Malcolm Guite, a poet, theologian, and song-writer, is the Chaplain of Girton College, Cambridge where he also teaches for the Divinity Faculty. He lectures widely in England and North America on theology and literature. He has published poetry, theology, and literary criticism, and worked as a librettist. He is married with two children. Living in Cambridge allows him to indulge his passions for old books, old pubs and live music. He also enjoys sailing, walking, and all the varieties of the English countryside and weather.
Malcolm Guite has made an intriguing literary discovery... daring
in its perspective and bold in its propositions... [a] fascinating
investigation [that] haunts the mind long after the book is
closed.
*Times Literary Supplement*
There is much to praise in Mariner - not least that it is a
470-page book unapologetically devoted to interpreting, and
celebrating, a single poem. That Guite neither sexes up his
manuscript nor curbs his religious enthusiasm gives his
interpretation an impressive dose of integrity.
*New Statesman*
Forcefully and convincingly argued.
*The Telegraph*
The story of Coleridge's life does undoubtedly echo that of his
poem. This is a book that provides rewarding rereadings of
both.
*The Sunday Times*
Malcolm Guite's new biography is ingeniously structured around the
Mariner...Guite has an unerring eye for the memorable anecdote...
He writes with passion about Coleridge's distinctive Christian
theology. Coleridge was surely one of the inspirations for Sherlock
Holmes. His life would make a great movie. I wonder who should be
cast as Silas Tomkyn Comberbache?
*The Times*
Guite is a serious and substantive critic, and there is more about
Coleridge's greatest poem here than in any work published in the
last quarter-century. I imagine that this book may become a classic
of Christian spirituality, a text for retreats, and, if it does, it
will help resurrect Coleridge's own reputation in that regard.
*The Tablet*
It is difficult to suppose that there could be a more imaginative
or incisive reading of The Rime of the Ancient Mariner; this is a
visionary interpretation of a visionary poem
*Susanna Clarke author of Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell*
This book - which is full of judiciously chosen quotations from
Coleridge's mesmerising letters and notebooks - is a splendid
celebration of the grizzled figure who 'stoppeth one of three' and
the tragic artist who created him.
*The Times*
In this remarkable book, using a very close reading of The Rime of
the Ancient Mariner as an armature, Guite attempts to make good
this lacuna and to use Coleridge's evolving religion - to build up
a view of the poet's visionary life...excellent and richly
compelling reading.
*The Irish Catholic*
This is a superior life of Coleridge ... Guite has complete mastery
of the primary and secondary literature [and] masterfully
interweaves sections from the Mariner with episodes from
Coleridge's unfolding life to both enhance our appreciation of
Coleridge's poetic powers and to bring us up to speed on all that
is known of his later life.
*The Heythrop Journal*
Malcolm Guite has established himself as one of the leading
Christian poets of our time. This positions him to offer a
distinctive reading of a poetic giant of the past, S. T. Coleridge.
As expected, Mariner is exceptionally rich, penetrating and
absorbing.
*Jeremy Begbie, Duke University*
An illuminating close reading of the poem, relating it at every
point to the subsequent course of Coleridge's life, he shows us why
it remains so important for our culture.
*The Church Times*
A profound exploration of the human condition...Guite also draws
out the continuing relevance of Coleridge's life and writing to our
own time.
*Transpositions*
Alongside impressive close readings of the text... a fully rounded
Coleridge emerges from these pages.
*The Catholic Herald*
Mariner is not only beautifully (and evocatively) written, it is
also deeply compassionate.
*The Methodist Recorder*
It's rare for me to say this about a book, but Mariner is
astonishing...I came away with an awareness that most of
Coleridge's modern biographers have downplayed the man's faith, and
you can't understand his great poem without understanding the faith
it springs from.
*Tweetspeak*
The 'biker priest' who revived a Christian reading of The Rime of
the Ancient Mariner... found himself 'blown away' by Coleridge's
account of God and creative genius.
*The Times*
Insightful and sympathetic commentary.
*Catholic Herald*
Malcolm Guite makes a case for the importance of faith to
Coleridge, and his significance as a spiritual writer... The poem,
according to Guite, has much to say about our own times.
*Crosslight Magazine*
Guite takes me to a depth I have not been before; I thank him for
it, and I am exhilarated... Guite's masterful textual analysis is
fascinating... Guite's own engagement with Coleridge is not only
sympathetic and incisive, it is infectious.
*Temenos Academy Review*
an impressive piece of academic work: lengthy, scholarly,
well-written and enjoyable
*Progressive Voices*
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