Keats: A Brief Life in Nine Poems and One Epitaph
Written by Lucasta Miller
My Rating: 4 of 5 stars (3.5 STARS)
2022; Knopf/Penguin Random House
What I know about Keats can fit a doll-size thimble, but his name has been floating around throughout the years. When you love English class, reading and books he’s bound to come up. I can’t remember if I head/read “Ode to a Nightingale” or “Ode on a Grecian Urn” first but these two poems cemented in my brain. Not the lines, but the titles and that they are odes. Keats was just 25 years old when he dies, but his poetry and name is still famous today. What caught my attention with this book was that it looked at Keats life through nine of his poems and one epitaph (his). I recognized one other ode but the rest were new to me, and I am not sure if I am Keats fan. It is only nine poems after all. I don’t know if it was the writing, or Keats himself, but I did not really get a sense of him. Sometimes, even though, I am reading a biography of someone long gone, you can’t help but like them as you might get to know them. Having their writing definitely helps that. With Keats I could take or leave him as a possible fantasy dinner guest. I am happy I read this book, as I got a bit more information on Keats, and know I am good with what I know. I would like to read more of his poems. Side note, Shelley seems more like fuckboy than Byron (poor Mary).
I received a complimentary copy of this ebook from the publisher through Edelweiss. Opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.
If you can’t get to this book right now…read John Keats 101
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