Required Writing: Miscellaneous Pieces 1955-1982

Poets on Poetry

by Philip Larkin

The reappearance of Philip Larkin's Required Writing will be welcomed by the late poet's many readers and admirers. The book's first two parts, "Recollections" and "Interviews," provide autobiographical glimpses of the very private Larkin's childhood, his youth at Oxford, the genesis of his forty-year career as a librarian, and the influences that initially steered his poetry.
The second half of the book reflects Larkin's literary standards and opinions in often witty and surprising, always beautifully wrought, essays and reviews. His subjects range from Emily Dickinson (were her first lines her best?) to the contemporary mystery novel. Required Writing concludes with a selection of pieces on jazz music.
"Larkin is a punctilious, honest critic. He prefers good clear writing to pretentious eyewash; he prefers tunes to discordant wailing; and he prefers home to abroad. Unlike the majority of critics, he is clear-sighted enough to say so." --A. N. Wilson, Sunday Telegraph
"I read the collection with growing excitement, agreement and admiration. It is the best contemporary account of the writer's true aims I have encountered." --John Mortimer, Sunday Times (London)
"Subtle, supple, craftily at ease, Required Writing is on a par with Larkin's poetry--which is just about as high as praise can go." --Clive James, Observer
Philip Larkin was the author of poetry collections, including High Windows , The Whitsun Weddings , and The Less Deceived ; a book of essays entitled All What A Record Diary ; and two novels, Jill , and A Girl in Winter , published early in his career. Required Reading was originally published by Farrar, Straus & Giroux.

Genres: Essays, Poetry, Literature, Nonfiction, Memoir, Music, Literary Criticism

328 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1983

About the author

Philip Arthur Larkin, CH, CBE, FRSL, was an English poet, novelist and jazz critic. He spent his working life as a university librarian and was offered the Poet Laureateship following the death of John Betjeman, but declined the post. Larkin is commonly regarded as one of the greatest English poets of the latter half of the twentieth century. He first came to prominence with the release of his third collection The Less Deceived in 1955. The Whitsun Weddings and High Windows followed in 1964 and 1974. In 2003 Larkin was chosen as "the nation's best-loved poet" in a survey by the Poetry Book Society, and in 2008 The Times named Larkin as the greatest post-war writer.

Larkin was born in city of Coventry, England, the only son and younger child of Sydney Larkin (1884–1948), city treasurer of Coventry, who came from Lichfield, and his wife, Eva Emily Day (1886–1977), of Epping. From 1930 to 1940 he was educated at King Henry VIII School in Coventry, and in October 1940, in the midst of the Second World War, went up to St John's College, Oxford, to read English language and literature. Having been rejected for military service because of his poor eyesight, Larkin was able, unlike many of his contemporaries, to follow the traditional full-length degree course, taking a first-class degree in 1943. Whilst at Oxford he met Kingsley Amis, who would become a lifelong friend and frequent correspondent. Shortly after graduating he was appointed municipal librarian at Wellington, Shropshire. In 1946, he became assistant librarian at University College, Leicester and in 1955 sub-librarian at Queen's University, Belfast. In March 1955, Larkin was appointed librarian at The University of Hull, a position he retained until his death.

Reviews

[Edward · Rating 5 out of 5]

Writing about writing about writing would repel 99% of readers. Indeed, even writing about writing loses most of your audience.

The problem is that writing about writing is one of my favorite genres of book. And the only way to express that bias of mine is through writing. Hence, writing about writing about writing.

One of the best writers on writing is Philip Larkin. For example, his book reviews can draw me in like a poem—I’ve been thinking about one of his reviews for several years now as follows: “I wonder what the name of that novel was that Larkin admired so much? The closing lines about the student leaving school forever devastated him. Gotta read that review again!”

Hell I can even imagine going and finding the novel as well someday. But Larkin’s review is a masterpiece unto itself. He conveys there a total picture of a complex emotion he felt about someone else’s writing, and involves me in it enough to interest me in the novel—almost as much as if I’d read the novel myself!

[Ian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Phillip Larkin shares with Orwell the ability to engage you with clear and elegant prose.

This is writing that you not only enjoy for itself but also leaves you wanting to read the works of the authors he reviews. Go here for a (re)introduction to Stevie Smith, Barbara Pym and Emily Dickson and a wonderfully cool assessment of Rupert Brooke. I read and reread the essay on Sylvia Plath not thinking, "I wish I'd written that" but rather "I could have written that"...but, of course, I didn't, its just that Larkin makes it look so easy and has the knack to say things that make you say "Yes...that's what I thought". It is also often very funny (the first paragraph of The Savage Seventh is worth the entry price alone).

This collection also gives you the introduction to "All What Jazz" which saves you buying it (if you are not a Jazz buff the only reason to buy it....a good one tho'..would be to read the introduction). It is not so much an introduction as part polemic and part manifesto. Ironically, this piece contains the only bum note I can think of in Larkin's writing ("The tension between artist and audience in jazz slackened when the Negro stopped wanting to entertain the white man...") Then again, I should not be surprised that I don't agree with everything here due to the nature of the piece. This is a passionate statement about a true love, it is Larkin unbound.

[Gabriel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Larkin has strong opinions. Most of the essays are poetry and novel reviews in which he doesn’t shy away from judging them by his personal tastes. And his tastes are very classical. He doesn’t like abstractions, he doesn’t like pretentiousness. Of the modernist artist he writes:

“Piqued at being neglected, he has painted portraits with both eyes on the same side of the nose, or smothered a model with paint and rolled her over a blank canvas. He has designed a dwelling-house to be built underground. He has written poems resembling the kind of pictures typists make with their machines during the coffee break, or a novel in gibberish, or a play in which the characters sit in dustbins. He has made a six-hour film of someone asleep. He has carved human figures with large holes in them.”

One may not agree with him on this, but he does have a point.

[Colin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Philip Larkin’s critical pen was as sharp and precise as the one he used to write his poems. This collection of reviews, introductions, interviews and other critical pieces is a remarkable volume, ranging widely across contemporary and historical themes, literature and jazz. Larkin holds no truck with modernism, and frequently says so in no uncertain terms; his defence of and critical assessment of unfashionable writers like Hardy, Betjeman and Barbara Pym though, is heartfelt, cogently argued and powerful. For me, the best pieces in the book are the excerpts from his collected jazz criticism, All That Jazz.

[Hailey Leithauser · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book is perhaps a bit long, and sometimes I had to disagree with his opinions -- particularly on modern art -- but every essay has intelligence and insight, and the book is sprinkled throughout with the sort of witticisms one would expect of Larkin.

My favorite chapter was His Master's Voice where he discussed the advantages and disadvantages of hearing vs reading a poem on the page. I was also quite happy to learn about some British writers who were new to me.

[Martin Raybould · Rating 4 out of 5]

Larkin was a big admirer of Thatcher so, on a political level, we are world's apart. But this man can write! He possessed a sardonic humour that borders on the misanthropic and his pieces written for cash are a delight.

[Alan Fricker · Rating 4 out of 5]

A charity shop bargain. More articles on poetry than I need but loved to read his professional beginnings and various other bits and bobs

[Larry · Rating 2 out of 5]

He’s a teensy, tiny man in a teensy-weensy little bubble.

[Quin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Larkin, as always, a scathing critic who will never fail to point out any flaw in a work, be it Jazz, Poetry or a novel. This collection was divided, into a section of writing from various points in his life, a section critiquing others, and a section on Jazz. Being interested in both Larkin himself and his opinions, I found the first two sections gripping. I include interviews within the first section, and I believe these were my favourite part of this book, Larkin never ceases to be witty. Of course, I have not read everything Larkin has, but nevertheless his opinions were interesting. I don't however know anything about Jazz. My one unhappiness with this collection is simply that I disagree with some of his opinions on other poets, namely Auden and Hardy. Aside from that, my limited repetiore of both literature Larkin considers worthy of a critique and of Jazz somewhat limit my enjoyment of his writing. Nevertheless, it was an insightful read.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love Larkin despite finding some of his views utterly contemptible, a tame example of this being: (on his opinion of Margaret Thatcher) "Recognising that if you haven't got the money for something you can't have it - this is a concept that's vanished for many years. I'm delighted to see it surfacing again." He is a fantastic, witty writer and much of his prose made me want to find out more about his subjects, or revisit ones I was already familiar with. I found his discussion of Sylvia Plath as a 'horror poet' and his writings on Thomas Hardy especially interesting.

[Ed · Rating 3 out of 5]

Larkin was a university librarian for most of his life; he loved jazz and had a broad and deep knowledge of it; his first reaction when asked to edit "The Oxford Book of Twentieth-Century English Verse" was that it would make him a lot of money. Short pieces collected from throughout his varied and simultaneous careers.

[Prisoner 071053 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Five stars despite skipping the jazz reviews that make up the last fifteen or so pages. His introduction to All What Jazz? is worth reading, if only for the comparison of the destruction of the other arts under modernism to that of jazz in the same mode.

[Jon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Admittedly, this is likely only of interest to those wishing to read almost anything by Larkin.