Shelley: The Pursuit
Shelley: The Pursuit by Richard Holmes, published by Penguin Books on October 6, 1987, is a comprehensive biography that reexamines the life of Percy Bysshe Shelley. This edition spans 864 pages and presents a nuanced portrayal of Shelley, challenging the conventional Victorian view of him as merely an ethereal figure. Instead, Holmes reveals a more complex character marked by rebellion and a profound rejection of societal norms, providing insights into Shelley’s radical beliefs and innovative poetry.
In this biography, readers will discover the multifaceted life of Shelley, who was expelled from college and disowned by his father, ultimately leading a life characterized by defiance and controversy. Holmes delves into Shelley’s role as a radical agitator and an apostle of free love, emphasizing his impact on literature and the inspiration he provided to later poets. This edition offers a detailed exploration of Shelley’s life, highlighting his struggles and achievements while presenting a vivid account of a man whose legacy continues to resonate in literary circles.
Official synopsis Publisher
The Pursuit is the book with which Richard Holmes—the finest literary biographer of our day—made his name. Dispensing with the long-established Victorian picture of Shelley as a blandly ethereal character, Holmes projects a startling image of “a darker and more earthly, crueler and more capable figure.” Expelled from college, disowned by his aristocratic father, driven from England, Shelley led a life marked from its beginning to its early end by a violent rejection of society; he embraced rebellion and disgrace without thought of the cost to himself or to others. Here we have the real Shelley—radical agitator, atheist, apostle of free love, but above all a brilliant and uncompromising poetic innovator, whose life and work have proved an essential inspiration to poets as varied as W.B. Yeats and Allen Ginsberg.
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