Product Description
The correspondence between the English poet Rupert Brooke and his close friend James Strachey here appears in print for the first time. The letters reveal much about the lives and interests of these two gifted young men, the nature of their relationship, and the activities of many illustrious friends such as Lytton Strachey (James's brother), J.M. Keynes, Virginia Woolf, and Bertrand Russell.Amazon.com Review
Rupert Brooke is one of the 20th century's best examples of imagemanagement. After he died of blood poisoning en route to Gallipoli in 1915,the poet's valor and godlike good looks were soon immortalized. He neverhad the chance to prove the former save in a handful of verses that are farfrom his finest, but photographic proof of the latter was unassailable.When Brooke's letters were originally published in 1968, his executor andeditor, Geoffrey Keynes, kept well clear of his extensive correspondencewith James Strachey (brother of Lytton andnow best remembered for his translations of Freud). Keynes went so far asto claim that they would appear in print "over my dead body." Nothing lessthan homosexual panic was at the heart of such hysteria: Brooke was to beforever deified, not damned as a sodomite.

Now Keith Hale has whittled down Brooke and Strachey's letters andpostcards between 1905 and 1914 into a volume in which the inconsequential("Thursday lunch will be admirably suitable") bumps up against history,emotion, and desire. The last few years of their friendship were decidedlyrocky, and Strachey's final words on his complex friend are apposite:"Rupert wasn't nearly so nice as people now imagine; but he was a greatdeal cleverer." Whether you read their correspondence as proof positive ofBrooke's bi- or homosexuality will depend on your views of the construction of sexual identity. But it must be said that the poet'saccount of one schoolboy seduction is written with an icy objectivity thateven Edmund White would envy. These letters remain a fascinating record oflongtime companionship--no matter how you use that term. --KerryFried ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Epistles of Unrequited Love:'Friends and Apostles'
Brooke's heart-stopping good looks are the essence of this epistolatory account of the romantic friendship between James Strachey and England's eternal Golden boy. He who penned the heroically mawkish yet strangely thrilling:'If I should die/ Think only this of me/That there is some corner of a foreign field/ That is forever England' is here revealed through Strachey's eyes in the guise of romantic muse, love object, sex god. Unfortunately for Strachey, his passion was unrequited.

Strachey is be-dazzled by Brooke during their first year at Cambridge, and the subsequent correspondence betrays all the hallmarks of adolescent infatuation: in turns importunate, with Strachey's 'declaration' early in 1906; adulatory:'You were so beautiful tonight';desperate: 'I suppose you know what's wrong with me...I'm in love with you'; ever hopeful: 'Why not come quietly to bed with me instead?' in response to Brooke's request for contraceptive information; finally hopeless: 'The sudden sight of him across a room made my heart...bound ... it's no use...' But it is with a start that one realises that this is no adolescent, but rather a scion of the Stracheys - long time members of the intelligentsia, darlings of the Bloomsbury set - assistant editor of 'the Spectator', putative translator of Freud.

And herein lies the fascination. Keith Hale's painstakingly edited and annotated edition of the correspondence vividly presents Strachey's personal drama of unstinting adulation of the man seemingly pursued by a host of admirers of both sexes, but also features most of England's literati and glitterati in supporting roles. Here are Vanessa and Clive Bell, Virginia Woolf, Maynard Keynes, society hostess Lady Ottoline Morrell, together with representatives of an older order - Thomas Hardy, not to mention Henry James who, for goodness sake, Brooke cycles off to call on at Lamb House as casually as if he were the man next door! And interspersed with these semi-mythical figures are the domestic details that form an integral part of Brooke and Strachey's lives.The trivia is engrossing, with its train timetables, motorbuses and postal orders: 'I'll enclose the tickets and a postal order for 10/6.'

But we never stray far from the central motif - that of Strachey's heart-sickness for Brooke. Coupled with our fascination, though,is also the uncomfortably voyeuristic sensation of being privy to Strachey's intimate yearnings and his longing makes for painful reading: 'It is You and my love that makes the universe magical....' and one finds oneself wishing that Brooke could have been kinder.

Hence it is with a start that one reads Brooke's own account of his seduction of a former university acquaintance. One wonders what the besotted Strachey could have made of his graphic and lengthy account of the physical details of his night in bed with Denham Russell-Smith. Brooke's literary executor Geoffrey Keynes vowed that the uncensored Brooke letters would be published 'over my dead body.' And such has certainly been the case as it is only since Keynes' death that the letters have been released.

Brooke's image makers certainly knew how to 'spin', and it is really only now, nearly 90 years later, that we have a clearer view of Brooke the man as opposed to the legend. Perhaps Strachey's words on Brooke , many years following his death, are the most revealing: 'He was not nearly as nice as people now believe him, but a great deal cleverer.'

A period piece worth reading
Much is being made about what this book reveals about Brooke's sexuality, but the main reason for reading it is that it is simply very interesting and educational.One learns so much one never knew about so many of themajor literary and political figures in Georgian England.Hale'simpressive footnotes are as enjoyable as the letters themselves.

candid and erotic
This is probably the closest thing to a Brooke autobiography that the world will ever see.Because of Hale's useful editorial material and his thorough annotations, the letters provide as complete a story of Brooke asmost of his biographies.And because Brooke shows sides of himself toStrachey that have been hitherto suppressed by his executors, the bookprovides a more complex, personal view of Brooke than do his previouslypublished letters or his travel journals.Of particular interest are hisgraphic description of seducing the younger brother of one of his friends;Strachey's account of a sexual rendezvous involving Duncan Grant, JohnMaynard Keynes, and a Cockney youth; the account of Strachey being pursuedby the famous mountain climber, George Mallory; and Brooke's insane,vulgar, and disturbing ramblings following his nervous collapse in 1912. It's quite an interesting read, really. ... Read more

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With a Preface by Henry James ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

America in the early 20th century
A fascinating picture of North America in the first years of the 20th century seen through the eyes of a young Englishman from the establishment making a grand tour of America rather than Europe. It is in the tradition of 'travel books' of the period - his impressions of a strange land - and thus also tells us something about people of his class and country.

Would make good waiting room reading
I had high hopes for this one as a travel journal of a young person seeing America for the first time sounded interesting. There were some interesting observations Brookes made, such as determining that New York was a "real city" after seeing trash and dead cats and dogs in the river lol. But for the most part, for me the book never really got above being mildly cute and entertaining. While Brooke does write more maturely as a young twenty something in the early 1900s than most would today, his overexcitement over his mostly mundane topics is distracting.Another disappointment was the Henry James intro. Much as I like Henry James, I felt like I read 1/2 the book just trying to get through that intro. Go ahead and glance at this one if you're not particular about what to read or if nothing else is around. Otherwise, there are much more rewarding books out there.

More people should know Brooke for his prose; it is elegant.
Although "Letters From America" was actually a series of articles that represents the only time in Rupert Brooke's life when he had a paying job,they work well as a book. Written at a juncture in the poet's life when he suffered from considerable emotional strain in his personal relationships, "Letters" is his record of the world beyond England.It is perceptive, elegant writing. Very personal, very interesting (not only for its picture of North America in the early part of this century, but also for its picture of Brooke, with all of his foibles and prejudices).Had he lived through WWI, Rupert Brooke could have been an outstanding prose writer, as "Letters" suggests. Unfortunately, it was not to be. ... Read more

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A brief and vivid study of 'imagination' in the work of Rupert Brooke.

THIS TITLE IS CITED AND RECOMMENDED BY:Books for College Libraries. ... Read more

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In 1909, sixteen-year-old Nell Golightly is a housemaid at a popular tea garden near Cambridge University, and Rupert Brooke, a new tenant, is already causing a stir with his boyish good looks and habit of swimming naked in nearby Byron's Pool. Despite her good sense, Nell seems to be falling under the radical young poet's spell, even though Brooke apparently adores no one but himself. Could he ever love a housemaid? Is he, in fact, capable of love at all?

Customer Reviews (2)

Rupert Brooke: "A Sexy, Brilliant, Impossible Man"
April, 1982. Ninety year old Nell Golightly receives a surprising letter from Tahiti. A 67 year old woman would like to know something of her father, whom she never met. Somehow her letter finds its way to Nell, who worked as a maid, many years ago, at the Orchard House in Grantchester where the lady's father lived for a time. The man she is inquiring about is the English poet, Rupert Brooke.

This letter forms the basis for Nell's story. Beginning in 1909, she relates her life as a young woman working to support her brothers & sisters after their parents have died, and her meeting and infatuation with the young Cambridge student who comes to live at the Orchard. Rupert Brooke (his picture is above, beautiful isn't he?) is charismatic, charming, talented, even slightly wicked. Nell watches his interactions with women (and men) and despite both she finds herself romantically captivated and intellectually challenged by this fascinating man:

"Here we stop...and I acknowledge to myself the one hard fact that, despite my nature, it has taken me so long to face. There is no request Rupert could make of me that I would refuse. Whatever the pledge between me and God, this is the truth."

As a counterpoint to Nell's story, we get Rupert's own, told from his perspective in alternating sequences. Here it is revealed how much of his outer persona is a sham. He is terribly unsure of himself, sexually inexperienced, not confident of himself as a lover or a writer. He longs for peace, time to think and be alone with his thoughts, though he is constantly and almost randomly infatuated with different people:

"...There are only two ways of approaching relationships. One is only to allow love on the supposition that it may lead to marriage-the other is- the wandering way. And there are people made for the first way and perhaps people made for the second. But to introduce those made for the first to people made for the second is to invite pain and endless trouble....I'm a wanderer."

~Rupert Brooke, in a letter to Phyllis Gardner, 1913

The impetus to escape leads him to the Orchard House and eventually to Tahiti, where some of his best poems were written.

"I think I've always been a sucker for a sexy, brilliant, impossible man."~Jill Dawson

I love the above quote from the author's essay at the back of the book about how she came to write The Great Lover, "The First Tiny Throb: How a Novel Begins." I found her portrayal of Rupert Brooke fascinating, as the man himself must have been. I loved Nell, her intelligence and courage, her ability to look past her social class, her gentle confidence. Rupert was interesting but Nell was the star of this beautifully written novel.

deep biographical fiction
Rupert Brooke arrives in Grantchester, England where he runs the gamut of relationships.He is attracted to a reticent schoolgirl, but flirts outrageously with any female he meets.A male friend seduces Rupert into his first sexual encounter.

In 1909 prim and proper housemaid Nell Golightly has watched Rupert's carouse and thinks he is shameless.Since her parents died, she vowed to never fall in love as that hurts the survivor.However, Nell falls into swooning lust when she runs into Rupert as he goes for a skinny dip swim.They begin a tryst, but he turns increasingly morose as his myriad of affairs leave him without solace at a time he grieves the death of his brother and doubts his poetry writing skills.Instead of turning to Nell, he rejects her for a Tahitian.

Nell makes this deep biographical fiction of the Pre WW I era British poet Rupert Brooke come alive as she tells the tale of a talented young man who confused making love with being in love while ironically he sought love everywhere he went.Although he is The Great Lover, in Nell's mind her Rupert also lacked confidence in sustaining and receiving love and his talent as a poet.Jill Dawson provides a powerful perceptive portrait of a man questing for love.

Harriet Klausner


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