Customer Reviews
An excellent edition of an outstanding poet - By: William Burn, 31 Oct 2008 
This review is intended to serve two different audiences:in the first part I'll talk about Owen's poetry, & why, if you've not done so before, you should, must & absolutely have to spend some time getting to grips with his writing; &in the second part I'll deal with the ins & outs of this particular edition of his verse (there being a great many available on the market.)
So, why be so insistent that you read Owen? Well, he wasin many ways the most talented poet writingin Englishin the First World War, & his poems go furthest to communicate the experience of the men who foughtin the trenches to readers almost a century away from the battles he saw. His most famous poems, such as "Anthem for Doomed Youth" & "Dulce et decorum est" are lyrical, elegant pieces of poetry that present intensely moving images of what Owen himself described as "the pity of war", & no-one will ever forget the image of the young man who was a second too slow to put his gas mask on. These poems are his most traditional, owing a clear debt to Keats & Shelley, & it seems as thoughin them he is writing the final verses of the great Victorian century of poetry. Yet there is much more to his writing: some of his poetry shows the early shoots of modernism, for examplein the more allusive (and elusive) "Strange Meeting" & "Insensibilty",in which Owen seems to be looking forward, using language & techniques not unlike those of Eliot & Pound. For me, though, the poem which has moved me every time I have read it for over 15 years is "Futility", a tender & beautiful lament for a young man killed just before dawn. It is true that 90 years have passed since Owen died, but his poetry remains for us the defining account of the Great War.
So to the second part of this review. Owen is back on the A-level syllabus, & many readers will want to know if this book will help themin their studies. And the short answer is, yes. John Stallworthy is an excellent editor: honest & open about the choices he has made, & uncriciticalin his provision of a great variety of alternative views & interpretations. His notes, which follow every poem, are wonderfully generous (citing whole other poems where necessary), & each poem is given a brief account of the circumstancesin which it was produced. His introduction is excellent, describing Owen's life & literary influences (an understanding of which is essential if you are to really get to grips with his work), & giving readings of some of his more famous works. In all, I could not wish for a better edition of his war poetry: early & incomplete works are also provided, & the feeling one gets is of first rate scholarship.
I will be honest that for some time I had an ambivalent relationship with Owen's work, beeing too much distracted by the apparent simplicity of his more famous work, & not appreciating the remarkable creative process, &in particular his engagement with the poetic tradition, that lies behind his work. Using this edition has restored my enjoyment, & I am hugely greatful for it. I cannot recommend it highly enough.
Owen - One of the Greats - By: B. Davison, 11 May 2005 
Clearly, Owen was a genius. His poetry really speaks of the horrors of war & serves as a reminder to all us youngsters that World War I should not be romanticised or forgotten.
On the day of receiving this, I read all of the poems as well as the biography of Owen himself. All of Owen's best work is here, & I'm particularly fond of 'Futility' & 'Anthem for Doomed Youth'. Owen's poem 'The Wrestlers', which I didn't know about until I bought this, was also an enjoyable read.
I just wonder how many more great poems Owen would have written if his life hadn't been so cruelly cut short by the Great War. Whatever he would have written over the next 50 years, I'm sure it would only have served to cement his place as one of the great war poets. Owen was made immortal by his early death, but, on the evidence of his short life's work, he would have become a legend anyway.
A excellent insight into war - By: kate.tictac@virgin.net, 15 May 2001 I first got this book because I needed it for an essay, but after reading found it to be a fabulous insight into the brutal nature of war. Owen really tells it like it is & while the rest of the world were, at that time, glorifying the wonders of war Owen was actaully depicting the harsh reality. Clearly shownin poems like Dulce et Decorum est & He Died Smiling. For an excellent insight on the real nature of war it is highly recommendable.
