Deep Song

Reviews / Votes

Stephen Roberts' new study of the life and work of the Spanish writer Federico Garcia Lorca is profoundly faithful in spirit to the poet's plays and poetry and the complex background from which his works emanated . . . The 240-page work is biographical in large part, but Roberts' vision never loses sight of the work, endlessly illuminating Lorca's simple yet oftentimes obscure art. In short, Deep Song is the perfect point of entry for beginning to understand the entire picture. * Paddy Kehoe, RTE Culture * Deep Song is rich with Lorca's words and makes one eager to revisit them . . . Lorca is an intensely mythologised figure, and Roberts is careful not to tell the story of this life in teleological terms, unfolding towards the tragedy of Lorca's assassination of the hands of nationalist militia. Roberts deals with sexuality, class, religion, and politics, but not in such a way that sees these things as inevitable precursors to Lorca's later life. Rather, we get a vision of Lorca as joyous, complex and experimental, trying his hand at different forms, obsessions and the possibilities of his art . . . Deep Song [is] richly textured with Lorca's own words, and makes for a flowing, thoroughly enjoyable introduction to the life as a lived and passionate thing. * Irish Times * There is a swift, sharp style that gives the concise biography major appeal. It's a good entry point to Lorca's work. Roberts also provides a nice mix of analytical theory on Lorca's poems and plays alongside colourful kiss-and-tell gossip from Lorca's adventurous, libidinous pursuits. * Sunday Independent, Dublin * It takes a certain confidence and clarity of intent to present a new biographical offering about such a well-known and vivid figure, with the faces of worthy predecessors gazing down like Lorca's floating face in Salvador Dali's paintings . . . For those whose interest includes the details of how Lorca's writing came to be and how it is linked to daily life and culture where he lived, Roberts offers a rewarding tour that, however detailed, never gets tedious . . . Roberts makes clear that Lorca was uniquely positioned in time and space to be the great flame of literature that he became, as he gathered artifacts of rural and religious culture, in some cases filtering his writing through a remarkable array of creative friends and acquaintances. * The Gay & Lesbian Review * this book belongs to the conventional "life and works" genre that presents a relatively brief general overview of a writer's biography and literary output. Lorca is hardly ill-served when it comes to works of this sort, but this one now supersedes many of them and stands among the best . . . Deep Song will provide for the general interested reader a lively and often evocative account of Spain's best-known twentieth-century writer, and should inspire them to delve more deeply into Lorca's life and, particularly, his work. * Bulletin of Spanish Studies * Roberts' very readable book does not aim to replace Gibson's definitive biography, published in 1989, but it is worthwhile for a number of reason. Since Gibson's biography, much new material has come to light, and Roberts make adroit use of it. Not only that, Spain itself has changed, and with it, attitudes to its own past. * Michael O'Loughlin, Cyphers * Roberts makes a useful addition to the body of biographical treatments of the great Spanish poet and playwright. Deftly assessing Garci?a Lorca's development as an artist, beginning with his earliest poetry as a teenager in Granada, Rogers examines the writer's artistic experimentation . . . Of particular interest is the examination of the early work, seen by Roberts as testimony to a conflicted relationship with the narrow bourgeois perspective of Garci?a Lorca's natal city of Granada. Roberts makes good use of a concept he calls the "psychogeographical" as he ponders the young poet's keen interest in the environment of Andalucia and its Moorish past, and he provides useful insights about Garci?a Lorca's debt to modernismo - especially the work of Ruben Dario and the poetry of the Siglo de Oro. Most useful is the analysis of Garci?a Lorca's work as he transitioned from child prodigy to accomplished writer in the span of his short life . . . Recommended. * Choice * In a relatively short volume, Stephen Roberts is able to provide a concise yet comprehensive account of both Lorca and his work, along with a clear sense of the historical context which shaped them. * Dr Federico Bonaddio, Reader in Modern Spanish Studies, King's College London, and editor of 'A Companion to Federico Garcia Lorca' * Stephen Roberts skillfully fashions the biography of Garcia Lorca's short life into a seamless continuum, divided into eight brief periods with vivid attention to geographic settings. As distinguished from other biographies, Roberts's take a close-up, intimate view of this poet-playwright, portraying him as a kind of Lorca from within. At this same time, this intimate vision does not eschew the broader social picture with rarely considered economic tensions that help account for Lorca's ignominious liquidation. * Nelson Orringer, Professor Emeritus at the University of Connecticut and author of 'Lorca in Tune with Falla' (2014) * In this beautifully written, sensitive book, Stephen Roberts moves fluidly and intelligently from biography to oeuvre through a keen sense of the evocations of place. In this way, we are immersed into the worlds occupied by Lorca in such a way as to capture a sensual and intimate understanding of the enduring significance of Lorca's life and work. * Sarah Wright, Professor of Hispanic Studies, Royal Holloway, University of London *