okay, so i don't own the book, but the poem is exquisite, and i've been a fan of it since childhood. unlike the independent publisher, i don't think that children are ever too little to be exposed to poetry or art, and murray kimber's work is stunning. perhaps if they read the poem they'd figure out where the horse motif comes from. jeez, guys, maybe you could sound a bit more pompous and uninformed if you tried, but i don't see how.

Every artist, musician and writer needs to read this book. It is truly amazing and has influenced me for many years - from the firsttime I read it back in the early 80's. It is a teacher, a guide, aglimpse into the mind of one of the greatest poets of the 20thscentury. Dylan inspired a great many of the most acclaimed musicians,we know that... but what is not widely known is his influence onpainters and other artists. He is a treasure and his letters, thankGod, are here for us to learn from. I felt as though I was there withhim each day throughout all his struggles and the rare triumphs thatfollowed...

Hilary Laurie's pictorial biography is a worthy successor to John Ackerman's "Welsh Dylan", a book we first encountered in the middle 1980s. Laurie's book, "Dylan Thomas's Wales," combines colour photographs of modern-day Wales with old black-and-whites of Dylan and Caitlin Thomas, Dylan's parents and children; the text is an accurate chronicle of the poet's life, from schoolboy mischief to the turbulence of his more famous years. Laurie's tone toward her subject is one of deep respect, with a keen eye to Thomas's faults (usually described by Thomas himself, in the letters which Laurie excerpts).

There is, as there must be, a generous sampling of some of Dylan Thomas's more famous poems, the lines that echo in the brain and heart for twenty decades after you've read them. Occasionally, the texts of the poems are almost undetectably inaccurate, a plural noun made singular or a definite article omitted, but these objections aside, Laurie has done a fantastic job in making the life of Dylan Thomas quite vivid, and in giving American readers a fairly good visual impression of the landscape in which Thomas was immersed.

A photograph from "Welsh Dylan" (Ackerman's book) that might have been included is that of the club-wielding chalk giant, etched into the hill of Cerne Abbas, a landmark that inspired Dylan Thomas's poem "In the White Giant's Thigh." But that photograph of a youthful Mrs Thomas clutching the hay to conceal her birthdaysuitedness (p 79) might be, for some, apt compensation.

I have never been able to see the exact places that Dylan Thomas wrote about, so this book was very meaningful to me. I didn't expect to see Caitlin Thomas in a field dressed only in hay, but she's here, too. Especially touching is a photo of Dylan with Pamela Hansford Johnson. They look happy, but the caption reads: "This visit convinced her of the hopelessness of their relationship."

The text is part biography, part letters, part poems. Photos of places he lived, walked, played. Probably over a hundred photos in the book, most of which this Dylan Thomas addict had never seen.

Dylan Thomas was a weirdo and i think that this book illistrates that in a wonderful manner. he was awesome

Years ago i read "do not go gentle into that good night" and i was introduced to dylan thomas. i quickly went out and bought his collected poems, and was totally enraptured by the poet. he has stayed on the top of my favorites, even as i read more and more poetry. this collection is not a complete works. it contains what Daniel Jones (a friend of DT's) selected out of thomas' works. the collected poems and about 100 other poems, one additional incomplete poem, and 26 poems from DT's juvenalia. it's a good collection, but you can see why dylan thomas did not include these extra poems in his collected poems. they aren't as great as what he can produce. if you love dylan thomas, like i do, then this is a great book to buy, otherwise, you can just stick with the collected poems (those poems were selected by DT himself, as the work he wanted to "save").

The Beach of Falesa was written by R.L Stevenson; there must be some sort of misprint or confusion here.

I picked this up simply because I was unaware that Dylan Thomas wrote novels. The novel is a great light read - the story of competing traders of copa with very different views of the natives - tied up in a traditional adventure story of good vs. evil. Toss in a corpse, a beautiful mixed-blood woman, more than a little gin, a missionary, a noble young warrior ... In short fun but not necessarily great literature.

It is easy to confuse the authorship of the Beach of Falesa. Stevenson wrote a short story "Uma" of which Dylan's "Beach of Falesa" is a retelling. "Uma" has since been republished under the title "Beach of Falesa". A search by title on Amazon should return both titles.

I would suggest that reading both volumes is an interesting way to explore the basic tale.

And, admitting to my faux pas, knowing that Stevenson's tale was "Uma" I accidently placed my review of Dylan's book under Steveson's book, thinking that Dylan's would be the only book by that title. My thanks to the Amazon staff for deleting my mistake.

It's been a while since I read this book, but I wanted to be the first one to review!! The book was filled with small excerpts from Dylan Thomas' life, many of which dealt with surreal type encounters. The first part of the book seemed to lag somewhat, but the last story got me hooked and then ended in a very odd way, which was really cool. Maybe I shouldn't be writing this, I'm no lit expert. I'd reccommend it though.

This memoir is painful, beautiful, rugged. He shows himself to be proud, horrid, loving, sentimental. It is a small collection of short, powerful stories that span from childhood to young adulthood. He refers to himself at times in first person, other times in third (so you have to pay attention!). Growing into manhood, observing others and being observed. He expresses experiences of personal pride and humiliation with equal relish. Portraits of others in his life are humorous, admiring and at times sad. Hanging out with odd-balls; learning about women. It may have been a simpler time for technology, but the emotional struggles, the economic realities, the physical exertion required in a life in early 20th century Wales were harsh. All-in-all, this book is unforgettable.

I would rather read this book than any by James Joyce. Thomas may be remembered for his wonderful poems, but his short pieces are, under no circumstances, to be ignored.

Thomas writes of his youth, which is a subject that many writers have attempted to write about, and where they fall short he excells. The stories are nothing but fun. Actually, they are more than fun; they are often beautiful. By all means, READ THIS!

This is probably the greatest play ever written for RADIO! It's a medium rarely thought of for such things today, and theater people repeatedly come a cropper in trying to put it on the stage. I've seen several stage productions and one TV version, and the piece simply does not work that way. Dylan Thomas takes the LISTENER inside the characters' dreams and thoughts. Once they are concretized or thingified on a stage or screen, they are destroyed. Don't read it. Close your eyes and LISTEN. It's magnificent - funny, sweet, moving.

I first heard this recording over 30 years ago while an undergraduate student. I was stunned. It is the full theatrical experience on tape -- Dylan Thomas wrote the play for voices alone, and this recording was made with the actors simply sitting on folding chairs while delivering the lines. You can note some similarities with both Spoon River Anthology and Our Town, but Under Milk Wood contains more humor and really a more complete picture of the people and the subject town than either of those. I strongly recommend it.

On November 7th, Dylan Thomas collapsed in his hotel room. On the 9th, he died. This was only a few days after the final performance of "Under Milk Wood", a special play with no acting but voices, the sort of work Thomas believed would replace the poetic impulse he feared had dried up. Although believed by many to be unfinished, "Under Milk Wood" seems perfect as it is. A journey through the events of a single day in a small town, "Under Milk Wood" is a must for Dylan Thomas fans, but also would be appreciated by fans of Garrison Keillor and other radio-storytellers. The written text cannot compare with the lively, laughter-ridden performance. Listen to the real thing, and you will, as Dylan Thomas instructed his actors, "love the words."

This book is a compilation of Thomas' sessions at the BBC. There are poems in prose and in verse. His style transmits nostalgia for his native Wales. Some of the best parts are his sketches of other Welch poets. A highly recommendable book by one very good poet, the same one who died in New York at the Chelsea hotel, after having more than 40 scotchs with soda. His poetry is rhythmical and clear, very imaginative and precise.

This is a spectacular collection of really interesting stories with great depth. My favourite is Trevor's Going Home, because it is so easy to relate it with real life. The portrayal of the two characters is simply marvelous.

One often wonders, when one hears everyone and their brothers spouting superlatives about a poet from a historically repressive country, whether the superlatives are based on the poet's actual work, or whether they're in some way based on the poet's admirable-- but irrelevant-- ability to perform within a culture that is repressive to the poet's art. In some cases, the superlatives are justified, for example Vladimir Holan's stunning book-length poem _A Night with Hamlet_, written while Holan was officially a non-person in Hungary in the sixties.

Akhmatova has been called "the greatest Russian woman poet ever, and perhaps the greatest woman poet ever." I can't help but think those lauding on these kinds of laurels are looking more at her life than her work. There are certainly flashes of great brilliance here, but to put Akhmativa's work up against that of, say, Elizabeth Bishop, Deborah Allbery, or even the underrated Dorianne Laux would quickly reveal many of its flaws.

This is not to say that Akhmatova's poetry is completely without merit, and one must be forced to consider the viability of the work of any translator who would consider "He, was it, through the packed hall/Sent you (or was it a dream?)" to be the best way to translate anything, much less poetry. And thus, perhaps, the original is far more eloquent than what we receive here. That taken into account, there is still the problem to contend with that much of Akhmatova's work is, for obvious reasons, overtly political, and makes no attempt to convey its message artistically; worse yet, a good deal of that work is imagist, impressionist. The end result is something that's thick, sludgy, and impossible to read.

However, every once in a while a good line will shine through, and occasionally we find ourselves staring at a poem that seems to exist well outside the boundaries of this particular collection:

* * *

Voronezh

And the town is frozen solid, leaded with ice.

Trees, walls, snow, seem to be under glass. Cautiously I tread on crystals. The painted sleighs can't seem to get a grip. And over the statue of Peter-in-Voronezh Are crows, and poplars, and a pale-green dome Washed-out and muddy in the sun-motes. The mighty slopes of the field of Kulikovo Tremble still with the slaughter of barbarians. And all at once the poplars, like lifted chalices, Enmesh more boisterously overhead Like thousands of wedding-guests feasting And drinking toasts to our happiness. And in the room of the banished poet Fear and the Muse take turns at the watch, And the night comes When there will be no sunrise.

* * *

Unfortunately, there's too little of this and too much of the rest. Giving the benefit of the doubt where the translation is concerned, I can still only manage ** 1/2.

Anna Akhmatova was one of the century's greatest lyric poets. D. M. Thomas has selected a fine overview of her poetic accomplishment, and translated the poems stunningly: both lyric cadences and the quality of spoken speech come through in his refashioning of the poems into English. (The Hayward/Kunitz tranlations are also fine, but for a brief introduction this is a wonderful book.)

The volume contains her "Requieum," a ten pagel lyric sequence which is my choice for the greatest poem of the twentieth century, as it combines personal lyricism, social witness, historical density, a primal narrative moment -- in poems which are stunning, one after another.

Perhaps only Yeats has rivalled Akhmatova's exploration of love in modern times, and there are many moments when her symbolism, her brevity, her song-like qualities are reminiscent of the best of Yeats.

This is a wonderful book, a fine introduction to a great, powerful, haunting poet.