Philip Larkin: Writer

by James Booth

Genres: Poetry

178 pages, Hardcover

First published May 1, 1992

About the author

James Booth has written extensively on Philip Larkin. Booth has recently retired from the Department of English at the University of Hull, where he had been Larkin's colleague for seventeen years.

The distinction between Booth's and Andrew Motion's biographies is, in Booth's own words:

"His (Motion's) biography is a magnificent achievement, but he is not on Larkin's wavelength when it comes to humour".

However, despite praising Motion's achievement in this regard, Booth adds that:

"I think Motion took Larkin too much at his own word. When Larkin said he was a sour brute who didn't treat his mother well, he believed him. In fact, Larkin wrote two letters to his mother every week for 40-odd years."

Booth's writing is defined by his admiration for one of Britain's most beloved poets of the twentieth-century:

"I have always loved his poetry and love is the right word"

Reviews

[Lawrence · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of helpful close readings, and just enough biography to be helpful!

[Charles · Rating 3 out of 5]

I believe that Booth's 'Philip Larkin Writer' is a decent study-guide for the average English literature student. It is easy to understand, with many valid points, especially in regard to Larkin's profound sexual politics and his various themes and concepts as they emerge in both his popular and lesser-known poems.

Booth is not afraid to express his own interpretation of Larkin's poetry. He mentions some other critics and reviewers who have got their readings entirely wrong as they did not take into account certain details, some of which are autobiographical, some founded speculations and the significance of their context and tone. Two classic examples are the poems 'An Arundel Tomb' and 'High Windows', which have generated numerous broad assumptions, most of which reveal a lack of grasp of both Larkin as a poet and of his poetic (or lack of, in some cases) vision. Booth, on the other hand, has clearly done his research, and I agree with the majority of his readings of Larkin's poetry. He is not afraid to criticize Larkin either, from his commissioned Benjaminesque poems to the ridiculous and cliched poetic vision of 'The Old Fools', for example.

This book's title is a reference to Monica Jones's choice of description for Larkin's headstone inscription. Booth also tries to project, however briefly and simply, Larkin's context of, first and foremost, a writer.