The Waste Land App Reviews

Absolutely beautiful. A delight to read and Fiona Shaw's performance is admirable. Other highlights for me include Seamus Heaney's commentary and the original Pound-edited drafts. Only disappointment is Alec Guinness reading; he sounds a complete prat.

Thanks for the reminder about the mute switch! This is a brilliant use of the iPad's capabilities.

I bought the latest version 3 days ago and was very disappointed that there is no sound on my download. Reported the problem right away and so far there has been no reply and no fix. I even deleted and redownloaded with no success. Don't buy this app since they don't support it!

Sound stopped working after about a day. Very disappointing, felt like I threw my money away.

I, like another reviewer, read the poem about 50 years ago. While I enjoyed it then, I certainly did not get as much from it as I have in the few days I've had this app on my ipad. Fiona Shaw's performance is remarkable. Please, please, please -- more of these difficult classics.

I haven't read the Waste Land in twenty years and this was a very pleasing way to get re-introduced to a poem I recalled with ambivalence. The material is well selected to provide a backdrop, the commentary videos were largely well selected - they may not impart deep secrets, but perhaps more a flavor of the impact Eliot's poem has had on the commenters. More than anything, the material does not interfere with the poem itself, it stays neatly in the background. The readings were well selected; different sections of the poem benefit from the strength brought by the various performers. Eliot's own narration may not be the one you like best, but it gives a great baseline for the "pace" of the poem. I spent about six hours with Eliot over the weekend and do not regret a moment.

Please make more apps just like this for other works. Truly the best App I own even with the higher price. Totally worth it.

Fiona Shaw's video reading is stunning and along with the poem and supplementary materials sets a new standard for literary media presentation in an iPad app.

The best App i own. Led me to an appreciation of a difficult poet. It's the perfect illustration of what the iPad can be at its best. I hope they issue more.

Irons and Atkins - brilliant!

This app is truly an interactive experience, allowing the user to explore The Waste Land in all it's nuances. Readings, notes, video performance, photographs are all part of one's journey of discovery. The app uses the iPad to its fullest capacity. Well worth the price and simply brilliant. I look forward to more from Touch Press.

Please don't hesitate to give us more titles like this. Your annotated version of The Waste Land is what iPad does best.

I think this app is really a marvel and love it tremendously. But after I so eagerly updated it, it seems that all built-in videos including Fiona's brilliant performance cannot be played. Also, all the readings do not work well. Would you please fix the bug?

It looks horrible on the new iPad. Content is excellent though.

I absolutely love this basic concept regarding digital media/eBook/iBook but find the price point out of balance with actually content which is in fact ONE POEM. Sure they went all out with supporting materials but it's still just one poem, and i am loathe to imagine what a full volume of poems would cost or if it would even fit on my iPad 32GB. I would pursue more of such volumes only if the price were to come down to around $5 a piece.

This is indeed a wonderful app, and a good developer. When I first downloaded the app, I couldn't get the audio to work, and wrote for help. The developers worked with me through several problem-solving e-mails and got it to work. It is worth the price, and I believe it sets a new standard for e-books.

This app made the poem come alive for me, especially the video. it makes full use of the iPad's capabilities. I would love to see more of the same with the Four Quartets and other works of literature...

Saw this app featured in The Guardian with video. Downloaded it and found it provides a fresh and breathtaking experience with a poem that I first read in college (about 50 years ago) and have perused from time to time after that. This app makes for an electrifying reacquaintance with a long-lost fascinating friend. The performance of the poem by Fiona Shaw is terrific, and makes Eliot's work appear in new perspectives. I look forward to more apps of this type.

It is very disappointing that this app does not include the opening quotation from Petronius that is essential to the literary historical context and mood of Eliot's work. The complete poem is readily available for free elsewhere online. I'd like my money back.

This app offers a model for presenting literary works in all their richness on a mobile device. I love the readings by several actors, and the scholarly interpretations deepen our appreciation. Touch press has shown us what can be done, both with this app and the one on Shakespeare's sonnets. I have been waiting, waiting, waiting, wandering through the vast waste land of the App Store looking for more apps that illuminate and present literary works in this way. Please, I will buy them.

Audio will to work!

I am reviewing this poem, again, with a friend, and this app with its multiple readings and perspectives gives such a richness to the experience. I also appreciate being able to add my notes alongside.

Even if you are not familiar with modern poetry or Eliot, anyone who loves language will enjoy this app. The performance by Shaw is worth the price alone. Buy it!

This app sets a benchmark for critical editions of literary and historical texts. Don't miss it!

But I wrote my thesis nearly twenty years ago. The presentation of Eliot!'s poem in this app is alone well worth the price. The scholarship included is also first rate. So many options that help you read the poem without force-feeding you any one interpretation. It's a great way to enjoy Eliot's language and imagery and to draw your own conclusions.

Crazy expensive. App paid for self in first 24 hours. Months and years of value to come.

The Waste Land revolutionized the world of English poetry. And this app is a revolutionary literary experience. What is so exciting is the way in which this app uses the technology of the iPad to enhance our experience of literature. The videos, readings, manuscripts, and notes are incredible! My only regret is that this wasn't around when I was studying the Waste Land in college! It would've been a dream come true. Bravo, Touch Press!

I bought this last week and my wife and I have greatly enjoyed it. It really shows the potential of this type of app. I was also impressed by today's very positive editorial about the app in the New York Times. (I had never seen an editorial praising an app before.)

Please make more of this type of app. Now I understand why this poem is so important. The app gets out of the way and shows all the nuances I needed to comprehend and charge me up to explore in related areas. Excellent work.

Will you EVER update this for Retina Display?!?

The only iPad app I can think about now is the forthcoming Sonnets collection. The heavens speed thee in thine enterprise!

This is a solid effort to help people understand The Waste Land. I enjoyed the short video interviews and especially the reading/interpretation of the poem. Five star effort.

This is a stunningly well crafted app - elegantly presented, and packed with information about Eliot's knotty poem.

I have watched Fiona Shaw's performance at least a dozen times and am always floored.

Please make other Elliot poems!! This is great!

Well worth it. If you're into Eliot or are new to this work, this is money well spent. Have not encountered one single bug or weird thing.

This is the kind of app I'd love to see more of! It would be great if there was one about a philosopher/philosophy paper...perhaps Bertrand Russell?! Well, the dramatic reading by Fiona Shaw was really nice and I love reading the poem while the author's voice reads it!