false 64716 15 0
Larkin was born in city of Coventry, West Midlands, 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, he 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.

]]> male Coventry, West Midlands, England 1922/08/09 1985/12/02 111879 0374529205 9780374529208 49 <![CDATA[Collected Poems]]> http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1171654145m/111879.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1171654145s/111879.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/111879.Collected_Poems 4.34 497 Collected Poems brings together not only all his books--The North Ship, The Less Deceived, The Whitsun Weddings, and High Windows--but also his uncollected poems from 1940 to 1984.

This new edition reflects Larkin's own ordering for his poems and is the first collection to present the body of his work with the organization he preferred. Preserving everything he published in his lifetime, the new Collected Poems is an indispensable contribution to the legacy of an icon of twentieth-century poetry.
]]> 64716 4.22 1075 87 1988 864051 0571114512 9780571114511 4 <![CDATA[High Windows]]> http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1179000869m/864051.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1179000869s/864051.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/864051.High_Windows 4.24 98 High Windows. "What do they think has happened, the old fools, to make them like this?…Why aren't they screaming?" Larkin asks of the elderly. His answer: "Well, we shall find out." In the titular poem he watches young lovers and wonders "if anyone looked at me, forty years back, and thought, That'll be the life". But it's hard to see into the future or the past: you have to strain, as if looking through a high window, and even then you may only get a glimpse of light through the "sun-comprehending glass."

High Windows was first published in 1974 and some critics disliked Larkin's work for its lack of experiment and familiar subject matter. Yet even at its most traditional, Larkin's writing can be striking as, in "This Be The Verse", it encapsulates prosaic truths with plain language and gentle wit:

They fuck you up, your mum and dad.
They may not mean to but they do.
They fill you with the faults they had
And add some extra, just for you.
--Tamsin Todd

]]> 64716 4.22 1075 87 1974 443769 0571097103 9780571097104 6 <![CDATA[Whitsun Weddings]]> http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1174832550m/443769.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1174832550s/443769.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/443769.Whitsun_Weddings 4.02 90 64716 4.22 1075 87 1964 1103562 0571106927 9780571106929 5 <![CDATA[A Girl in Winter]]> http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1181011811m/1103562.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1181011811s/1103562.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1103562.A_Girl_in_Winter 3.78 45 64716 4.22 1075 87 1975 111890 0571225829 9780571225828 3 <![CDATA[Jill]]> http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1171654156m/111890.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1171654156s/111890.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/111890.Jill 3.77 30 64716 4.22 1075 87 1984 770399 0472085840 9780472085842 2 <![CDATA[Required Writing: Miscellaneous Pieces 1955-1982]]> http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1178206335m/770399.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1178206335s/770399.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/770399.Required_Writing_Miscellaneous_Pieces_1955_1982 3.91 22 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.
</div><div>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.
</div><div>"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
</div><div>"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)
</div><div>"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
</div><div>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 Jazz: 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.
</div>]]> 64716 4.22 1075 87 1999 111889 057117048X 9780571170487 1 <![CDATA[Selected Letters of Philip Larkin, 1940-1985]]> http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1171654156m/111889.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1171654156s/111889.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/111889.Selected_Letters_of_Philip_Larkin_1940_1985 4.39 18 16 Pages of Black-and-White Photographs Index

Anthony Thwaite lives in Low Tharston, Norfolk, in the United Kingdom.

]]> 64716 4.22 1075 87 1993 953814 0900533064 9780900533068 1 <![CDATA[The Less Deceived]]> http://www.goodreads.com/images/nocover-111x148.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/images/nocover-60x80.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/953814.The_Less_Deceived 3.81 16 64716 4.22 1075 87 1974 953813 0571105033 9780571105038 0 <![CDATA[The North Ship]]> http://www.goodreads.com/images/nocover-111x148.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/images/nocover-60x80.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/953813.The_North_Ship 4.00 11 64716 4.22 1075 87 1974 111895 0198121377 9780198121374 1 <![CDATA[The Oxford Book of Twentieth Century English Verse]]> http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1171654158m/111895.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1171654158s/111895.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/111895.The_Oxford_Book_of_Twentieth_Century_English_Verse 4.00 9 64716 4.22 1075 87 1973