William Empson, Volume II
Against the Christians
Format:Hardback
Publisher:Oxford University Press
Published:2nd Nov '06
Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back
This hardback is available in another edition too:
- Paperback£45.49(9780199539925)
This second volume of the biography explores William Empson's life during WWII, his return to China, and his influential career at Sheffield University.
The concluding volume of the biography, William Empson, Volume II, delves into the complex life of William Empson, a significant poet and literary critic of the twentieth century. This installment traces his tumultuous years during World War II, where he contributed to wartime propaganda for the BBC. As the Chinese Editor, Empson orchestrated broadcasts aimed at China and managed propaganda for the Home Service, during which he interacted with notable figures, including George Orwell. His work garnered attention, provoking reactions from figures like Nazi propagandist Hans Fritzsche, who infamously labeled him a 'curly-headed Jew', a remark that Empson took great pride in.
In 1947, Empson returned to China amidst a Communist siege in Peking, witnessing pivotal historical moments, including Mao Tse-tung's rise. His experiences reflected the tension between independent thought and political ideology, as he noted the strict control over intellectual discourse. Empson's later years saw him teaching in the USA, where he found humor in his unique position of receiving funds from various political regimes, including the Chinese Communists and British Socialists.
From 1953 to 1971, Empson held the Chair of English Literature at Sheffield University, where he became increasingly vocal against the prevailing literary orthodoxies, particularly 'neo-Christianity'. His publication of Milton's God in 1961 sparked significant debate, emphasizing the poem's warnings about morality. John Haffenden's thorough exploration in William Empson, Volume II offers insights into Empson's public and private personas, revealing the depth of his contributions to modern literature and criticism.
John Haffenden is calm and accepting in his account of Empson's private life. * John Batchelor, Modern Language Review *
John Haffenden's monumental two-volume biography leaves us in no doubt of the importance of Empson's upbringing as a scion of Yorkshire gentry...One of the big achievements of Haffenden's narrative is the painstaking account of Empson's gradual maturation as a critic. * Jason Harding, Essays in Criticism *
Haffenden's narrative is driven along with such gusto, such alert intelligence, such obvious pleasure in the task, that no one could reasonably grumble at the story's inordinate length. It is a virtuoso feat of scholarship: a telling demonstration of what biography, as it finest, can actually achieve. * Ian Donaldson Australian Book Review *
This is scholarship in the grand style * Contemporary Poetry Review *
Biography is a dominant form these days, and Haffenden's is one of the best. * Fred Inglis, The Independent (Review) *
The culmination of a majestic achievement * Mark Bostridge, Independent on Sunday *
This is a definitive work, brimming with dry humour, acute political and literary analysis and a quiet respect for Empson's defining idiosyncrasies. * Tim Martin, Telegraph *
His two-volume Empson now ranks, with say, Holmes on Coleridge. McCarthy on Morris, Bellos on Perec, Ellman on Joyce and Wilde: it is one of the great literary biographies. * Kevin Jackson, Sunday Times Culture *
It would be high enough praise to say that Haffenden has equalled the achievement of his first volume; the reality is that he has excelled it. * Kevin Jackson, Sunday Times Culture *
Haffenden has given us an Empson we should be arguing about, and arguing with, well into the future. * Peter McDonald, Literary Review *
Impressive. * Andrew Motion, The Guardian *
Resolutely unhysterical, affectionately written and delightfully incisive. * Tim Martin, Daily Telegraph *
Magisterial biography. * Tim Martin, Daily Telegraph *
Immense and magnificent biography * Frank Kermode, London Review of Books *
[A] superlative work * Eric Griffiths *
Haffenden's collection of material and mastery of the mass of published and unpublished documents is exemplary...Taken together his two volumes give a splendid sense of their subject, and of the literary, intellectual and political milieux in which Empson worked. * David Fuller, The Review of English Studies, Volume 58, Number 237 *
- Winner of The Guardian, The Independent on Sunday and The Sunday Times Christmas Picks 2006.
ISBN: 9780199276608
Dimensions: 241mm x 167mm x 48mm
Weight: 1356g
836 pages