



Cybele wrote:I do like the Andrew Motion biography.
I also like the Walter Jackson Bate biography.
The Gittings bio is good, too. IMO, Gittings jumps to too many conclusions. (Altho' he is an excellent scholar and his stuff is worth reading, too.)
Raphael wrote:I differ to Saturn- I prefer Robert Gittings (John Keats) and "The Spirit of Place in Keats" by Guy Murchie. You can find them both online on Amazon. Murchie's I find the least speculative and truest to the facts in the letters and the most respectful to his memory.
I fully expected to like Motion's book- but to my amazement found the writing style long winded and dull and his "facts" questionable at times.
I also have one written by Stephen Coote- called John Keats, A Life- it's ok, but he is too concerned with John's sexual difficulties and passions ( as he sees it)- I can see where Motion drew upon some of his ideas- he used Coote's book as a reference.
However, read as many biographies you can to get your own picture. But really- his letters are the best biography of all- he was so honest that they reveal a lot about him.
Cowden Clarke's memoirs and Charles Brown's memoirs are also invaluable and interesting as they were written by John's friends, who knew him very well, not c.20th/21st people who can only speculate. Charles Brown's memoir is moving at times- he had put off writing this for many years, so grief stricken was he at the loss of a dear friend.
http://spenserians.cath.vt.edu/Biograph ... ioid=35228
http://englishhistory.net/keats/brownkeats.html
I believe Joseph Severn also wrote a memoir of sorts but not seen it.
My favorite two are the one by Walter Jackson Bate and Aileen Ward. I thought they were both quite wonderful, and made Keats, the man, come alive for me. I didn't care as much for the one by Motion. It was interesting in a factual way and worth reading, but, for me, it didn't have the genius that breathes life into a person and makes the past come truly alive.
I agree with Raphael about Keats's letters being the best "autobiography."
Actually, I think it depends on what you're looking for: if you want Keats presented in an historical context, go with Motion's book
I actually favour Ward's book because she makes such an effort to connect Keats's emotional development with that of his poetry.
You can also find (the cad) Charles Brown's so-called biography of Keats on-line . . .
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