Prose: The Oxford Book of the Sea TXT, DJV
9780192801944 0192801945 It is no surprise that one of the earliest works in English literatureshould be a poem about the sea: the sea has been a source of fascination fromthe earliest times, and the Anglo-Saxon poem 'The Seafarer' is only the first ina long series of writings which ponder its mystery.A powerful and restless presence in real life, the sea is one of the mostubiquitous and protean symbols in literature, changing in response to shifts insensibility, and holding a mirror to all who confront it - Renaissance explorersand Augustan gentlemen, Romantic outcasts and Victorian travellers, small-boatsailors, naturalists and novelists, poets and oceanographers: men and women in astate of wonder before the sea.Jonathan Raban brings a special awareness and knowledge to his role as editor;in the words of Colin Thubron, 'nobody of his generation writes more subtly orimaginatively on travel'. Raban's introduction constitutes an important essay onthe meaning of the sea in literature, and the pieces he has chosen display theexhilarating richness of writing in the tradition. Alongside extracts from theacknowledged marine masterpieces are many unexpected delights: Emily Dickinson'saffirmative poem 'Exhalation is the Going'; a meditation on a seaside holiday byLarkin; Jane Austen's tart satirizing of Byron's Romanticized sea; Thoreau'scontemplation of monsters and lost anchors off Cape Cod; Willard Bascom'sbrilliantly observed description of breaking waves.As richly varied and enthralling as the sea itself, this sparkling collectionspans the centuries from AD 900 to the present and forms a unique and importantbody of writing to delight in and admire., One of the earliest works in English literature is a poem about the sea: the sea has been a source of fascination from the earliest times, and the Anglo-Saxon poem The Seafarer is only the first in a long series of writings which ponder its mystery. A powerful and restless presence in real life, the sea is one of the most ubiquitous and protean symbols in literature, changing in response to shifts in sensibility, and holding a mirror to all who confront it - Renaissance explorers and Augustan gentlemen, Romantic outcasts and Victorian travellers, small-boat sailors, naturalists and novelists, poets and oceanographers: men and women in a state of wonder before the sea., The sea has served as a source of inspiration for writers throughout the ages. Now, in The Oxford Book of the Sea, bestselling author Jonathan Raban has compiled a remarkable anthology of our changing visions of the sea, a rich treasury of writings as varied and enthralling as the ocean itself. Arranged chronologically, and spanning everything from Anglo-Saxon poetry to modern oceanography, these excerpts capture the work of poets, novelists, scientists, and explorers. We read pieces from Samuel Eliot Morison, James Boswell, Charles Dickens, Rachel Carson, Charles Darwin, and John Barth, among many others. And for those who love great writing, Raban not only includes passages from the great sea classics--such as Moby Dick, and The Old Man and the Sea--but also lesser known gems by such writers as Virginia Woolf, James Joyce, E.B. White, and Emily Dickinson. For everyone interested in the sea, and those drawn to fine writing, The Oxford Book of the Sea is a bountiful, alluring, and essential collection.
9780192801944 0192801945 It is no surprise that one of the earliest works in English literatureshould be a poem about the sea: the sea has been a source of fascination fromthe earliest times, and the Anglo-Saxon poem 'The Seafarer' is only the first ina long series of writings which ponder its mystery.A powerful and restless presence in real life, the sea is one of the mostubiquitous and protean symbols in literature, changing in response to shifts insensibility, and holding a mirror to all who confront it - Renaissance explorersand Augustan gentlemen, Romantic outcasts and Victorian travellers, small-boatsailors, naturalists and novelists, poets and oceanographers: men and women in astate of wonder before the sea.Jonathan Raban brings a special awareness and knowledge to his role as editor;in the words of Colin Thubron, 'nobody of his generation writes more subtly orimaginatively on travel'. Raban's introduction constitutes an important essay onthe meaning of the sea in literature, and the pieces he has chosen display theexhilarating richness of writing in the tradition. Alongside extracts from theacknowledged marine masterpieces are many unexpected delights: Emily Dickinson'saffirmative poem 'Exhalation is the Going'; a meditation on a seaside holiday byLarkin; Jane Austen's tart satirizing of Byron's Romanticized sea; Thoreau'scontemplation of monsters and lost anchors off Cape Cod; Willard Bascom'sbrilliantly observed description of breaking waves.As richly varied and enthralling as the sea itself, this sparkling collectionspans the centuries from AD 900 to the present and forms a unique and importantbody of writing to delight in and admire., One of the earliest works in English literature is a poem about the sea: the sea has been a source of fascination from the earliest times, and the Anglo-Saxon poem The Seafarer is only the first in a long series of writings which ponder its mystery. A powerful and restless presence in real life, the sea is one of the most ubiquitous and protean symbols in literature, changing in response to shifts in sensibility, and holding a mirror to all who confront it - Renaissance explorers and Augustan gentlemen, Romantic outcasts and Victorian travellers, small-boat sailors, naturalists and novelists, poets and oceanographers: men and women in a state of wonder before the sea., The sea has served as a source of inspiration for writers throughout the ages. Now, in The Oxford Book of the Sea, bestselling author Jonathan Raban has compiled a remarkable anthology of our changing visions of the sea, a rich treasury of writings as varied and enthralling as the ocean itself. Arranged chronologically, and spanning everything from Anglo-Saxon poetry to modern oceanography, these excerpts capture the work of poets, novelists, scientists, and explorers. We read pieces from Samuel Eliot Morison, James Boswell, Charles Dickens, Rachel Carson, Charles Darwin, and John Barth, among many others. And for those who love great writing, Raban not only includes passages from the great sea classics--such as Moby Dick, and The Old Man and the Sea--but also lesser known gems by such writers as Virginia Woolf, James Joyce, E.B. White, and Emily Dickinson. For everyone interested in the sea, and those drawn to fine writing, The Oxford Book of the Sea is a bountiful, alluring, and essential collection.