Darwin
A Life in Poems
Format:Paperback
Publisher:Vintage Publishing
Published:6th May '10
£9.99
Available to order, but very limited on stock - if we have issues obtaining a copy, we will let you know.
An intimate and moving interpretation of the life and work of Charles Darwin, by the acclaimed poet and direct descendent of the famous scientist. Shortlisted for the 2009 Costa Poetry Award.
Includes poems that use multiple viewpoints - from Darwin himself, to his beloved wife Emma, and even, at one point, the orangutang at London Zoo - and illuminates the development of Darwin's thought, the drama of the discovery of evolution, and the fluctuating emotions of Darwin the husband, and the naturalist and the tender father.
In these extraordinary poems, using multiple viewpoints - from Darwin himself, to his beloved wife Emma, and even, at one point, the orangutang at London Zoo - Ruth Padel illuminates the development of Darwin's thought, the drama of the discovery of evolution, and the fluctuating emotions of Darwin the husband, the naturalist and the tender father, in a powerful tribute to her famous ancestor.
Shortlisted for the 2009 Costa Poetry Award.
Exquisite, precise and moving poems... Once I started reading I could not put it down until I had reached the end, and then I turned back for the pleasure of reading again -- Claire Tomalin
A fascinating, very rich book... With sympathy and grace, Padel moves deftly between between science, love and family; between the vast processes of evolution and a personal life -- Sean O'Brien
Daring and exciting, brilliant and subtle, stunning and deeply impressive... a lesson to biographers and poets alike -- Colm Toibin
Ambitious... shows her extraordinary talent * Observer *
Moments of Darwin's life captured with an economy and fluency that prosaic biographers might envy * Spectator *
ISBN: 9780099547051
Dimensions: 198mm x 129mm x 9mm
Weight: 117g
160 pages