Andrew Marvell Books

I was really excite to read it because I generally love historical novels and in particular novels about real historical figures. Unfortunately, I was disappointed.

While supposedly a "playful" historical telling of Andrew Marvell's life (spy, politician, seventeenth-century poet), I finally gave up on page 63, mired in the middle of a seemingly never-ending battle scene to which Marvell was an observer. While perhaps I didn't have the historical background to understand the details behind this particular battle, I was able to at least figure out that it was the Parliament (Oliver Cromwell) against the King. I guess I would have preferred a story that tells me a little more about the history and context of the action.

In addition, I was also disappointed by the character of Marvell himself. Albeit that I likely did not give Peachment's character much time to develop, having given up on page 63, I still was not sufficiently engaged in the portrayal of this rookie spy to understand even an inkling of his intentions or motivation.

It used to be that I would suffer through mediocre books just to say I had given them a fair shake. Not so anymore. Marvell, you may have been an interesting fellow, it's just a shame that you couldn't be here to choose your biographer.

Though much is known about seventeenth century English poet Andrew Marvell, there are periods with little or no information available. Showing courage or chutzpah, Christopher Peachment fills those voids by extracting what is known about this metaphysical poet and his times to create a marvelous work of historical fiction.

Marvell comes across as a paradox. He was a loner who trusted few and over time concluded that life was meaningless though he had friends such as John Milton and easily switched allegiance to an ever changing of the guard. He enjoyed women sexually, but detested females perhaps as Mr. Preachment implies due to his growing up gap towards his older sisters.

Other major points include his attraction to his twelve year old student Mary Fairfax of Appleton House, his responsibility for lighting the Great Fire of London to goad a mob to assault Catholics, and a weird tryst in Spain.

This novel stars an engaging seventeenth century poet ("To His Coy Mistress" and "Upon Appleton House"). Though well-written, Mr. Preachment fills in the blank years such as the early 1640s with speculation and creative license. This makes for an exciting look at Andrew Marvell and the era, but also difficult to decide what is based on accepted facts about the subject and what is extrapolated from the era. Still THE GREEN AND THE GOLD - A NOVEL OF ANDREW MARVELL: SPY, POLITICIAN, POET is an engaging look at a lyrical romantic poet who in midlife turned to satire as England became a house divided.

Harriet Klausner

Marvell's is not an easy life to write. His remarkable caution in a remarkable time led to a dearth of biographical source material. Murray, at times, seems to have limited sympathy for Marvell, and the thinness of his source material sometimes gives the impression of 'slightness' to his treatment. But in the last third of the book, I got a glimpse of a Marvell I'd never seen anywhere else - tough, fearless and at risk in ways we can't imagine. I give the book THREE STARS, but relative to other available biographies on Marvell, it probably deserves FOUR. If you're interested in Marvell, it's well worth reading.

"A safe sweet and secure present for Valentine's day or any special occasion. If you cannot read poetry aloud with conviction then share this audio version with your beloved."

I love listening to this cassette while I drive! I think the commentary is first rate, insightful and learned. I find the readers, who are generally great poets in their own right, sensitive and the readings clear and nuanced.

Every review here is correct. The readers are amazingly inept. It's hard to believe that the publisher thought this was working. Any average, passionate, good reader would have done so much better. It's very sad. I really wanted to like this work.

In this age of sight and sound, one might hope for a renewed interest in poetry read aloud. After all, your average Ipod can store all the world's great poetry. Any such prospect will quickly be extinguished if there are many productions as bad as this one. At first I thought the readers had been chosen in accordance with some manic diversity template, without the slightest concern for whether they could actually read poetry with even minimal competence. In fact, this project was not ruined by political correctness (though that would be typical these days). Instead, the readers are poets themselves. This is a perennially tempting, and invariably bad, idea. The gift of writing poetry is utterly distinct from the gift of reading it. (Perhaps this is the one arena where the deconstructionists are right: here, the "reader" is as important as the writer.) The truths, and the feelings embodied in these poems would be far better conveyed by professional actors or readers; o for a Derek Jacoby, or a Kenneth Branagh, or a Michael York, to substitute for these awful readers. Give these discs to your child in high school if you want to ensure that he or she will never, ever want to read, or hear, another poem.

I can't believe that anyone found a good word to say about this production of poetic vandalism. It's more than bad, it's criminal,and I, for one, would certainly agree that some of the readers sound as if they might have recently escaped from some institution. How bad is it? Well, I've bought more than one set, which might sound contradictory. However, the reason that one set wasn't enough is that I keep giving my cassettes away as warnings, as jokes, and just to share what must be the absolutely worst set of readings ever recorded. This, of course, means that I have to replace them, because something this bad is precious. Anyway, to be more specific, the problem is with the reading of the poems. To be fair, the best of the of the lot reach mediocrity, but the worst....well, they bring a new meaning to "apalling." Some ot the readers do try, and some of them have a vague idea of how to read poetry, but some of them, one with a Pulitizer prize for poetry! sound like they're reading the yellow pages in a language they don't understand. Do yourself a favor. Unless you delight in the perverse, or would like to have something to contribute to the Guiness Book of Records, don't buy this set.

Marvell's poetry is subtle, subtle. You could spend a couple of years just mastering this thin volume.

But his language is also archaic, and this edition, from the "Wordsworth Poetry Library," is of no help whatsoever. Marvell was a contemporary of Milton, so many of the terms he uses require GLOSSING. Hello, anybody?

Yet there's nothing to help you in this book. It's nothing more than the bare text of the poems without any footnotes, glossary, or anything. There is a four-page introduction, but so what?

In fact, your needs will be served better, comprehensively better, if you click on over to this page:

The Complete Poems (Penguin Classics)

and purchase that far superior product. It has everything this volume doesn't.