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List Price: $10.95 | | Publisher: Audio Literature
Salesrank: 3138737
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| Our Price: $3.98 |
| Used Price: $3.91 |
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| Media: Audio Cassette |
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Editorial Review:
Emily Dickinson was born into a prominent New England family. Sociable as a child, she grew increasingly withdrawn, and in later years became known as a recluse. Only seven of her poems were published during her lifetime. After Emily's death in 1886, her sister discovered the bulk of her poems and began publishing them, thus establishing Emily Dickinson as one of the greatest poets of the English language.
Description of Fifty Poems of Emily Dickinson, Vol. 2 (Ultimate Classics):
At the age of 23, Emily Dickinson receded from the social whirl of her prominent family into semiseclusion. For the remaining 23 years of her life she was happiest when alone and writing. As she requested in "The Prayer," "Great Spirit, give to me a heaven not so large as yours, but large enough for me." Read by a group of very talented celebrity women such as Meryl Streep, Sharon Stone, and Alfre Woodard, these pieces lean toward the somber side of Dickinson's work (which, as her fans know, is very somber indeed). Poems include "Shipwreck," "Will There Really Be a Morning?" and "To Know Just How He Suffered." (Running time: 45 minutes, 1 cassette) --C.B. Delaney
Fifty Poems of Emily Dickinson, Vol. 2 (Ultimate Classics) Reviews:
What A Disappointment 
2008-07-10 - A CD that contains fifty poems of my favorite poet read in part by perhaps my favorite actress Meryl Streep-- now that's a CD you can tip your hat to-- well not exactly. If there ever was a poet whose works do not need background music while being read, it has to be those of Miss Dickinson. If we have to have music connected with the poems, we can listen to those poems that Aaron Copland and Ned Rorem set to music. The music on this CD had become pretty much a mild aggravation, a little like getting two radio stations on a car radio late at night, when on poem number 33, "The Lonely House," I recognized Robert Schumann's famous "Traumeri" as the music swelled. There is no excuse for this.
The editors have allowed themselves to name some of the poems included here. Anyone who has ever read Dickinson knows that she never named any of her poems and that they are usually identified by first lines. It also would have been convenient for the listener if the words to the poems had been included with the CD. They are not. Neither are we told which reader is reading what poem. (In addition to Ms. Streep, Glenda Jackson, Stephanie Beacham and Sharon Stone read as well. While I recognize Glenda Jackson's voice and Ms. Streep's sometimes, I do not have the faintest idea what either Sharon Stone or Stephanie Beacham's voices sound like. I would gladly have paid more for a better produced CD.
Even all these shortcomings cannot mar the beauty of these rich and wonderful poems with such lines as "the sordid excellence as paradise" if they could just turn off the music! And many of Miss Dickinson's lesser-known poems are included, along with some of those most often anthologized, including my favorite poem "The Bustle in a House."
Dickinson was before her time 
2008-05-09 - I've never been into poetry before but Ms Dickinson's poems just blow me away. The readers are perfect for the job - they put emotion and energy into the words making the CD a pleasure to listen to. Highly recommended.
Excellent Readings, But NOT the Poems Listed on the CD
2007-03-20 - These witty, sly, despairing performances breathe new life and new perspectives into the poems and the poet. Unfortunately, the poems listed on the back of the CD are NOT the poems you hear on the CD, which makes it difficult to know which actress is reading and exactly what she is reading. It's also impossible to directly access a poem directly --- everything falls under a 45 minute Track 1. Finally, this is Fifty Poems of Emily Dickinson, Volume 3. What happened to Volumes 1 and 2? I saw them once as cassettes, but never as CDs.
Perfect marriage of medium and message 
2004-12-01 - Joan Allen, of all people, emerges as the stand out in this collection of wonderfully nuanced readings of poet Emily Dickinson's deceptively simple poems on nature and human truths. Just terrific!
The delivery is as smooth as Emily's poems
2002-03-09 - If you like Emily Dickenson (and I do) you will love this audio cassette. The readers include Meryl Streep, Sharon Stone, and other great female talents. They read the poems with style and a subtility that matches the work of the poet. After hearing the presentations, I came away feeling that the poems were studied by the readers and for the most part understood and delivered accordingly. Thumbs up!
