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9+ verk 27 medlemmar 2 recensioner

Verk av John Adlard

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There are two reasons to own this book. The bibliography by D'Arch Smith, and the essay by the seriously snapped Arthur Symons. He calls the count a pervert at least as often as he calls him Stenbock and makes his literary output sound as though it were written by some wise and terrific fallen angel.

It is not so much the works of this writer which fascinate the reader as the persona, Count Stenbock. Beerbohm fleshed out Soames better than Adlard does Stenbock (and why is Yeats in the title? He might as well have listed Ernest Rhys for all his presence in the book) As the other reviewer said: Stenbock deserves a better, fuller treatment than Adlard offers here.… (mer)
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Randy_Hierodule | 1 annan recension | May 23, 2016 |
A little background: Count Eric Stanislaus Stenbock (1858-1895) is an obscure Decadent poet from the late 19th century (part of the "Yellow Nineties" crowd). Very little is known about the man, and his work in print is fantastically rare commanding very large sums. What I like most about Stenbock is he practiced what he preached. While other Decadent poets merely wrote about morbid aesthetics and eccentric behavior, Stenbock actually lived it. Compared to Stenbock, Oscar Wilde was a pale shadow. When meeting with friends he would often bring along a trained monkey and a life-sized doll that he believed was his son -- introducing him as the "Little Count". He'd dress in lavish Chinese silk robes. Often a large toad perched or slept on his shoulder that he believed was magical. He was also very fond of "Chasing the dragon" and drinking. I could go on and on about his fabulous eccentricities, but I'll keep this brief. His poetry was morbid in the extreme including titles like, The Shadow Of Death.

John Adlard's book is a biography on Stenbock. Even Stenbock's biography is rare; only 700 copies were printed. The book is a tall order considering not much is know about Stenbock -- at least not enough to fill a book. As for the title -- false advertising! Yeats is only mentioned a couple times in the text! I got the impression his name was added to garner attention by using a recognizable name. The book contains some interesting information about Stenbock, and fortunately Adlard was able to interview a few surviving people who actually knew Stenbock (albeit at a young age). He also supplies numerous photos of Stenbock, Stenbock's relatives, and their ancestral home in Estonia. The book overall was very disappointing. There is far too much information about Stenbock's relatives and ancestry (padding to make the text book length). In addition, the author only addresses the known facts about Stenbock's life. This, of course, leads to a very dry and bloodless read. The author could have easily added some analysis or opinion, alas no -- not even a cursory investigation of thematic currents within Stenbock's poems. I was astonished how he could take such a colorful character and create such a yawner of a bio. Perhaps it was the era the book was written as the author tends to downplay Stenbock's eccentric behavior – perhaps in an attempt to make him more palatable for the common reader?

In my estimation Adlard's approach misses the mark and falls flat. He ignored the very reason Stenbock is even remembered today: namely, due to name-dropping of Stenbock's name among his famous contemporaries: Wilde, Yeats, Dowson, etc. In the latter part of the 19th century it was "cool" to know Stenbock. Stenbock was the life of the party: funny, articulate, kind, and generous. It was his larger-than-life lifestyle and scathing wit that impressed even the most brilliant absinthe-sipping raconteurs of London's literary scene. Stenbock deserves a more creative and insightful biographer than John Adlard.
… (mer)
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Dead_Dreamer | 1 annan recension | Jan 12, 2010 |

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Verk
9
Även av
3
Medlemmar
27
Popularitet
#483,027
Betyg
3.8
Recensioner
2
ISBN
9