Visions and Revisions: A Book of Literary Devotions

"Visions and Revisions: A Book of Literary Devotions" by John Cowper Powys is a collection of critical essays written in the early 20th century. The work reflects the author's deep admiration and personal responses to various literary giants, including Rabelais, Dante, Shakespeare, and Milton, among others. Through a subjective lens, Powys seeks to convey how these artists resonate with him, emphasizing the emotional and aesthetic experiences evoked by their works rather than adhering to established critical standards. The opening of this literary exploration begins with Powys's intent to provide a personal reflection on the significant figures in literature that have inspired him. He critiques traditional literary criticism, arguing that it often fails to capture the essence of these great artists due to its adherence to methodical analysis and moral interpretations. Instead, Powys advocates for a more honest and passionate articulation of how literature affects individual consciousness, allowing for a raw and genuine engagement with the texts. This sets a tone that foregrounds emotional authenticity over rigid critique, inviting readers to experience literature in a similarly profound manner. (This is an automatically generated summary.)

John Cowper Powys was an English novelist, philosopher, lecturer, critic and poet born in Shirley, Derbyshire, where his father was vicar of the parish church in 1871–1879. Powys appeared with a volume of verse in 1896 and a first novel in 1915, but gained success only with his novel Wolf Solent in 1929. He has been seen as a successor to Thomas Hardy, and Wolf Solent, A Glastonbury Romance (1932), Weymouth Sands (1934), and Maiden Castle (1936) have been called his Wessex novels. As with Hardy, landscape is important to his works. So is elemental philosophy in his characters' lives. In 1934 he published an autobiography. His itinerant lectures were a success in England and in 1905–1930 in the United States, where he wrote many of his novels and had several first published. He moved to Dorset, England, in 1934 with a US partner, Phyllis Playter. In 1935 they moved to Corwen, Merionethshire, Wales, where he set two novels, and in 1955 to Blaenau Ffestiniog, where he died in 1963.