The Closest Thing in History: The Fab Four and the Younger Romantics - Couverture souple

Webster, John

Couverture souple

ISBN 10 : 1068332808 ISBN 13 : 9781068332807

Editeur : John Webster Publications, 2024

Synopsis

By comparing The Beatles and another Fab Four (Keats, Byron, Leigh Hunt and Shelley) ‘The Closest Thing in History’ lights up the Romantics and puts The Beatles into a larger, poetic dimension.
Opening by setting out some broad similarities between the two groups, we discover that unlikely bedfellows Elvis Presley and William Wordsworth have a distinctive link: both galvanised their younger contemporaries – and turned against them in the end. It also turns out that both groups had similar experiences of creative inspiration, and that Lord Byron created a sensation not unlike Beatlemania.
Then the story of the Romantics and their interlocking relationships – sometimes funny, sometimes tragic, unfolds, with Beatles parallels providing unique, century-hopping insights. Leigh Hunt is presented as a kind of Ringo figure, less of a creative force but ever supportive of the others; the fates of abandoned wives Harriet Shelley and Cynthia Lennon are put side by side; Shelley’s ‘Prometheus Unbound’ appears as a forerunner of the Beatles’ ‘Yellow Submarine’, and their Apple Corps project finds a historic echo in the Romantics’ publishing project from Pisa, ‘The Liberal’.
Finally, a deft tracing of the passage of time between the two groups’ heydays reveals how the Romantics influenced the flow of popular culture and shows why poetry as a popular force has been largely replaced by that of rock ‘n’ roll. It turns out that the legacy of the Romantics could give a unique insight into The Beatles’ future trajectory and their place in history.
John Webster’s tantalising book offers original insights and telling perspectives on two great cultural forces. It will be of interest to Beatles fans, scholars and students of Romanticism, and those interested in the relationship between classic poetry and the newer force of rock ‘n’ roll. In the end, perhaps, it will re-kindle faith in the power of poetry in human affairs.

‘MORE THAN A WORDSWORTH OF PRAISE FOR THIS NEW BOOK’
‘This wonderful book … is extremely informative and entertaining. You will be amazed at many of Webster’s anecdotes … Many of the parallels he draws are quite frankly, astounding. I learned a lot … not only about the Beatles as a cultural phenomenon, but about the significant contributions of the Romantics to English literature’. - John ‘Buzz’ Bezzini, beatlesbookstore.com
‘A CLEVER AND FASCINATING ANGLE ON THE BEATLES’
‘The premise that links these fiery, inspired and frankly shocking poets with The Beatles is beautifully argued …Not least the spot-on caricature of William Wordsworth as Elvis Presley: in his younger days a hero and a rebel, but later to become a stodgy, forelock-tugging conservative. Absolutely fascinating’ - Boff Whalley, RnR magazine March/April 2025
‘If only I had read it in 1974 I am sure I would have got a first rather than a measly upper 2nd…’. Oxford-based artist John Hounam.

Détails de l'édition

• Éditeur: John Webster Publications
• Date d'édition: 2024
• Langue: anglais
• ISBN 10: 1068332808
• ISBN 13: 9781068332807
• Reliure: Broché
• Nombre de pages: 283
• Coordonnées du fabricant: Manufactured by Amazon on behalf of the author; https://www.amazon.fr/hz/contact-us; ; c/o Amazon Media EU S.à.r.l., 38 Avenue John F. Kennedy; Luxembourg; L-1855; Luxembourg