There is no frigate like a book
To take us lands away,
Nor any coursers like a page
Of prancing poetry.
~ Emily Dickinson

Literature is my Utopia. Here I am not disenfranchised. No barrier of the senses shuts me out from the sweet, gracious discourses of my book friends. They talk to me without embarrassment or awkwardness. ~ Helen Keller

Sunday, 15 April 2012

Browning Bicentennial Events and Browning-related Reading

"It may be apocryphal but it was said that General Allenby, in the middle of the campaign against the Turks in 1917, was rushing about his quarters, visibly flustered. 'Where's my Browning?' he demanded of his ADC. 'It's in your holster, sir', came the answer. 'Not the Browning revolver, I meant Robert Browning,' roared Allenby."

This anecdote comes from the first commenter on a recent Telegraph article encouraging us to celebrate Robert Browning's bicentennary "with loud, cheerful and sometimes discordant music."

Here's the Browning Society's roundup of events (unfortunately mostly in Britain) throughout the year.

This link includes a few events in the U.S. Unfortunately nothing is close enough for this Browning devotee to attend.

Browning Related Books

Plans for my Browning Week (hosted here) are changing a little due to my busy schedule, and will consist mostly of posts on some of the poems. (Though I'd love to find someone to guest blog on Browning.) I do hope to do some reading about Browning which will hopefully extend through the whole year. Here's a list of books I might read and that might be of interest to anyone wanting to acquaint themselves with Browning.

Biographies (I really need to do some research, because I have no idea which of the following biographies are the best.)

Forever in Joy: The Life of Robert Browning by Rosemary Sprague (167 pages)


Two Poets, a Dog, and a Boy by Theresa Russel

The title seems to indicate it must be about the Brownings' life in Florence


Robert Browning : A Life After Death by Pamela Neville-Sington

Don't worry! It's not spiritualistic – that was Elizabeth's problem – it's about Browning's life after her death. I'll admit this is the bio I'm most inclined to because it has a nice cover and is the most recent. Superficial, I know.


Fiction/Drama

Flush by Virginia Woolf (fiction, 110 pages)

This biographical novel about Elizabeth Barret Browning's dog undoubtedly includes Robert. Because I'm a dog-lover, have had it out from the library before, need to read more Woolf, and included it in my Classics Club list, I hereby vow to read this book, if I read no others.


The Barretts of Wimpole Street by Rudolph Besier

I used to be quite disdainful of the popularization of people as formidably intellectual as the Brownings, but now I think 92 pages of this might not hurt. Besides, I don't read enough drama.


Criticism

Robert Browning by G.K. Chesterton

Apparently this is a combination of biography and criticism. I've gained the impression that Chesterton was one of Browning's warmest admirers and ablest critics. I might listen to it from LibriVox.

Robert Browning by Robert B. Pearsall

A Twayne's critical guidebook that I read parts of earlier in the year. It's not bad, but I'd probably only finish to because of my OCD need to actually read books in full.

Faith of Robert Browning by Hugh Martin

I really can't find any information about this book that I found in the library archives, but since Robert Browning's faith is one of the things I love most about him, I might check it out.

Browning as Philosophical and Religious Teacher by Henry Jones

An online (1890) book I stumbled across, and which looks interesting, despite my inability to learn anything about the author.

His Own Works

The Complete Poetical Works of Browning

I really am not going to try to read approximately 1000 pages, but I may try to get through The Ring and the Book and read whatever else catches my eye.

I'll probably listen to a Naxos AudioBooks 80 minute recording of some of the notable poems. I don't like short verse, such as Emily Dickinson's, read, but I think a good reading could enhance my understanding of some dramatic monologues.

The Brownings: Letters and Poetry (edited?) by Christopher B. Ricks

I don't think this is the couple's full correspondence, but it might be a treat to read some of it.


If anyone knows of any good biographies or would like to contribute to this blog's celebrations of Robert Browning, please don't hesitate to comment.


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2 comments:

  1. I was elated when I saw this, that Browning events are in the UK. And then I realised most of them are over. :( I read somewhere that compared to us, the Victorians found Browning harder to digest, which seems surprising because the Victorians were no intellectual lightweights. Apparently his form was new and they couldn't understand it. I suppose the same case applies to Milton. The Victorians revered him and Paradise Lost was considered decent and good reading for an educated family. Today Paradise Lost would be considered advanced even for an educated family. But then again they were accustomed to epic poetry.

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  2. I don't know if you're anywhere near there, but I think that the big (Westminster Abbey?) memorial for Browning will be in December. It would be great if you got to attend something.

    I wonder if the shift in understanding of Browning and Milton is because Browning's complexities are psychological and Milton's are theological. Today psychology has high standing and most know something of Freud. Perhaps to some early Victorians it seemed vulgar to delve too much into minds (even of criminals and sociopaths, as Browning did). And of course now many people don't have the theological/biblical foundation to really understand Milton.

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