Home

Completed	05 May 2005
Title	Birthday Letters
Author	Ted Hughes
Published	1998
Quote	"A nodding spray of wet lilac."
Review	I love that image of a "nodding spray of wet lilac;" in fact, I love almost everything Ted has written (even though he was a womanizing jerk who I dislike). He's really good at description, at saying just enough and no more. Birthday Letters is, finally, a tribute to his relationship with his first wife, Sylvia Plath, who he led to suicide in 1963. (Oh come on, it's true.) He has kept silent regarding her for so many years. And now this, which he publishes in the year he dies from cancer. If he had never spoken of Sylvia and his life with her, then that would have been unforgivable. I'm glad he finally wrote something beautiful about Sylvia, of that time in his life. I am glad he finally acknowledged it. I have read a lot of Ted Hughes, and I have (literally) read everything that Sylvia Plath has ever written (even her high school stuff), and I think it's fair to say that Ted would never have become successful without the help of Sylvia. Who, after all, kept typing copies of his poems and mailing them out to publishers until his writing was, finally, accepted? It was Sylvia who enabled Ted to become the successful poet that he was. Talent is not enough-----ambition is required, too, and logistical help with things like typing and mailing, and moral support. This book is definitely worth a read.

For next book review, please click here.