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Jill
A novel in which a young man travels from his Midlands home to Oxford University, and finds himself out of his depth in its rarefied atmosphere.
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First published January 1, 1946
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About the author
Philip Larkin
141 books694 followersPhilip 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.
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.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 121 reviews
January 21, 2023
Happily John goes to the Oxford as a freshman… He is young and quite on the timid side… On arrival he finds himself sharing a room with a man from a higher social stratum…
Naïve and inexperienced John needs someone to lean on… So he becomes influenced to a great degree by his roommate – a selfish and indolent rake with no scruples…
Telling his roommate about his sister John suddenly starts fantasizing – he makes the girl younger and very different… Later his imagination makes him elaborate the appearance of his fictitious girl… He calls her Jill… He writes a story about her… He pens her made-up diary… And one evening, entering a bookshop he sees there a girl of his vision… And it is love at first sight…
He tries to follow her… He becomes obsessed with her… He wanders the streets attempting to encounter her… When at last he manages to meet her and begins to inquire his acquaintances they turn him into a butt of ridicule… All his efforts to date her fail… His despair makes him behave foolishly…
Fantasies don’t come true and visions remain visions.
A dismal melancholy was beginning to expand inside him, a great loneliness. It was the knowledge that he had nowhere to go more friendly, more intimate than this room that depressed him so, and particularly because the room was not his alone.
Naïve and inexperienced John needs someone to lean on… So he becomes influenced to a great degree by his roommate – a selfish and indolent rake with no scruples…
John looked cautiously at his glass. Whisky? Would it make him drunk, would he stagger about and see pink elephants, walk home crookedly and perhaps be sick? If he were sick in front of Christopher he would die of shame.
Telling his roommate about his sister John suddenly starts fantasizing – he makes the girl younger and very different… Later his imagination makes him elaborate the appearance of his fictitious girl… He calls her Jill… He writes a story about her… He pens her made-up diary… And one evening, entering a bookshop he sees there a girl of his vision… And it is love at first sight…
He saw Jill.
She stepped out from behind an alcove, working her way slowly along the shelves, moving eventually in his direction. For a moment she bobbed back into the alcove for a second look at an unseen book, but then reappeared, shifting gradually along the cases.
It was not a question of thinking: that girl is something like Jill. There was nothing casual in the resemblance: it was so exact that for a second his mind could not remember who it was, this over-familiar face. And he was too bewildered to think as the realization came upon him.
He tries to follow her… He becomes obsessed with her… He wanders the streets attempting to encounter her… When at last he manages to meet her and begins to inquire his acquaintances they turn him into a butt of ridicule… All his efforts to date her fail… His despair makes him behave foolishly…
He put his forehead against the wall: his misery was imprisoned in him and he was imprisoned in his misery.
Fantasies don’t come true and visions remain visions.
March 30, 2020
A miserable northern student invents a sister to win the attention of a monied wastrel in this melancholic snapshot of undergraduate life in 1940s Oxford. The thoughtful, precise, and concise observational and character detail, plus the ear for wit and dialogue, suggests Larkin might have triumphed at the novel form.
February 14, 2019
I read Philip Larkin's only other published novel, A Girl in Winter, some time ago, and very much enjoyed it. I was therefore rather excited to pick up his debut, Jill, which was first published in 1946. The novel was written over the course of a year when Larkin was just twenty-one, and a student at Oxford. It presents, says its blurb, 'a subtle and moving picture of a young English undergraduate from the provinces', and is also now regarded 'as a classic of its kind.'
Jill is set during the autumn term of 1940, known as the Michaelmas Term at Oxford. The novel opens with a description of the quite awkward journey made by train from Lancashire to Oxford, by our eighteen-year-old protagonist, John Kemp. As he reaches the city limits, Larkin notes: 'He got to his feet and stared at the approaching city across allotments, back-gardens and piles of coal covered with fallen leaves. Red brick walls glowed with a dull warmth that he would have admired at another time. Now he was too nervous.' He is about to start at the University, knowing nobody at his college, and scarcely able to imagine what might await him.
John is a 'poor student', and has won a scholarship to attend the University. Upon his arrival, he finds that he has to share a room with fellow English Literature student Christopher Warner. His first impressions are of bewilderment: 'Even with the big fire and uncomfortable furniture, though, it was not a cosy room. John thought of himself reading a volume of essays in front of the hearth with snow falling outside, but in reality the windows were large and draughty and the room never became properly heated.' He feels such unease, particularly upon meeting Christopher and his friends: 'His impulse to run away was neutralized by the fact there was nowhere to run to. This was home for him, now.' He is immediately aware of the loss of his old life, which he had barely considered up until this point in time. Larkin writes: 'He did not want to go any further with this new life. Already he was fearing what would come next: he feared being formally called, he feared breakfast, he feared all that still lay before him, measuring it against the trifle he had already experienced. How much pleasanter it would be to go back, though the past was even by this time unemphatic and twilit.'
Jill is a campus novel, set almost entirely around the Oxford college which our protagonist attends. There is a brief interlude in which he travels back to his home in Lancashire, somewhere which has been rendered almost unrecognisable by a bombing raid. This contrasts sharply with the ancient splendour of Oxford, which remains unmoving throughout John's first term.
The volume which I read, published decades ago by Faber and Faber, also contains an introduction written by Larkin. Larkin opens this by writing: 'An American critic recently suggested that Jill contained the first example of that characteristic landmark of the British post-war novel, the displaced working-class hero... if it is true, I feel bound to say that it was unintentional. In 1940 our impulse was still to minimize social differences rather than exaggerate them. My hero's background, through an integral part of the story, was not what the story was about.' He then goes on to discuss what Oxford was like during wartime, and how this differed from what came before; the suspension of 'college activities', the lack of varied food, the clothes rationing which made it 'difficult to dress stylishly'. Such concerns are rather well-to-do ones, certainly, and epitomise the things which our protagonist sees as vital in order to fit in with his largely publicly-educated and well-off peers.
Through John, Larkin perfectly captures the uncertainty and anxiety which many first-time students feel when thrust into the entirely new environment of University. In this manner particularly, Jill is an insightful character study, which does offer up some surprises. A full picture of John is slowly built, including his creation of an imaginary sister named Jill, and his fixation on the younger cousin of one of Christopher's friends. It feels as though Larkin fully understands John, and what such a life change does to him and his behaviour. Almost everything for John is a learning curve. The relationships which are forged between him, Christopher, and Christopher's friends, are not friendships as such; it seems as though, from the first, they are using John for the little money which he has, and for his essay notes. The rather naive John is completely oblivious to their ulterior motives.
Jill is an incredibly descriptive novel, as one would expect from a writer who worked primarily as a poet. When John arrives at his college, for instance, Larkin envisions: 'The quadrangle was gravelled and surrounded by sets of rooms on three sides, with the Chapel and Hall on the fourth side. The windows were dark and hollow: archways, with arms and scrolled stone, led off into other parts of the college, and one or two pigeons flew down from high ledges from among the rich crimson ivy.' One of the real strengths of the novel is in the richly evoked sense of place.
Having enjoyed Jill and A Girl in Winter so much, I am fully of the opinion that I prefer Larkin's novels to his poetry. As the New Statesman writes, 'The qualities one has learned to value in his poetry are there. Control of emotion and language, keen observation, and in particular the very precise expression of half-success, anticipated failure or sadness.' There is far more of a depth to his novels, however, as I'm sure one might expect given their relative length in comparison to a poem.
I was entranced whilst reading Jill, basking in its use of language, and admiring its strong and believable character development. Like A Girl in Winter, Jill is a quiet yet beautiful novel, peppered with haunting moments. It is a touching read, in which one comes to feel such sympathy for the beleaguered John, and understands every single one of his motives.
Jill is set during the autumn term of 1940, known as the Michaelmas Term at Oxford. The novel opens with a description of the quite awkward journey made by train from Lancashire to Oxford, by our eighteen-year-old protagonist, John Kemp. As he reaches the city limits, Larkin notes: 'He got to his feet and stared at the approaching city across allotments, back-gardens and piles of coal covered with fallen leaves. Red brick walls glowed with a dull warmth that he would have admired at another time. Now he was too nervous.' He is about to start at the University, knowing nobody at his college, and scarcely able to imagine what might await him.
John is a 'poor student', and has won a scholarship to attend the University. Upon his arrival, he finds that he has to share a room with fellow English Literature student Christopher Warner. His first impressions are of bewilderment: 'Even with the big fire and uncomfortable furniture, though, it was not a cosy room. John thought of himself reading a volume of essays in front of the hearth with snow falling outside, but in reality the windows were large and draughty and the room never became properly heated.' He feels such unease, particularly upon meeting Christopher and his friends: 'His impulse to run away was neutralized by the fact there was nowhere to run to. This was home for him, now.' He is immediately aware of the loss of his old life, which he had barely considered up until this point in time. Larkin writes: 'He did not want to go any further with this new life. Already he was fearing what would come next: he feared being formally called, he feared breakfast, he feared all that still lay before him, measuring it against the trifle he had already experienced. How much pleasanter it would be to go back, though the past was even by this time unemphatic and twilit.'
Jill is a campus novel, set almost entirely around the Oxford college which our protagonist attends. There is a brief interlude in which he travels back to his home in Lancashire, somewhere which has been rendered almost unrecognisable by a bombing raid. This contrasts sharply with the ancient splendour of Oxford, which remains unmoving throughout John's first term.
The volume which I read, published decades ago by Faber and Faber, also contains an introduction written by Larkin. Larkin opens this by writing: 'An American critic recently suggested that Jill contained the first example of that characteristic landmark of the British post-war novel, the displaced working-class hero... if it is true, I feel bound to say that it was unintentional. In 1940 our impulse was still to minimize social differences rather than exaggerate them. My hero's background, through an integral part of the story, was not what the story was about.' He then goes on to discuss what Oxford was like during wartime, and how this differed from what came before; the suspension of 'college activities', the lack of varied food, the clothes rationing which made it 'difficult to dress stylishly'. Such concerns are rather well-to-do ones, certainly, and epitomise the things which our protagonist sees as vital in order to fit in with his largely publicly-educated and well-off peers.
Through John, Larkin perfectly captures the uncertainty and anxiety which many first-time students feel when thrust into the entirely new environment of University. In this manner particularly, Jill is an insightful character study, which does offer up some surprises. A full picture of John is slowly built, including his creation of an imaginary sister named Jill, and his fixation on the younger cousin of one of Christopher's friends. It feels as though Larkin fully understands John, and what such a life change does to him and his behaviour. Almost everything for John is a learning curve. The relationships which are forged between him, Christopher, and Christopher's friends, are not friendships as such; it seems as though, from the first, they are using John for the little money which he has, and for his essay notes. The rather naive John is completely oblivious to their ulterior motives.
Jill is an incredibly descriptive novel, as one would expect from a writer who worked primarily as a poet. When John arrives at his college, for instance, Larkin envisions: 'The quadrangle was gravelled and surrounded by sets of rooms on three sides, with the Chapel and Hall on the fourth side. The windows were dark and hollow: archways, with arms and scrolled stone, led off into other parts of the college, and one or two pigeons flew down from high ledges from among the rich crimson ivy.' One of the real strengths of the novel is in the richly evoked sense of place.
Having enjoyed Jill and A Girl in Winter so much, I am fully of the opinion that I prefer Larkin's novels to his poetry. As the New Statesman writes, 'The qualities one has learned to value in his poetry are there. Control of emotion and language, keen observation, and in particular the very precise expression of half-success, anticipated failure or sadness.' There is far more of a depth to his novels, however, as I'm sure one might expect given their relative length in comparison to a poem.
I was entranced whilst reading Jill, basking in its use of language, and admiring its strong and believable character development. Like A Girl in Winter, Jill is a quiet yet beautiful novel, peppered with haunting moments. It is a touching read, in which one comes to feel such sympathy for the beleaguered John, and understands every single one of his motives.
May 6, 2015
Although this one of Larkin's only two novels - all his other books were poetry, it is obvious that he would have succeeded just as well with prose. He was a wonderful writer and this is a small an ordinary story made great by way Larkin relates it.
June 11, 2018
I loved this book - that going off to university theme - on your own for the first time, in life. The exposure to wisdom and fantastic access to volumes and volumes of knowledge, and then the relationships with all around.
I was also so disappointed that Larkin only had the one novel.
I was also so disappointed that Larkin only had the one novel.
April 5, 2013
From BBC Radio 4 - Classical Serial:
A young student arrives at Oxford and is drawn helplessly into his own imaginative world.
A young student arrives at Oxford and is drawn helplessly into his own imaginative world.
July 15, 2014
'Jill' by Philip Larkin is a frustratingly erratic novel. It starts promisingly, then dips considerably before rallying in its final section. I came near to giving up on it during the very dull and tedious middle part of the story. I persevered with it, and I'm glad that I did. I was left with the impression, however, that it's an unremarkable novel which had it not been written by someone who went on to become a very well-known poet would probably be largely forgotten today.
The principal character is John Kemp, a young working-class student from the north of England who, while at grammar school, wins a scholarship to read English at Oxford University during the early years of the Second World War. During his first term at Oxford, John meets a number of middle class students, one of whom - Christopher Warner - is his roommate. Christopher went to a minor public school and is a confident and assertive person. He is academically lazy, appears to float from one social engagement to another and neglects his studies. John is his exact opposite. He is clever and studious but socially awkward. John becomes entranced by Christopher and his friends. Desperate to get Christopher's attention, he creates a fictional younger sister - the 'Jill' of the title - despite the fact that he actually has an older sister, Edith, who is a teacher in Manchester. He does so because he thinks that the outwardly confident Christopher may harbour a slight envy of his more ordinary life and the closer family ties that go with it. John begins to compose fictional letters from Jill and a diary by her. He leaves these lying around in the hope that Christopher will surreptitiously pick them up and read them. But, of course, the self-obsessed Christopher shows no interest whatsoever in John's extra-curricular life. So, the latter's plan fails. Eventually, John bumps into a young woman called Gillian - another 'Jill'! - in an Oxford bookshop. He becomes infatuated with her, a situation that for all kinds of reasons - not least that Gillian is a relative of one of Christopher's closest friends, Elizabeth - is destined to be fraught with emotional difficulty.
I enjoyed the early part of 'Jill'. Larkin vividly portrays what life must have been like in wartime Oxford for the student population. One small example is that the station porter has to walk the length of the platform shouting "Oxford, Oxford" when John's train from the north of England arrives because the station nameplates have been removed for the duration of the war. Larkin also conveys very well the clash of cultures that takes place when the life of the working-class, grammar school-educated and somewhat diffident John collides with that of the ultra-confident, middle-class, ex-public schoolboy Christopher. The middle section of the book, which features the letters and diaries of John's fictional sister Jill, is nothing like as good as the opening chapters. Indeed, it's mind-numbingly dull. Things improve in the final third of the story, which concerns the impact of John's seemingly ill-fated infatuation with Gillian.
Not surprisingly, perhaps, given its author's poetic pedigree, 'Jill' is suffused with beautifully descriptive language. The characterisation is also good but the pacing of the story leaves much to be desired. Far too much time is devoted to the fictional Jill and her correspondence. In my view, the use of that particular plot device unbalances what would otherwise be a reasonably readable and coherent story. All in all, 'Jill' is a bit of a mixed bag of a novel. It's unlikely to live long in the memory and it's not a story that I feel I can wholeheartedly recommend. 6/10.
The principal character is John Kemp, a young working-class student from the north of England who, while at grammar school, wins a scholarship to read English at Oxford University during the early years of the Second World War. During his first term at Oxford, John meets a number of middle class students, one of whom - Christopher Warner - is his roommate. Christopher went to a minor public school and is a confident and assertive person. He is academically lazy, appears to float from one social engagement to another and neglects his studies. John is his exact opposite. He is clever and studious but socially awkward. John becomes entranced by Christopher and his friends. Desperate to get Christopher's attention, he creates a fictional younger sister - the 'Jill' of the title - despite the fact that he actually has an older sister, Edith, who is a teacher in Manchester. He does so because he thinks that the outwardly confident Christopher may harbour a slight envy of his more ordinary life and the closer family ties that go with it. John begins to compose fictional letters from Jill and a diary by her. He leaves these lying around in the hope that Christopher will surreptitiously pick them up and read them. But, of course, the self-obsessed Christopher shows no interest whatsoever in John's extra-curricular life. So, the latter's plan fails. Eventually, John bumps into a young woman called Gillian - another 'Jill'! - in an Oxford bookshop. He becomes infatuated with her, a situation that for all kinds of reasons - not least that Gillian is a relative of one of Christopher's closest friends, Elizabeth - is destined to be fraught with emotional difficulty.
I enjoyed the early part of 'Jill'. Larkin vividly portrays what life must have been like in wartime Oxford for the student population. One small example is that the station porter has to walk the length of the platform shouting "Oxford, Oxford" when John's train from the north of England arrives because the station nameplates have been removed for the duration of the war. Larkin also conveys very well the clash of cultures that takes place when the life of the working-class, grammar school-educated and somewhat diffident John collides with that of the ultra-confident, middle-class, ex-public schoolboy Christopher. The middle section of the book, which features the letters and diaries of John's fictional sister Jill, is nothing like as good as the opening chapters. Indeed, it's mind-numbingly dull. Things improve in the final third of the story, which concerns the impact of John's seemingly ill-fated infatuation with Gillian.
Not surprisingly, perhaps, given its author's poetic pedigree, 'Jill' is suffused with beautifully descriptive language. The characterisation is also good but the pacing of the story leaves much to be desired. Far too much time is devoted to the fictional Jill and her correspondence. In my view, the use of that particular plot device unbalances what would otherwise be a reasonably readable and coherent story. All in all, 'Jill' is a bit of a mixed bag of a novel. It's unlikely to live long in the memory and it's not a story that I feel I can wholeheartedly recommend. 6/10.
December 14, 2010
Larkin wrote Jill during Word War II, while he was still at university and set the book in the same time and place. The writing is very good, as you would expect from a poet as good as Larkin. Words are tools he obviously has no problem using. However, the story leaves something to be desired.
As I began reading the book I raced through it. Larkin writes brilliantly of the displacement felt by his main character, John Kemp, a working class freshman at Oxford University. John is "as restless as a cat in new home". It is easy to wallow with him in his melancholy and disorientation. In a good way. His early interaction with roommate, Chris Warner, is a masterpiece. It immediately called to mind one of my favourite books, Brideshead Revisited, and I hoped it would continue in this vein. Larkin writes: "Whatever one might think of Christopher Warner, he could not be neglected." Unfortunately, Larkin does.
The book goes downhill when the eponymous Jills, technically there are two, come onto the scene. The first is an imaginary sister created by John. He writes false letters to her and diaries by her. These provide insights into John's character; "She hated Maisie, and envied her, and hated herself for envying her" could have been written about John and Chris. On the whole though, this section is dull.
The second Jill is actually called Gillian, a young girl John becomes infatuated with. The infatuation ends badly but not tragically. The plotline seems pointless and fails to engage after the well-written and promising start. As I was reading the book I was counting the pages until the end, never a good sign. I even found it a significant effort to get through the last hundred pages. I would not even call it bad, just mediocre. Mediocre is not good enough though, when there are so many books to read and many, many of them more worth reading than this one.
The early qualities resurface towards the end after a bombing raid hits John's home town. Once again his disorientation and anxiety are wonderfully realised. It is not enough to redeem the whole and the book staggers to an uninteresting close.
The most interesting part of the novel is Larkin's 1963 introduction, which was almost worth the £3 I paid for the book. In it he talks about writing the book and his friendships at the time, including that of Kingsley Amis.
Overall though, give this one a miss.
As I began reading the book I raced through it. Larkin writes brilliantly of the displacement felt by his main character, John Kemp, a working class freshman at Oxford University. John is "as restless as a cat in new home". It is easy to wallow with him in his melancholy and disorientation. In a good way. His early interaction with roommate, Chris Warner, is a masterpiece. It immediately called to mind one of my favourite books, Brideshead Revisited, and I hoped it would continue in this vein. Larkin writes: "Whatever one might think of Christopher Warner, he could not be neglected." Unfortunately, Larkin does.
The book goes downhill when the eponymous Jills, technically there are two, come onto the scene. The first is an imaginary sister created by John. He writes false letters to her and diaries by her. These provide insights into John's character; "She hated Maisie, and envied her, and hated herself for envying her" could have been written about John and Chris. On the whole though, this section is dull.
The second Jill is actually called Gillian, a young girl John becomes infatuated with. The infatuation ends badly but not tragically. The plotline seems pointless and fails to engage after the well-written and promising start. As I was reading the book I was counting the pages until the end, never a good sign. I even found it a significant effort to get through the last hundred pages. I would not even call it bad, just mediocre. Mediocre is not good enough though, when there are so many books to read and many, many of them more worth reading than this one.
The early qualities resurface towards the end after a bombing raid hits John's home town. Once again his disorientation and anxiety are wonderfully realised. It is not enough to redeem the whole and the book staggers to an uninteresting close.
The most interesting part of the novel is Larkin's 1963 introduction, which was almost worth the £3 I paid for the book. In it he talks about writing the book and his friendships at the time, including that of Kingsley Amis.
Overall though, give this one a miss.
April 25, 2021
Acabo "Jill" con la sensación de que necesito reposarla un poco antes de ser taxativa en su valoración porque, desde luego, ha sido un libro de apariencia sencilla, pero lleno de sutilezas que marcaban diversas capas de interpretación, cada cual más profunda.
En muchos fragmentos me he visto profundamente reflejada en John (el prota), mientras que, en otras ocasiones, no he sabido bien qué lo movía a actuar como lo hacía.
Al final, la sensación que me queda es de tristeza y vacío... y será, seguro, de esas novelas que siga pensando y repensando mucho tiempo.
En muchos fragmentos me he visto profundamente reflejada en John (el prota), mientras que, en otras ocasiones, no he sabido bien qué lo movía a actuar como lo hacía.
Al final, la sensación que me queda es de tristeza y vacío... y será, seguro, de esas novelas que siga pensando y repensando mucho tiempo.
February 3, 2016
"Jill" is a wonderful story about a Young Englishman from a working class family, who attends Oxford on a scholarship, and his attempt to fit in with people from higher classes of society. Larkin has drew a very interesting portrait of life in Oxford during WWII. I also think he managed to brilliantly convey the protagonist concerns and feelings. The writing, as can be expected from Larkin, was beautiful, lively, and yet very simple
August 24, 2020
Phillip Larkin is one of my favourite poets in English and his first novel (of two) didn't disappoint. I knew I was going to give it at least 4 stars right from the first pages, which describe the approach to Oxford on the train - I didn't know I needed to hear it described back to me, but it was great.
Larkin's prose is just as beautiful as his poetry (even more so I would say as his poems are not typically lyrical or beautiful) and it contained his classic cynicism and wit, even though this was written at the very beginning of his career (aged 21). I've also never read as accurate a description of what it feels like to be extremely drunk before; it was amusing but also made me feel ill myself, which is quite impressive.
I really enjoyed this look at what Oxford was like in the 40s and it was also quite eye-opening about what it was like to be a student during WW2. I also enjoyed watching the descent of the main character into vice, from bright-eyed and hopeful new fresher, to a derailed drunken mess. We've all been there.
Recommend!!
Larkin's prose is just as beautiful as his poetry (even more so I would say as his poems are not typically lyrical or beautiful) and it contained his classic cynicism and wit, even though this was written at the very beginning of his career (aged 21). I've also never read as accurate a description of what it feels like to be extremely drunk before; it was amusing but also made me feel ill myself, which is quite impressive.
I really enjoyed this look at what Oxford was like in the 40s and it was also quite eye-opening about what it was like to be a student during WW2. I also enjoyed watching the descent of the main character into vice, from bright-eyed and hopeful new fresher, to a derailed drunken mess. We've all been there.
Recommend!!
April 28, 2021
Me lancé a leer este libro porque: 1)es de Impedimenta, 2)me gustó Una chica en invierno y 3)vi que se desarrolla en Oxford, pero no sabía mucho más de su argumento. Aunque no me ha gustado tanto como el anteriormente mencionado creo que es una obra interesante sobre cómo vive un estudiante el cambio del colegio a la universidad, todos los que nos hayamos sentido un poco perdidos en esa etapa de nuestra vida nos identificaremos un poco con John.
September 30, 2020
No, no, this can cock right off. Look, I can see it's beautifully done: but I don't read in order to be persuaded of life's essential lack of meaning and beauty. Absolutely seriously, jog on, Phil lad!
November 6, 2022
Hay algo extremadamente preciso —y silencioso— en la violencia de esta novela, que se despliega como un arco de soledad pero, ¡y esto es lo terrorífico!, nunca se deshace del escalofrío propio de quien se encuentra lejos de su clase, de su casa, en el salvaje y alienado mundo del capricho burgués.
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October 9, 2023Dull.
Started promisingly with the naive, hard working John Kemp going to Oxford and having to share a room with the obnoxious public school boy Warner. All the characters were unsympathetic. Even Kemp, who developed a creepy obsession with a young girl who happened to have the same name as the sister he had made up, and written about. And he was horrible to the one decent person he met.
Not for me.
Started promisingly with the naive, hard working John Kemp going to Oxford and having to share a room with the obnoxious public school boy Warner. All the characters were unsympathetic. Even Kemp, who developed a creepy obsession with a young girl who happened to have the same name as the sister he had made up, and written about. And he was horrible to the one decent person he met.
Not for me.
May 12, 2025
A quietly-written masterpiece of delusion and unravelling.
February 16, 2019
Philip Larkin well known for his poetry, wrote just two novels, I read the second of them, The Girl in Winter (1947), last year, and it made my books of the year list. Jill was published a year earlier, and although it is not quite so pitch perfect as that later novel it is still hugely satisfying, written with great insight and delicacy. It is an extraordinary character study, shot through, with lyricism and subtle social commentary.
The narrative takes place during one term at Oxford university – in an unnamed college. In the autumn of 1940 John Kemp, a desperately shy eighteen-year-old undergraduate arrives in Oxford on a scholarship from his home in Huddersfield. I imagine this is probably the best evocation of Oxford in 1940 as it is possible to get. Cake gets stolen from other student’s rooms, essays are prepared at the last minute, rules always there to be broken.
John arrives, and is directed to his room, finding it already occupied with an unknown roommate – who has opened all his preciously collected crockery and used it to entertain his friends.
“‘Do you know – er – rather a funny thing, I think we’ve both brought the same kind of china –’
He was interrupted by a howl of laughter so sudden and boisterous that he jumped and looked round him in alarm. Everyone was wildly amused. Elizabeth snatched her tiny handkerchief again and holding it to her eyes, shook with merriment. Eddy Makepeace gave short barks of laughter, that were irritating because they sounded forced: Hugh Stanning-Smith chuckling in a well-bred way, and Patrick Dowling looked sideways up at him with a foxy jeer.
‘What – what’s wrong? He exclaimed, startled for once into natural behaviour.
More laughter. His bewilderment caused a second, cruder burst, as if a comedian, having told a funny story, had proceeded to sit on his hat.
‘Oh God.’ Gasped Christopher Warner at last, taking his handkerchief from around the teapot handle and mopping his eyes with it. ‘Oh, dear! My dear fellow, these are your crocks…”
Oh – the awkwardness of that scene – you can’t help but feel for John here. It is a brilliantly written scene.
Full review: https://heavenali.wordpress.com/2018/...
The narrative takes place during one term at Oxford university – in an unnamed college. In the autumn of 1940 John Kemp, a desperately shy eighteen-year-old undergraduate arrives in Oxford on a scholarship from his home in Huddersfield. I imagine this is probably the best evocation of Oxford in 1940 as it is possible to get. Cake gets stolen from other student’s rooms, essays are prepared at the last minute, rules always there to be broken.
John arrives, and is directed to his room, finding it already occupied with an unknown roommate – who has opened all his preciously collected crockery and used it to entertain his friends.
“‘Do you know – er – rather a funny thing, I think we’ve both brought the same kind of china –’
He was interrupted by a howl of laughter so sudden and boisterous that he jumped and looked round him in alarm. Everyone was wildly amused. Elizabeth snatched her tiny handkerchief again and holding it to her eyes, shook with merriment. Eddy Makepeace gave short barks of laughter, that were irritating because they sounded forced: Hugh Stanning-Smith chuckling in a well-bred way, and Patrick Dowling looked sideways up at him with a foxy jeer.
‘What – what’s wrong? He exclaimed, startled for once into natural behaviour.
More laughter. His bewilderment caused a second, cruder burst, as if a comedian, having told a funny story, had proceeded to sit on his hat.
‘Oh God.’ Gasped Christopher Warner at last, taking his handkerchief from around the teapot handle and mopping his eyes with it. ‘Oh, dear! My dear fellow, these are your crocks…”
Oh – the awkwardness of that scene – you can’t help but feel for John here. It is a brilliantly written scene.
Full review: https://heavenali.wordpress.com/2018/...
November 3, 2015
While he's much better known as a poet, it seems that Philip Larkin wrote a couple of novels as well. Jill tells the story of a young man, John Kemp, away from home for the first time, going up to Oxford to study English literature.
Published a few years after Larkin left Oxford, there appear to be many parallels with his own life: a less privileged background, from the north of England, studied English at Oxford - apparently wrote more than he studied - during the war and would have been at risk of having his home bombed. The novel could almost start to sound auto-biographical, though I suspect it's much more a case of 'writing what you know' and therefore pulling details from the author's life to populate the story.
Kemp ends up rooming with a confident public-school chap, Christopher Warner, and is immediately over-awed by his arrogant confidence. As part of a misguided attempt to impress him, John creates a fictional life for his sister, Jill, by writing himself detailed letters. Eventually he meets a girl who he thinks is everything this Jill should be and he develops something of an fixation on her.
While Larkin himself wasn't overly flattering of his first novel in the (excellent) introduction - asking us to be indulgent of his "juvenillia" - it is a great read. Larkin's ease with language is strongly evident, and while the subject matter is a simple story, the book is well paced and never feels slow.
Published a few years after Larkin left Oxford, there appear to be many parallels with his own life: a less privileged background, from the north of England, studied English at Oxford - apparently wrote more than he studied - during the war and would have been at risk of having his home bombed. The novel could almost start to sound auto-biographical, though I suspect it's much more a case of 'writing what you know' and therefore pulling details from the author's life to populate the story.
Kemp ends up rooming with a confident public-school chap, Christopher Warner, and is immediately over-awed by his arrogant confidence. As part of a misguided attempt to impress him, John creates a fictional life for his sister, Jill, by writing himself detailed letters. Eventually he meets a girl who he thinks is everything this Jill should be and he develops something of an fixation on her.
While Larkin himself wasn't overly flattering of his first novel in the (excellent) introduction - asking us to be indulgent of his "juvenillia" - it is a great read. Larkin's ease with language is strongly evident, and while the subject matter is a simple story, the book is well paced and never feels slow.
March 6, 2014
Classical Serial
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006qfz6
Duration: 58 minutes
First broadcast:
Sunday 31 March 2013
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006qfz6
Duration: 58 minutes
First broadcast:
Sunday 31 March 2013
April 17, 2018
Slow, dream-like tale of a northern working class scholar spending his first term in Oxford at the start of WWII. While it includes the familiar British theme of class, it isn't ultimately about that. It is about a timid yet clever young man trying to find his feet in an alien environment. It is about the turmoil and change of leaving home and also of war. John Kemp, the subject of the story is disorientated and confused in a world he worked hard to reach. He struggles to find himself but maybe begins to through his writing. It is a tale of how an artist, a writer is born.
The story is not particularly strong; mainly one of youthful obsession with a girl who starts imaginary and becomes real; but the writing captures something essential of what it is to be young and confused. It is also interesting to see what Philip Larkin could do as a novelist rather than a poet, at a young age. Maybe 4 stars is slightly generous as this isn't an amazing book and the plot is a little contrived in the latter stages, but for me it deserves more than three stars for its spirit.
The story is not particularly strong; mainly one of youthful obsession with a girl who starts imaginary and becomes real; but the writing captures something essential of what it is to be young and confused. It is also interesting to see what Philip Larkin could do as a novelist rather than a poet, at a young age. Maybe 4 stars is slightly generous as this isn't an amazing book and the plot is a little contrived in the latter stages, but for me it deserves more than three stars for its spirit.
September 25, 2016
Philip Larkin begins my version of the novel with a self-serving introduction that pretends to apologise for the novel as a piece of "juvenilia". It does little to disguise the overwrought self-pity of the following couple of hundred pages. Jill is well-written, but incredibly self-involved. Larkin's narrative is based around one-term at Oxford University, as he idolises his room-mate, feels sorry for himself and becomes annoyingly obsessive about a multitude of things. The book is repetitive, but without plot; intelligent but graceless. It has some excellent sentences, but adds up to little in the end. Jill simply wallows.
February 4, 2024
El ambiente gris de un college inglés durante la Segunda Guerra Mundial sirve de epicentro para el desarrollo de Jill. John, alumno becado en Oxford intenta integrarse en este nuevo ambiente, rodeado de compañeros con más posibilidades económicas no le resulta nada fácil y aunque llega ilusionado, pronto se dará de bruces con la realidad. Para salir un poco del tedio y puede que para sentirse un poco más integrado e importante imagina a Jill y la rodea de un ambiente de mentiras. La sorpresa será mayúscula cuando la chica de su imaginación aparece ante sus ojos.
Philip Larkin ya me ganó hace años con Una chica en invierno, Jill solo corobora la opinión poaitiva que tenía sobre él. Es una novela con claroscuros, obsesiva y a la vez de una simpleza deliciosa. No podría empezar mejor el año que con esta lectura.
Philip Larkin ya me ganó hace años con Una chica en invierno, Jill solo corobora la opinión poaitiva que tenía sobre él. Es una novela con claroscuros, obsesiva y a la vez de una simpleza deliciosa. No podría empezar mejor el año que con esta lectura.
March 19, 2023
Unsettling
April 30, 2023
I enjoyed the descriptions of Oxford and university life in the first half but was put off by the plot in the second.
October 2, 2024
a very lonely, fish out of water story. it’s easy to sympathise with John for a large portion, however his dogged pursuit of Jill soon tips the scale from endearing to downright creepy. a good insight into war torn Britain, class differences and higher education. quite Saltburn indeed.
April 23, 2011
Larkin really slammed this so I wasn't expecting much. But really, it's more skilful than he gives it credit for. Yes, it IS a bit rough -- and I do think Larkin is a better poet than novelist -- but it is really quite enjoyable. And more skilful than expected, as I've already said. I'm afraid I didn't like Kemp so much [even as I identified with him, poor soul] but that's probably a GOOD thing, not bad, and Larkin managed to tread the balance between creating someone pathetic and yet -- quite flawed. I think his poetic abilty shows through as well, and (his own) marketing of himself as a plain style poet is undermined I think, by the surreal portions of this book (also by poems like Solar, but since poems come in little bits I think it's easier to miss?). Often, I say, it's when you read the book, and I felt very sorry -- because I identified with Kemp. On the other hand, if many of the feelings ARE Larkin's, it explains why he was such a douche sometimes. I mean, I love him, but some stuff is inexcusable (just his behaviour as a person)
June 12, 2025
Jill by Philip Larkin – author of A Girl in Winter, which is included on The 1,000 Novels Everyone Must Read – hundreds of those works have been reviewed on my blog, where the best take might be this: https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/20...
9 out of 10
Philip Larkin was a good, maybe the best friend of Magister Ludi Kingsley Amis, and he is very present in The Memoirs https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/20... a good reason for this reader to try and get to the next level, after more than twenty books by Kingsley Amis, move to his circle
There is another reason tom expect enchantment from Jill, and that is the fact that I have read Girl in Winter and that was a ten out of ten experience for the under signed https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/20... albeit Jill gets only 9 of 10
John Kemp is the main character in the novel, notwithstanding the title, and the fact that indeed, there is a Gillian aka Jill that enters the stage, but for a comparatively short time, and with less impact than the hero
The protagonist comes from a rather poor family, not destitute, but clearly out of the privileged classes, and the boy is lucky to have this teacher, Mr. Crouch, who decides to support the pupil and see him get access to higher education, he has some selfish motives, and eventually gets bored with this goal, nevertheless, it may work
We have a back and forth, the main character remembers how his teacher made some comments, looking for deserving apprentices, he found that Kemp was doing well in tests, then there was the suggestion that he should continue his studies, based on the fact that he would get a scholarship, seeing his financial challenges
John does not believe he can do that; this will be in contrast with another student he would meet at Oxford – thus, I am anticipating the fact that he would get accepted – who had been so determined, against ball odds, poverty and distrust of the others, however, the boy is very resilient and hardworking, stubborn
The formula that comes to mind is from Outliers https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/20... by Malcolm Gladwell, if you work for ten thousand hours, during ten years, that is three hours daily, then you have a good chance to get to the top, other conditions pending.
Once in Oxford though, our man is not happy, on the contrary, he has a roommate, Christopher Warner, who has taken his cups and things, takes money from John, albeit the former is much richer, and does not rush to give it back, worse, he talks to Elizabeth, the girl he wants to have coitus with, and we hear them mocking Kemp
The hero invents Jill, as his sister, to get Chrsitopher interested, the savoir faire, panache, arrogance, bravado, insolence, carelessness impresses upon the rather shy, well raised young man, who admires this defiance, even if he has to think about the demeaning dialogue that he has heard and then, they come to a clash
In real life, he meets this fifteen years old girl, Gillian called Jill, and he ‘falls in love at first sight’, we could say, or dispute that, first because he has had her in his mind for some time, as a creation of his, then the problem with defining love was expressed by many thinkers, and one that had a strong impact on yours truly is
Thomas Mann https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/20... has this personage who is horrified by the ease with which people say ‘my love is so great, there are no words to use’, when in fact, this is a feeling that we find only in literature, art, in real life, when tested, it proves to be just infatuation or arousal…
Now for my standard closing of the note with a question, and invitation – maybe you have a good idea on how we could make more than a million dollars with this https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/20... – as it is, this is a unique technique, which we could promote, sell, open the Oscars show with or something and then make lots of money together, if you have the how, I have the product, I just do not know how to get the befits from it, other than the exercise per se
There is also the small matter of working for AT&T – this huge company asked me to be its Representative for Romania and Bulgaria, on the Calling Card side, which meant sailing into the Black Sea wo meet the US Navy ships, travelling to Sofia, a lot of activity, using my mother’s two bedrooms flat as office and warehouse, all for the grand total of $250, raised after a lot of persuasion to the staggering $400…with retirement ahead, there are no benefits, nothing…it is a longer story, but if you can help get the mastodont to pay some dues, or have an idea how it can happen, let me know
As for my role in the Revolution that killed Ceausescu, a smaller Mao, there it is http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/03/r...
Some favorite quotes from To The Hermitage and other works
‘Fiction is infinitely preferable to real life...As long as you avoid the books of Kafka or Beckett, the everlasting plot of fiction has fewer futile experiences than the careless plot of reality...Fiction's people are fuller, deeper, cleverer, more moving than those in real life…Its actions are more intricate, illuminating, noble, profound…There are many more dramas, climaxes, romantic fulfillment, twists, turns, gratified resolutions…Unlike reality, all of this you can experience without leaving the house or even getting out of bed…What's more, books are a form of intelligent human greatness, as stories are a higher order of sense…As random life is to destiny, so stories are to great authors, who provided us with some of the highest pleasures and the most wonderful mystifications we can find…Few stories are greater than Anna Karenina, that wise epic by an often foolish author…’
9 out of 10
Philip Larkin was a good, maybe the best friend of Magister Ludi Kingsley Amis, and he is very present in The Memoirs https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/20... a good reason for this reader to try and get to the next level, after more than twenty books by Kingsley Amis, move to his circle
There is another reason tom expect enchantment from Jill, and that is the fact that I have read Girl in Winter and that was a ten out of ten experience for the under signed https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/20... albeit Jill gets only 9 of 10
John Kemp is the main character in the novel, notwithstanding the title, and the fact that indeed, there is a Gillian aka Jill that enters the stage, but for a comparatively short time, and with less impact than the hero
The protagonist comes from a rather poor family, not destitute, but clearly out of the privileged classes, and the boy is lucky to have this teacher, Mr. Crouch, who decides to support the pupil and see him get access to higher education, he has some selfish motives, and eventually gets bored with this goal, nevertheless, it may work
We have a back and forth, the main character remembers how his teacher made some comments, looking for deserving apprentices, he found that Kemp was doing well in tests, then there was the suggestion that he should continue his studies, based on the fact that he would get a scholarship, seeing his financial challenges
John does not believe he can do that; this will be in contrast with another student he would meet at Oxford – thus, I am anticipating the fact that he would get accepted – who had been so determined, against ball odds, poverty and distrust of the others, however, the boy is very resilient and hardworking, stubborn
The formula that comes to mind is from Outliers https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/20... by Malcolm Gladwell, if you work for ten thousand hours, during ten years, that is three hours daily, then you have a good chance to get to the top, other conditions pending.
Once in Oxford though, our man is not happy, on the contrary, he has a roommate, Christopher Warner, who has taken his cups and things, takes money from John, albeit the former is much richer, and does not rush to give it back, worse, he talks to Elizabeth, the girl he wants to have coitus with, and we hear them mocking Kemp
The hero invents Jill, as his sister, to get Chrsitopher interested, the savoir faire, panache, arrogance, bravado, insolence, carelessness impresses upon the rather shy, well raised young man, who admires this defiance, even if he has to think about the demeaning dialogue that he has heard and then, they come to a clash
In real life, he meets this fifteen years old girl, Gillian called Jill, and he ‘falls in love at first sight’, we could say, or dispute that, first because he has had her in his mind for some time, as a creation of his, then the problem with defining love was expressed by many thinkers, and one that had a strong impact on yours truly is
Thomas Mann https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/20... has this personage who is horrified by the ease with which people say ‘my love is so great, there are no words to use’, when in fact, this is a feeling that we find only in literature, art, in real life, when tested, it proves to be just infatuation or arousal…
Now for my standard closing of the note with a question, and invitation – maybe you have a good idea on how we could make more than a million dollars with this https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/20... – as it is, this is a unique technique, which we could promote, sell, open the Oscars show with or something and then make lots of money together, if you have the how, I have the product, I just do not know how to get the befits from it, other than the exercise per se
There is also the small matter of working for AT&T – this huge company asked me to be its Representative for Romania and Bulgaria, on the Calling Card side, which meant sailing into the Black Sea wo meet the US Navy ships, travelling to Sofia, a lot of activity, using my mother’s two bedrooms flat as office and warehouse, all for the grand total of $250, raised after a lot of persuasion to the staggering $400…with retirement ahead, there are no benefits, nothing…it is a longer story, but if you can help get the mastodont to pay some dues, or have an idea how it can happen, let me know
As for my role in the Revolution that killed Ceausescu, a smaller Mao, there it is http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/03/r...
Some favorite quotes from To The Hermitage and other works
‘Fiction is infinitely preferable to real life...As long as you avoid the books of Kafka or Beckett, the everlasting plot of fiction has fewer futile experiences than the careless plot of reality...Fiction's people are fuller, deeper, cleverer, more moving than those in real life…Its actions are more intricate, illuminating, noble, profound…There are many more dramas, climaxes, romantic fulfillment, twists, turns, gratified resolutions…Unlike reality, all of this you can experience without leaving the house or even getting out of bed…What's more, books are a form of intelligent human greatness, as stories are a higher order of sense…As random life is to destiny, so stories are to great authors, who provided us with some of the highest pleasures and the most wonderful mystifications we can find…Few stories are greater than Anna Karenina, that wise epic by an often foolish author…’
August 22, 2017
Hard not to read this and absorb the protagonist's sensitivity and inwardness. His diffident, conventional nature causes him to be swept along by outside circumstance until his imagination and desire overwhelm him. Most surprising here was, to me at least, the kind of fantastical feel of his delusion. Or is it? In fact the college setting, impeccable writing style and feeling of increasing disturbance made this a kind of more subdued version of Hangsaman by Shirley Jackson which came out 5 yrs later. Would love to know if she'd ever read Jill. With Stanley Hyman for a husband it doesn't seem unlikely the book made it her way. Any Larkin fans should pick this up and really any fans of strange moody fiction as well.
November 24, 2022
Apropos of nothing, a tale of a pathetic little boy who moves to Oxford for the university. Get ready to remember long forgotten moments of anxiety or stupid things you said 5-10 years ago when unnecessarily nervous about something.
July 26, 2018
This isn't what I expected, though I can't say what that was. The ending, I suppose.
Egg imagery: p. 42 and 68. Is John the fragile shell? Does he become the breaker?
24 he did not hurry from the station to his college
37 "the room was not his alone." John Kemp of Huddlesford and Christopher Warner of London
38 Looking at Christopher's books gives John some self awareness. He sees a notebook with a similar assessment of Shylock in the Merchant of Venice to his own treatment in an essay. "The awareness that he himself had written something very like that gave John strange thrill, part rivalry and part kinship, with a dash of disappointment that something he had in the past prided himself on knowing should be the common property of any stranger."
42 "fear...pleasanter to go back"
commoner's table = commoners do not hold scholarships
49 the chill of possible loneliness
52 Whitbread's overeagerness
71-72 his school teacher Mr. Crouch's silver propelling pencil
76 Crouch's drawer of notes (in an earlier reference, we see that John has taken some of those notes to college
77 John's education. Crouch realizes his power
78 Crouch has lost interest in being John's mentor. He feels cheated by John's lack of imagination
84 Crouch thinks John a mystery not worth solving
The Green Leaf tea shop in Oxford
98 a walking bow tie
100 "The day's happiness had gone with the day."
105 "They were not laughing at the same things but that did not matter"
109 "What he had imagined to be his most secret feeling was almost cynically common"
110 friendliness like a tip for a waiter
111 John sees himself in worse light than Chris, one he's heard Chris's opinion
117 Finally, the name Jill appears, when John invents a little sister for Chris
119 An easy lie
116 John actually looks Chris in the eye
135 Description of Jill = "hallucination of innocence"
136-149 We read John's short story about Jill
149-152 Jill's diary as written by john
150-51 new Venus pencil
156 John sees a young woman in a bookstore, Jill come to life
SCR senior common room
166 screw = pay?
168 "sporting the oak" means to close your door to say you don't want visitors
181 self-aware = ineffectual but now utterly helpless
187 his true feelings safely locked up
196-97 Oxford's covered market
203 ff war hits John's family in Huddlesford
206 Whitbread explains that Oxford offers a chance to everyone
212 he sees first bombed house
215 "the dying sun made the brick houses glow just as through all his childhood"
219 the bombing annulled his childhood and therefore suffering erased. Fresh start
220arriving in Oxford again
225 ff Crouch comes to Oxford and 228 describes Oxford as a grand railway terminus. that connections will mean more than learning to John
230 John spoils Whitbread's room
242 ff John sick in dispensary. He's dreaming and hallucinating and watches the trees "tossed and tossed..." like he was?
243 "if there was no difference between love fulfilled and love unfulfilled, how could there be any difference between any other pair of opposites? WAs he not freed, for the rest of his life, from choice?"
He thought he was free, after seeing bombed out home, but his parents come to visit. There's no escape from one's past. I kept hoping he would find his feet, his own voice, stand up to roommate Christopher and his crew. Find friends. That was not what Larkin did. John's invention of the little sister to get Christopher's attention made sense; I thought he was finding his voice. John developing an infatuation with the 15 year old Gillian/Jill was disturbing.
Egg imagery: p. 42 and 68. Is John the fragile shell? Does he become the breaker?
24 he did not hurry from the station to his college
37 "the room was not his alone." John Kemp of Huddlesford and Christopher Warner of London
38 Looking at Christopher's books gives John some self awareness. He sees a notebook with a similar assessment of Shylock in the Merchant of Venice to his own treatment in an essay. "The awareness that he himself had written something very like that gave John strange thrill, part rivalry and part kinship, with a dash of disappointment that something he had in the past prided himself on knowing should be the common property of any stranger."
42 "fear...pleasanter to go back"
commoner's table = commoners do not hold scholarships
49 the chill of possible loneliness
52 Whitbread's overeagerness
71-72 his school teacher Mr. Crouch's silver propelling pencil
76 Crouch's drawer of notes (in an earlier reference, we see that John has taken some of those notes to college
77 John's education. Crouch realizes his power
78 Crouch has lost interest in being John's mentor. He feels cheated by John's lack of imagination
84 Crouch thinks John a mystery not worth solving
The Green Leaf tea shop in Oxford
98 a walking bow tie
100 "The day's happiness had gone with the day."
105 "They were not laughing at the same things but that did not matter"
109 "What he had imagined to be his most secret feeling was almost cynically common"
110 friendliness like a tip for a waiter
111 John sees himself in worse light than Chris, one he's heard Chris's opinion
117 Finally, the name Jill appears, when John invents a little sister for Chris
119 An easy lie
116 John actually looks Chris in the eye
135 Description of Jill = "hallucination of innocence"
136-149 We read John's short story about Jill
149-152 Jill's diary as written by john
150-51 new Venus pencil
156 John sees a young woman in a bookstore, Jill come to life
SCR senior common room
166 screw = pay?
168 "sporting the oak" means to close your door to say you don't want visitors
181 self-aware = ineffectual but now utterly helpless
187 his true feelings safely locked up
196-97 Oxford's covered market
203 ff war hits John's family in Huddlesford
206 Whitbread explains that Oxford offers a chance to everyone
212 he sees first bombed house
215 "the dying sun made the brick houses glow just as through all his childhood"
219 the bombing annulled his childhood and therefore suffering erased. Fresh start
220arriving in Oxford again
225 ff Crouch comes to Oxford and 228 describes Oxford as a grand railway terminus. that connections will mean more than learning to John
230 John spoils Whitbread's room
242 ff John sick in dispensary. He's dreaming and hallucinating and watches the trees "tossed and tossed..." like he was?
243 "if there was no difference between love fulfilled and love unfulfilled, how could there be any difference between any other pair of opposites? WAs he not freed, for the rest of his life, from choice?"
He thought he was free, after seeing bombed out home, but his parents come to visit. There's no escape from one's past. I kept hoping he would find his feet, his own voice, stand up to roommate Christopher and his crew. Find friends. That was not what Larkin did. John's invention of the little sister to get Christopher's attention made sense; I thought he was finding his voice. John developing an infatuation with the 15 year old Gillian/Jill was disturbing.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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