Journey to a War is a travel book in prose and verse by W. H. Auden and Christopher Isherwood, published in 1939.
Background
editAuden and Isherwood were commissioned in early 1937 by Random House and Faber and Faber to write a travel book about the East. With the outbreak of war between Japan and China later that year, the two decided that the most interesting travel diary that they could draft would be one about their travels at this time.
Setting out in January of 1938 and returning in July, they took the opportunity to interview many persons of great influence in China.
Their route took them from Hong Kong, to Guangzhou, Hankou, Zhengzhou, Suzhou, Tai'erzhuang,
Content
editThe book is in three parts: a series of poems by Auden describing his and Isherwood's journey to China in 1938 ; a "Travel-Diary" by Isherwood (including material first drafted by Auden) about their travels in China itself, and their observations of the Sino-Japanese War; and "In Time of War: A Sonnet Sequence with a Verse Commentary" by Auden, with reflections on the contemporary world and their experiences in China. The book also contains a selection of photographs by Auden.
Auden revised many of the poems in this book for his later collections; "In Time of War" was renamed "Sonnets from China" (with many original sonnets discarded) and the verse commentary was dropped entirely.
References
edit- W. H. Auden, Prose and Travel Books in Prose and Verse, 1927-1938, ed. Edward Mendelson (1997)
- John Fuller, W. H. Auden: A Commentary (1999).
- Edward Mendelson, Early Auden (1981).
External links
editCategory:1939 books Category:Books by W. H. Auden Category:Works by Christopher Isherwood Category:Literary collaborations Category:Poetry by W. H. Auden Category:Random House books