T.S. Eliot

Maybe I'm the only one that feels this way, but why does T.S. Eliot's name even show up in a book entitled "British Literature". First of all, Eliot was born in St. Louis, Missouri. So he's an American. His schooling? He attended school in St. Louis and finished his collegiate career at Harvard. Are these not American institutions? While he did spend some time in Paris, this still has nothing to do with British literature.

The book claims that Eliot's works are a product of British and French literature, but that's somewhat of a silly comment. To say that his work is constituted as British literature just because his poems "are deeply indebted both to French and British poets (1192)" is like saying all Christians are Jews because Jesus was a Jew. It's flawed logic.

When I read Eliot's "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock", I coudln't help but think of it as a drunken country song. I mean that in the nicest way possible. It was fun and exciting to read. Read this part and tell me what you think:

"Of restless nights in one-night cheap hotels
And sawdust restaurants with oyster-shells:
Streets that follow like a tedious argument
Of insidious intent" (p. 1195)

I found that pretty funny.