Dylan's Visions of Sin by Of English Christopher Ricks
Bob Dylan's ways with words are a wonder, matched as they are with his music and verified by those voices of his. In response to the whole range of Dylan early and late (his songs of social conscience, of earthly love, of divine love, and of contemplation), this critical appreciation listens to Dylan's attentive genius, alive in the very words and their rewards.Fools they made a mock of sin. Dylan's is an art in which sins are laid bare (and resisted), virtues are valued (and manifested), and the graces brought home. The seven deadly sins, the four cardinal virtues (harder to remember?), and the three heavenly graces: these make up everybody's world -- but Dylan's in particular. Or rather, his worlds, since human dealings of every kind are his for the artistic seizing. Pride is anatomized in Like a Rolling Stone, Envy in Positively 4th Street, Anger in Only a Pawn in Their Game . But, hearteningly, Justice reclaims Hattie Carroll, Fortitude Blowin' in the Wind, Faith Precious Angel, Hope Forever Young, and Charity Watered-Down Love.
In The New Yorker, Alex Ross wrote that Ricks's writing on Dylan is the best there is. Unlike most rock critics -- 'forty-year-olds talking to ten-year-olds, ' Dylan has called them -- he writes for adults. In the Times (London), Bryan Appleyard maintained that Ricks, one of the most distinguished literary critics of our time, is almost the only writer to have applied serious literary intelligence to Dylan .
Dylan's countless listeners (and even the artist himself, who knows?) may agree with W.H. Auden that Ricks is exactly the kind of critic every poet dreams of finding.
Professor Christopher Ricks is Warren Professor of the Humanities at Boston University and co-director of the Editorial Institute. He has taught at Boston University since 1986; he was formerly King Edward VII Professor of English Literature at the University of Cambridge. He is the general editor of two series, Penguin English Poets and Poets in Translation, and the co-editor of Essays in Criticism. In 2002 he will deliver the Panizzi Lectures in Bibliography at the British Library.
Ricks's books include:
(ed.) The Oxford Book of English Verse (OUP 1999)
Essays in Appreciation (OUP 1996)
(ed.) Inventions of the March Hare: Poems 1909-1917 by T. S. Eliot (Fabers 1996)
Beckett's Dying Words: The Clarendon Lectures, 1990 (OUP 1993)
(ed.) Longman annotated poets: Tennyson (Longman 1989)
T.S. Eliot and Prejudice (Fabers 1988)
(ed.) The New Oxford Book of Victorian Verse (1987),
The Force of Poetry (OUP 1984)
Keats and Embarrassment (OUP 1974)
English Drama to 1710 (OUP 1971)#
Milton's Grand Style (OUP 1963)
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9780060599249 |
| ISBN 10 | 0060599243 |
| Title | Dylan's Visions of Sin |
| Author | Of English Christopher Ricks |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Paperback |
| Publisher | HarperCollins Publishers Inc |
| Year published | 2005-07-26 |
| Number of pages | 528 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |