Rating: 
Summary: Both very enjoyable and highly useful
Review: A very useful book. It was an excellent idea to include a CD-Rom with Helen Vendler reading a good number of the sonnets. Hearing them with the book in hand made for an absolutely wonderful afternoon. The introduction provides interesting ideas - among them, that the sonnets are meant to be "said", not "overheard", as Eliot says of lyric poetry, which makes the CD-Rom all the more valuable. It also provides a bird's eye view, and brief but authoritative critical appraisal, of scholarly publications on the subject - no mean task. However, I felt the need of more reference to the baroque context in which these poems were produced. For instance, thinking in the antithetical mode is not an individual trait: one remembers Donne, or Quevedo, or Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, and realizes that many of the forms of construction, and of the images, etc., belong not to personal choice or preference but to collective baroque practice throughout Europe and (even) America.
Rating:
Summary: Well-intended, impressive, but to what end?
Review: At the outset Vendler claims that any comment on Shakespeare's sonnets that could be applied to a prose paraphrasis is not worthy of the name "literary criticism." From this position she proceeds to give a jargon-free, yet exceedingly dense and technical, linguistic analysis of the sonnets. Her readings are informed by post-structuralist as well as formalist criticism. The latter critics, however, always sought to demonstrate how meaning is a function of form, whereas Vender's commitment to structuralist and deconstructionist positions about language forbids her to talk about the "meaning," or content, of the poems.And therein lies the problem. What if a film critic elected to talk about a favorite auteur with no reference to the material that could be gleaned by reading the script as opposed to viewing the film text? Imagine the result--an abundance of observations about shots and countershots, angles and focal distances, camera set-ups and lighting with no reference to anything but to the patterns and symmetry created by the combination of these signifiers. Without acknowledging the "metaphoric," "tropic" role of "content," a tool that enables us to talk about language in ways that make "sense," the critic is in danger of producing a study of language that is undermined by its own failure to accept the semantic and rhetorical uses of language. I'm cheered by a work of criticism that attempts to rescue art from the "sociological" and "political." But Vendler's book fails to rescue Shakespeare from tedium and irrelevancy. While the book is useful for occasional "dipping" (provided the reader knows both Shakespeare and post-structuralist theory), it could do more harm than good if the intent is to help younger and less-informed readers bring the sonnets to life.
Rating: 
Summary: Shakespeare's Sonnets Anew
Review: At times, Vendler becomes a bit dense--but never does she move beyond the grasp of the lay reader, and usually her work is exceedingly accessible. But anyone can write accessibly--the reason this work is so amazing is because it represents a half century's ruminations from one of the greatest critical minds of our times. Vendler's tremendous strength is her ability to emphasize the continuity and interrelationship of the sonnets without detracting from her criticism of each sonnet as an individual work. Most of her critiques begin with brief exposition of theme, and a catalog of sonnets with similar themes. She thus forces the reader to evaluate each work in the broader context of the sonnets as a unified body. Wendler then proceeds to pick apart each sonnet and reveal its unique beauty. By emphasizing the unity and continuity of the works, while bringing out the beauty in each individual sonnet, Wender writes a critical gem.
Rating:
Summary: Shakespeare's Sonnets Anew
Review: In this invaluable book, Helen Vendler investigates what she finds aesthetically most provocative in each of Shakespeare's beautiful sonnets, i.e., the fact that Shakespeare, himself undertook the writing of the sonnets as a "writer's project invented to amuse and challenge his own capacity for inventing artworks." The Art of Shakespeare's Sonnets is comprised of a single introductory chapter outlining Vendler's own critical perspective and 153 individual sonnets, together with critical commentary. (Sonnets 153 and 154 are presented together in one essay.) Vendler's format seeks to restore "comprehension of the internal logic and old finery of Elizabethan lyric" which has almost completely disappeared from contemporary examinations of these sonnets. Vendler's book will help readers to better understand the language of Shakespeare's sonnets as well as uncover textual clues in a clearer and more deliberate fashion, leading readers to a greater appreciation of the power of language when manipulated by a master poet intent upon expressing the inner life of the speaker. The author provides fresh and unexpected interpretation of the sonnets based on clear, textual evidence rather than through a dominant theoretical perspective. She also explores linguistic strategies directly from Shakespeare's own compositional acts and then constructs upon them an interpretation of the poet's duty "to create aesthetically convincing representations of feelings felt and thoughts thought." Vendler chooses to concentrate her efforts on Shakespeare's ability to accurately convey the speaker's own misery, torment, joy, wonder, exuberance, etc. within the mere fourteen lines demanded of the sonnet, that most structured of all forms of expression. She points out that it is in the "simultaneous marshaling of temporal continuity, logical discreteness and psychological modeling that Shakespeare's sonnets surpass those of other sonneteers." Vendler then goes on to assert that Shakespeare, as a writer of sonnets, was seeking as many ways as possible to manipulate the form. His orchestration thus results in vignettes, musings and one-sided conversations with imagined listeners who do not reveal an extended hidden narrative or meaning but do "comprise a virtual anthology of lyric possibility." Vendler invites the reader to participate in his own exploration of the sonnets. Unlike most critical treatises where the poems appear as a block in front of the text followed by an analysis, in this book each sonnet and its analysis appear together. The reader can formulate his own speculations and check them against Vendler's without even having to turn the page. For those who want to listen to the beauty of these sonnets, there is a CD bound into the back cover of the book, providing an indispensable tool in helping readers to fully appreciate all the textual and acoustical clues--the allure de la phrase. This is definitely not a book to read straight through, nor is it intended for the novice. Readers should already have some familiarity with the sonnets and those who do not should keep an annotated edition close by. Familiarity with poetic terms is also a necessity, since Vendler, a splendid poet herself, makes frequent reference to terms which are undoubtedly unfamiliar to those who are not frequently engaged in the study or analysis of the lyric form.
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Summary: The Most Readable Edition
Review: Many of the customer reviewers have discussed the merits of this excellent book. I would like to emphasize that of the many editions of Shakespeare's Sonnets, this is the one that is a real pleasure to read. Exactly one sonnet on a page (in Quarto and modern typefaces) with no distracting footnotes or explanations. Keep a dictionary or an annotated edition handy if you're new to these poems.
Rating:
Summary: A unique contribution to appreciation of The Sonnets
Review: Professor Vendler's unique gift here to all readers is not an attempt to produce the be all and end all of sonnet studies and should not be evaluated against such a (an impossible) standard. More significantly, it has blessed us with a thorough exploration of the poetic process to which Shakespeare dedicated his passion and genius -- an exploration by a foremost scholar of poetry, an extremely respectful reader of these intimate versifications, and a scholar-student who has been immersed in The Sonnets' bounty for a lifetime. As the author acknowledges, this volume is meant to be absorbed gradually over an extended time and with an edition such as Stephen Booth's thoroughly annotated version at one's side. This is not a deficit in this work but an appropriate and practical strategy that keeps this volume a thoughtful and manageable edition to enjoy, digest, and redigest many times. It will contribute immensely to even the most advanced student's appreciation of these works and their creator's mind.
Rating:
Summary: Shakespeare sonnets
Review: Shakespeare's gifts as a dramatist , to my mind ,were always incomparable but I had my reservations about the sonnets___I thought they were a tad overrated___ untill I came upon Helen Vendler's book . Though Vendler's critical interpretations are at times a bit leaden & overly "technical" , her sensitivity for these sonnets comes across in spades , throughout the book .I especially enjoyed her vocal renderings of 65 of these sonnets on the accompanying CD which are sensitive,nuanced and a sheer auditory joy ! (esp 12,29,30 & 55)_____much better than Sir John Gielgud's version , which I always considered a trifle affected .Vendler also convinced me that the best way to enjoy these sonnets is by etching them in your memory ! A lot of their nuance and the sheer majesty of their language is lost on you if approached cursorily .
Rating:
Summary: Shakespeare sonnets
Review: Shakespeare's gifts as a dramatist , to my mind ,were always incomparable but I had my reservations about the sonnets___I thought they were a tad overrated___ untill I came upon Helen Vendler's book . Though Vendler's critical interpretations are at times a bit leaden & overly "technical" , her sensitivity for these sonnets comes across in spades , throughout the book .I especially enjoyed her vocal renderings of 65 of these sonnets on the accompanying CD which are sensitive,nuanced and a sheer auditory joy ! (esp 12,29,30 & 55)_____much better than Sir John Gielgud's version , which I always considered a trifle affected .Vendler also convinced me that the best way to enjoy these sonnets is by etching them in your memory ! A lot of their nuance and the sheer majesty of their language is lost on you if approached cursorily .
Rating:
Summary: Beautifully produced, with critical analysis of each sonnet.
Review: THE ART OF SHAKESPEARE'S SONNETS. By Helen H. Vendler. 692 pp. 1999. (pbk.) Shakespeare's 'Sonnets' is a deservedly well-loved body of poetry, and there have been innumerable editions. For the student and enthusiast, however, it's doubtful that there could be a more beautifully produced edition than the present book, although the critical essays that accompany each sonnet will probably prove too difficult for most non-specialists. One reason that Elizabethan lyrics are so powerful and memorable, is that they were composed in an age when poetry was still linked closely with music. Elizabethans were often competent musicians, and many of their poems were true lyrics or songs. Often their poems were set to music, and all were probably composed while the gentle plucking of a lute or some such instrument was running somewhere through the back of the poet's mind. Today we live in an age when composers are no longer giving us real songs, songs that stay in the mind and that can be hummed or sung when for some reason or other they rise into consciousness; songs that are always there when we feel like singing, and that can help cheer us up, make us happy, and refresh our spirit; songs, too, for both light and more thoughtful moods. In contrast to this true type of song, what we seem to be getting today is little more than words with little or no meaning accompanied by noise, the sort of stuff that a machine could write and probably is writing, and profoundly unmemorable. Shakespeare's 'Sonnets,' however, bring us a world of meaning. The whole of life is in them - its joys and sorrows, its passions and frustrations and torments - and all expressed in some of the most sonorous and beautiful English ever written, and set to powerful rhythms that deeply penetrate the psyche. Helen Vendler's edition, in addition to the accompanying essays, and like that of Stephen Booth's prize-winning 'Shakespeare's Sonnets,' gives us not one but two texts of the 'Sonnets,' each of which is given on facing pages : a facsimile of the original 1609 Quarto, and Vendler's edited text with modern spelling and punctuation. Seeing the texts exactly as they were presented to Shakespeare's contemporaries is an interesting experience. Some readers will probably love the antique spellings and typography, other may hate it, but at least we've been given a choice. And having access to the Quarto can lead to a deeper understanding of the poems. Vendler's commentary is a commentary for the advanced student and the scholar. Some will find it useful and informative, even brilliant. Others will be put off by her post-structuralist approach. But even those who don't care for her densely packed and technical commentary, will certainly be impressed by how beautifully produced this book is - by its excellent printing and smooth high-quality paper, and by the large clear fonts which do justice to Shakespeare's texts, and which make reading the 'Sonnets' such a pleasure in this edition. The fact that their lines stick so easily in our minds, and that the re-reading of favorites will soon see us having memorized, if not the whole sonnet then certainly substantial portions of it, seems to me proof that the 'Sonnets' are real sustenance for the spirit. They help at different times to to fortify our spirit, to clarify our own thoughts about life, and even on occasions to cheer us up. As such, and whether we realize it or not, they become a kind of word-music that all of us need. So whether you go for the Vendler or the Booth, or for some other more manageable and less ambitious edition, my advice would be to give Shakespeare's words a chance to work their magic. You may be surprised at what they can do for you.
Rating:
Summary: The Most Readable Edition
Review: This is a work of scholarship of the highest order. Vendler appreciates, for our benefit, each of Shakespeare's 154 Sonnets in mini-essays of three to six pages. Before each essay is the original folio text and Vendler's own modernization of the text, since the spelling and printing conventions of Shakespeare's day can obscure common words. But this is not all. In a lengthy introduction, Vendler surveys critical reception of The Sonnets through the present day and argues persuasively for her own methods of interpretation. Her interpretations examine the poems on a multitude of lingiustic levels, from the phonological (sound) to the semantic (meaning, content). She avoids detailed analysis of imagery and socio/psychological implications, for the most part, since they can be had elsewhere. Her aim is to show Shakespeare's poetic choices and illuminate the thought patterns that structure the poems. Sometimes she goes as far as to show possible lines Shakespeare could have written, but didn't. The effect of this analysis is that I finally feel I can approach these poems on a level that truly respects them. Thanks to Vendler, I understand why such lines as-- Shall I compare thee to a summer's day
My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun
When in disgrace with Fortune and men's eyes --and so so many more stick in my head, and have stuck in the heads of the generations before me. As accessible as it is for modern criticism, THE ART OF SHAKESPEARE'S SONNETS is not an entry-level work. Vendler assumes not only familiarity with The Sonnets, but also with certain linguistic concepts such as "speech acts" and "deixis". It's nothing a bright person with a good dictionary can't get through. Those who order the hardback edition will get the added bonus of an audio CD (which Amazon mistakenly lists as a CD-ROM) of Vendler reading several of the Sonnets. Unsurprisingly, her readings stress what she says should be stressed in the essays and are in the American accent of a Harvard professor, not in the phonologically reconstructed accent of Shakespeare's day (to hear this, try ACCENTS by Robert Blumenfeld which features a reading of Sonnet 29). For English majors, poets, and people who love poetry (I hope the categories overlap) I cannot recommend this book highly enough. People turned off by Harold Bloom, Vendler's esteemed colleague at Harvard, would do well to look at Vendler's less self-important and more textual approach to literary criticism. As far as I'm concerned, this is the definitive edition of The Sonnets, not likely to be surpassed in the near and not-so-near future.
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