The Spirit of Romance

Excellent copy.

Humorous, to my mind, that my prior review of Pound's Cantos, which I do not much care for, inspired a touch of vitriol from some impassioned fans of his work. So, perhaps to atone for that, I will say how much I enjoy this earlier work of his, where he gets to display his encyclopedic knowledge of Western European culture in an appropriate vehicle. While this book is essentially out of date now, having been written in the 20s, its general conclusions regarding the birth of the modern lyric in Europe are always fascinating and insightful. His wit is present and pertinent, and his later gross arrogance and stubborn refusal to organize his thinking nowhere to be found. So, I highly recommend this book, and while a knowledge of the Cantos is required to be fully literate, this work is far better and actually far more important and relevant to modern letters. The writer of this book is a man I would have liked to have known, while I would not say the same regarding the writer of the Cantos. Another possibly indefensible critical paradigm, I suppose, but there you have it in any case.