Customer Reviews
The Sublime Sir John Betjeman - By: juliet R, 03 Jan 2007 
I received this 2CD pack as a Christmas gift & found it a thoroughly riveting listen.Thirty-eight tracks of golden verse by,in my opinion,the best poet of the last hundred years.In this,Sir John Betjeman's centenary year,there have been many events celebrating the life & work of this very British poet & foremost visionary of the twentieth-century.
There are five readers on this 2CD pack-Stephen Fry,Derek Jacobi,Susan Jameson,Miriam Margolyes & Samuel West,alll diverse voices.
The introduction was written & is read by Andrew Motion,and although a little overlong,holds the listener's interest,describing Betjeman's place in modern literature.It's also a bit over-analysed,but is very kind & admiring in its tone.
Then we come to the poetry.My personal favourites include:"Trebetherick",
read by Sir John,"A Russell Flint",also read by him,"Late-Flowering Lust",read by Derek Jacobi(in my view,the best reader on these CDs,apart,obviously,from Sir John himself),and "Wantage Bells,"with its wonderful rich warm- toned words which send shivers down the spine.
The reason why I haven't rated this work as 5 stars is that I believe that Betjeman's unique poems are incredibly difficult to read,and Sir John himself is reallly the only person who can read & interpret them.
However,that said,this selection is a sumptuous treat for poetry-lovers
such as myself.My very favourite poem,sad to say,"Ireland With Emily",which I had the good fortune to hear read by Candida Betjeman,the Poet Laureate's daughter,some years ago,has been left off this compilation.
Which is a shame.But please,if you love this poet's work,treat yourself this New Year to this collection.It will warm you alll the way through.
