Super-Infinite

The Transformations of John Donne

By: Katherine Rundell

Narrated by: Simon Vance

Length: 7 hrs and 4 mins

Publisher's summary

From standout scholar Katherine Rundell, Super-Infinite presents a sparkling and very modern biography of John Donne: the poet of love, sex, and death.

Sometime religious outsider and social disaster, sometime celebrity preacher and establishment darling, John Donne was incapable of being just one thing.

In his myriad lives he was a scholar of law, a sea adventurer, a priest, an MP—and perhaps the greatest love poet in the history of the English language. Along the way he converted from Catholicism to Protestantism, was imprisoned for marrying a sixteen-year old girl without her father’s consent, struggled to feed a family of ten children, and was often ill and in pain. He was a man who suffered from black surges of misery, yet expressed in his verse many breathtaking impressions of electric joy and love.

©2022 Katherine Rundell (P)2022 Blackstone Publishing

Rundell’s writing is terrific

As a nearly lifelong appreciator of Donne’s work, I wanted to understand more of his life. I believe he is in a class of his own and defies easy labels and categories. Rundell captures why.
Still, I was not prepared for the wit, intelligence and wonderful style of the author’s writing. I admit I somewhat dreaded getting an approach to Donne’s life that was stodgy or academic, and thus completely at odds with how his work itself is. Her writing is sharp, incisive and sometimes irreverent, as befits her subject. Thank you!

Wow, gosh, phew!

One of the most amazing literary biographies I have ever had the pleasure of listening to. I’m blown away. Incredible…

Loved. This. Book.

well presented, entertaining, thought provoking, informative, educational. I walked away from this book, excited to start reading his masterworks and even more intrigued then when I started.

Fantastic

Disclaimer: I am a long-time John Donne fangirl.
Rundell examines Donne through the lenses of the various facets of his life and personality, bringing him vividly to life. Her prose is wonderful, and the book is engaging and engrossing. She is an unabashed lover of Donne, admitting that this is as much an "act of evangelism" as a biography, and her enthusiasm is contagious. Given my history, I was bound to love this book on an emotional level, but I feel that it is worthy of praise on the intellectual level as well.

Simon Vance was perfect, as usual.

Sublime

Story has an electric flow. Simon Vance was a nice fit for the material. Great stuff.

a really tender character study .

great source of insight into a strange time in history featuring a protagonist extraordinary.

The poet, the lover, the bishop

This is the second biography of the life of John Dunn, the only other biography was penned be his friend and contemporary Walpole. The book is well researched. For years Donne ‘s poems have been loved and his life was gleaned from them. This book presents the story of his life I full. It is an exciting read.

A Sublime Journey

Although I plan to hold this book in my hands in order to deal more intimately with Donne’s intricate poetic language, Simon Vance gives a superb rendering of Rundell’s ,muscular prose. Highly recommended.

super-Scholarship thru storytelling

Rundell could write a history of telephone books that would still be engaging. Given that Donne provides far better fare and is also more important to the author, the book sings.

Oh but the narration…

A superb, broad yet concise critical biography of John Donne, a complex character and poet bristling with contradictions. Oh, but the narration…! Where do they get these guys? So affected and mannered as to be almost unbearable. This book was written by a woman, with a good section about Donne’s attitudes towards women. This should have been narrated by a woman— British, fine— but straightforward and direct, not inflected at every turn with a raised eyebrow. A fine book undercut by exaggerated reading. Get real. Simple and direct is so much better.