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Avg. Customer Rating: 4.0 / 5.0
A lyrical and entrancing portrait of an enduring genius Blake's prophetic books are, in proportion to their length and literary importance, amongst the least read texts within the body of English Literature. Certainly, they are the least understood.
This is partly because of the notion, common today as it was amongst Blake's contemporaries, that the poet-artist was, at best, an ultrasensitive whose work was not consciously or methodically thought out but merely reflected his changeable mood at the time of writing. Either that or he was a lunatic, and his work... more info
a little too fawning to its subject matter I have really enjoyed Ackroyd's writing in the past. His London Biography, in particular, is an outstanding book.
I had, therefore, high hopes for his life of Blake, the 18th century visionary being a famous Londoner and a fascinating man.
I was a little disappointed. It's certainly learned and well researched (though it eggregiously overuses the word "vouchsafe"), but seems to skip over a number of important points: for one thing, Ackroyd hints darkly the Blake may have had misogynistic tendencies,... more info
Even-handed and insightful This is well worth a read. The reader may gain a greater insight into Blake from the events of his life, which are relayed in detail. And furthermore from Ackroyd's empathetic and even-handed treatment of Blake the man, who one feels, will always be more than the sum of his actions. Particularly good for those who only know Blake the poet rather than the painter, the illustrations and engravings are given lots of attention and there are quite a few pictures to view.
Good on Blake, down on style Ackroyd has a grand reputation as an auteur superbe, but in this book he finds himself to close to the subject to allow his normal objectivity to flow. Indeed, one might even say that Ackroyd is in love with Blake but at odds with his work
