{"title":"Michael Symmons Roberts","description":"\u003cp\u003eWelcome to the captivating world of Michael Symmons Roberts, an acclaimed British poet and author renowned for his profound words and evocative narratives. With a background richly steeped in literature, Roberts has carved a niche for himself in the literary realm, appealing to both enthusiasts of poetry and prose.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eExplore his intricate collection in our Biography \u0026amp; Memoir category, including the moving work, \u003cem\u003eQuartet for the End of Time\u003c\/em\u003e. This book, among others, showcases Roberts' mastery in blending biographical elements with a poetic flair, offering readers an immersive experience into the human condition and the expansive scope of emotions.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eDive into Michael Symmons Roberts' works to explore narratives that resonate with depth and insight, capturing both the fragility and strength of humanity through beautifully crafted words. Enjoy a literary journey that is as enlightening as it is inspiring, perfect for those who cherish thoughtful and profound storytelling.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"quartet-for-the-end-of-time-by-michael-symmons-roberts-9781787331853","title":"Quartet for the End of Time","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA personal reckoning with grief, doubt, faith and poetry set to one of the most celebrated musical works of the twentieth century, from the award-winning poet and librettist.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eThis is a rich, lively, profound book\u003c\/em\u003e - ROWAN WILLIAMS\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe story goes like this: on a freezing winter night in 1941, a new piece of chamber music was performed to a crowd of prisoners of war on a three-stringed cello, clarinet, violin and pub piano with sticky keys. It was the premiere of Olivier Messiaen's \u003cem\u003eQuatuor pour la fin du Temps\u003c\/em\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eListeners since then have been captivated by the ecstatic music and mythology of Messiaen's masterpiece. Michael Symmons Roberts' own lifelong fascination with the Quartet—having chanced upon it in a record shop in his late teens and fallen in love with its title—leads him on a quest to understand its enigmatic power. His fascination—at times frustration—with Messiaen's vision opens into an exploration of grief, of personal faith and doubt, of the end of time and what may lie beyond it. Interwoven with poetry and wit, this book is an expansive evocation of music, loss, hope and time, seen through the lens of the Quartet's technicolour, apocalyptic vision.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eQuartet for the End of Time\u003c\/em\u003e is a moving, intimate and unforgettable book, attentive to ways of listening—in our noisy world—to birdsong, music, poems and radio silence, and to the call and response that we may find.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eA properly engrossing exploration of music, place, religion and what it is to be human\u003c\/em\u003e - SARAH TARLOW, author of \u003cem\u003eThe Archaeology of Loss\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Penguin Random House NZ","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46628113449196,"sku":"9781787331853","price":50.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/279e23ee1d80498aa9d62c2362ca3ea0.jpg?v=1794550952"},{"product_id":"dog-star-by-michael-symmons-roberts-9781787336032","title":"Dog Star","description":"An inviting and poignant new poetry collection exploring our increasingly turbulent relationship with nature, from the award-winning poet Michael Symmons Roberts\n\nAn inviting and poignant new collection exploring our increasingly turbulent relationship with nature, from award-winning poet Michael Symmons Roberts\n\n'I love Michael Symmons Roberts' poetry' Jeanette Winterson\n\nDog Star is a book of linked poems rooted in encounters with real, imagined or mythical birds, trees, fish, flowers, bacteria, chimeras - ancient connections reshaped by technological and political change and critically endangered by species and habitat loss.\n\nIn Roberts' previous work, his poems are attentive to glimpses of grace and presence, but always embodied and grounded. In this new book, that attention is sharper and more urgent than ever, at a time when the essential spiritual relationship between humanity and other forms of life is broken or lost. In a line from his collection Drysalter - 'there is no way to the soul but through the body' - he sets out the bearings for these new poems as attempts to tap into what D.H. Lawrence called 'heaven's wolfish, wandering electricity.'\n\nSome encounters in Dog Star are head-on, face-to-face, some are more slant, distant, missed connections. There's an elegiac sequence for the poet's mother with each step measured in animals, an extended riff on the world as an aquarium and our lives seen through water - creatures dead and living, met in the flesh or mediated via film or stories. This is a profound, remarkable book by one of our major poets.\n\n'The clearest and purest voice currently sounding in British poetry' Carol Ann Duffy\n\n'An outstanding writer' Sunday Times","brand":"Penguin Random House NZ","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47288423547116,"sku":"9781787336032","price":38.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/9781787336032.jpg?v=1770551734"},{"product_id":"quartet-for-the-end-of-time-by-michael-symmons-roberts-9781529967173","title":"Quartet for the End of Time","description":"A personal reckoning with grief, doubt, faith and poetry set to one of the most celebrated musical works of the twentieth century, from the award-winning poet and librettist.\n\n'This is a rich, lively, profound book' ROWAN WILLIAMS\n\nA personal reckoning with grief, doubt, faith and poetry set to one of the most celebrated musical works of the twentieth century, from the award-winning poet and librettist.\n\nThe story goes like this- on a freezing winter night in 1941, a new piece of chamber music was performed to a crowd of prisoners of war on a three-stringed cello, clarinet, violin and pub piano with sticky keys. It was the premiere of Olivier Messiaen's Quatuor pour la fin du Temps.\n\nListeners since then have been captivated by the ecstatic music and mythology of Messiaen's masterpiece. Michael Symmons Roberts' own lifelong fascination with the Quartet- having chanced upon it in a record shop in his late teens and fallen in love with its title - leads him on a quest to understand its enigmatic power. His fascination - at times frustration - with Messiaen's vision opens into an exploration of grief, of personal faith and doubt, of the end of time and what may lie beyond it. Interwoven with poetry and wit, this book is an expansive evocation of music, loss, hope and time, seen through the lens of the Quartet's technicolour, apocalyptic vision.\n\nQuartet for the End of Time is a moving, intimate and unforgettable book, attentive to ways of listening - in our noisy world - to birdsong, music, poems and radio silence, and to the call and response that we may find.\n\n'A properly engrossing exploration of music, place, religion and what it is to be human' SARAH TARLOW, author of The Archaeology of Loss","brand":"Penguin Random House NZ","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47288724127980,"sku":"9781529967173","price":28.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/f59f5920a1aa1c0cc98a5dd3537b2ea2.jpg?v=1770605229"}],"url":"https:\/\/bookhero.live\/collections\/michael-symmons-roberts.oembed","provider":"Book Hero","version":"1.0","type":"link"}