Book Description
Landscape architecture plays a vital role in creating Singapore's Garden City image. This book helps to explain the Republic's successful implementation of environmental policies since independence to achieve its present day image. There are ten chapters in the book. The first three cover background information, the historical setting and the work of the current government. The approach is to evaluate different plans against natural, social and sensory criteria. The next six chapters are case studies, selected to show landscape planning policies in more detail. The last chapter includes a discussion of comments made about Singapore's landscapes followed by a summary. The book is illustrated by a profusion of maps, diagrams and plans. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Fascinating Anthology - Excellent Explanatory Notes
I had read little Cowley and Waller (but not Oldham at all) until I encountered this Penguin collection titled Selected Poems of Abraham Cowley, Edmund Waller, and John Oldham. The introduction and extensive notes by Julia Griffin were especially helpful.

Without her explanatory notes, I doubt that I would have fully appreciated the significance of these lesser known poets. Griffin paints a disturbing portrait of seventeenth century England, a country in turmoil and civil war, and then clearly illustrates how the poetry of Cowley, Waller, and Oldham was shaped by (and reflected) this complex period.

In looking about for traces of Cowley in anthologies and biographies of poets that I had previously read, I stumbled upon Michael Schmidt's criticism in his massive "Lives of the Poets". Apparently Cowley had the temerity to describe Chaucer as "a dry, old-fashioned wit, not worth reviving". Schmidt pointedly asks, "What is our opinion of Cowley?"

Cowley was obviously wrong about Chaucer and I believe that Schmidt was wrong about Abraham Cowley. Cowley is not a Shakespeare, nor a Milton, nor a Marvell. But Cowley warrants familiarity. His poetry makes good reading, its quality is even, and some lines are memorable. My favorites include Against Fruition, On the Death of Sir Anthony Van Dyck, Drinking and the Grasshopper (both playful translations of Greek poetry), the respectful poem To Mr. Hobbes (the English philosopher), Lot's Wife, the humorous The Country Mouse, and the more serious The Country Life.

The lives of Edmund Waller and Abraham Cowley overlapped, both became embroiled in civil war politics and were exiled to France, were aware of each other's poetry, but apparently were only acquaintances. On occasion Abraham Cowley and Edmund Waller wrote poetry on identical topics - the death of Anthony Van Dyck, poems debating pros and cons of sexual fruition in courtship, tribute to the repairing of Somerset house, and poetry on the pleasure of drinking - thus making direct comparisons easier. I usually preferred Cowley, but I liked both, and enjoyed the opportunity to compare decidedly different approaches.

The third poet, John Oldham, lived in poverty and was unable to find reliable patronage. Griffin argues that Oldham's anger fostered some of his best poetry. I found his unrelenting criticism to be somewhat vindictive, harsh, distasteful, and eventually tiring. I never quite finished reading the section on Oldham.

Many anthologies offer useful footnotes, or other explanatory notes, but few are as complete and interesting as those compiled by Julia Griffin. I developed a habit of first reading Griffin's notes, ranging from a short paragraph to a full page, before engaging a poem by Cowley, Waller, or Oldham. Her notes helped me appreciate the historical context as well as clarifying poetic imagery, classical references, archaic terms, and topical references.

Update August, 2007:I recently encountered several quotes from Edmund Waller's poetry in The Man of Mode, a Restoration comedy of manners by George Etherege. The main character, the witty, rakish Dorimant, was forever quoting Waller, a trait that was apparently shared by the boisterous Earl of Rochester, one of Etherege's close companions. ... Read more

Book Description
Imagine if Billboard compiled a list of the top 100 poems, chosen not by critics or professors but by the people themselves. That's the concept behind The Classic Hundred, and it works brilliantly. William Harmon found the 100 most anthologized poems in English, based on the ninth edition of The Columbia Granger's Index to Poetrythe most objective measurement of greatness available, representing consensus among the editors of some 400 anthologies. Then he put them in order and prefaced each one with concise, erudite, often humorous commentary. The range of poets, subjects, and formsfrom Shakespeare to Frost, from love and death to crime and punishment, from sonnets to odesmakes this an entertaining, enlightening, and indispensable aural guide to the finest verse in the English language. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (10)

Share this audio version with your beloved
"A safe sweet and secure present for Valentine's day or any special occasion.If you cannot read poetry aloud with conviction then share this audio version with your beloved."

A great resource
I love listening to this cassette while I drive!I think the commentary is first rate, insightful and learned.I find the readers, who are generally great poets in their own right, sensitive and the readings clear and nuanced.

Readers are AWful not AWEful
Every review here is correct.The readers are amazingly inept.It's hard to believe that the publisher thought this was working.Any average, passionate, good reader would have done so much better.It's very sad.I really wanted to like this work.

Embarrassingly bad readings
In this age of sight and sound, one might hope for a renewed interest in poetry read aloud.After all, your average Ipod can store all the world's great poetry.Any such prospect will quickly be extinguished if there are many productions as bad as this one.At first I thought the readers had been chosen in accordance with some manic diversity template, without the slightest concern for whether they could actually read poetry with even minimal competence.In fact, this project was not ruined by political correctness (though that would be typical these days).Instead, the readers are poets themselves.This is a perennially tempting, and invariably bad, idea.The gift of writing poetry is utterly distinct from the gift of reading it.(Perhaps this is the one arena where the deconstructionists are right:here, the "reader" is as important as the writer.)The truths, and the feelings embodied in these poems would be far better conveyed by professional actors or readers; o for a Derek Jacoby, or a Kenneth Branagh, or a Michael York, to substitute for these awful readers.Give these discs to your child in high school if you want to ensure that he or she will never, ever want to read, or hear, another poem.

Absolute garbage
I can't believe that anyone found a good word to say about this production of poetic vandalism. It's more than bad, it's criminal,and I, for one, would certainly agree that some of the readers sound as if they might have recently escaped from some institution. How bad is it? Well, I've bought more than one set, which might sound contradictory. However, the reason that one set wasn't enough is that I keep giving my cassettes away as warnings, as jokes, and just to share what must be the absolutely worst set of readings ever recorded. This, of course, means that I have to replace them, because something this bad is precious. Anyway, to be more specific, the problem is with the reading of the poems. To be fair, the best of the of the lot reach mediocrity, but the worst....well, they bring a new meaning to "apalling." Some ot the readers do try, and some of them have a vague idea of how to read poetry, but some of them, one with a Pulitizer prize for poetry! sound like they're reading the yellow pages in a language they don't understand. Do yourself a favor. Unless you delight in the perverse, or would like to have something to contribute to the Guiness Book of Records, don't buy this set. ... Read more

Book Description
Gary Waller surveys Spenser's career in terms of the material conditions of its production - the often overlooked material factors of race, gender, class, agency - and the resonant 'places' which influenced his career - court, church, nation, colony. The book includes an original account of the gender politics of Spenser's work and his difficult position between Ireland and England, the 'homes' about which he held ambivalent feelings. Waller also discusses the 'place' the biographer occupies in writing a literary life. ... Read more