First Boredom, Then Fear

First Boredom, Then Fear PDF Author: Richard Bradford
Publisher: Peter Owen Publishers
ISBN:
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 296

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Book Description
"The trajectory of his poetic writing was influenced principally by his friendship with Kingsley Amis. Without Larkin Amis's imensely successful first novel, Lucky Jim, would not have been written. Its success caused Larkin finally to abandon his own ambitions as a novelist, to concentrate exclusively on his poetry, and his poetry would thereafter become his autobiography. Larkin's poetry is in its own right magnificent, and readers of Bradford's biography will be able to extend their appreciation of his art to an acquaintance with the artist at work."--Jacket.

Philip Larkin Poems

Philip Larkin Poems PDF Author: Philip Larkin
Publisher: Faber & Faber
ISBN: 0571271766
Category : Poetry
Languages : en
Pages : 121

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Book Description
For the first time, Faber publish a selection from the poetry of Philip Larkin. Drawing on Larkin's four collections and on his uncollected poems. Chosen by Martin Amis. 'Many poets make us smile; how many poets make us laugh - or, in that curious phrase, "laugh out loud" (as if there's another way of doing it)? Who else uses an essentially conversational idiom to achieve such a variety of emotional effects? Who else takes us, and takes us so often, from sunlit levity to mellifluous gloom?... Larkin, often, is more than memorable: he is instantly unforgettable.' - Martin Amis

Jazz Writings

Jazz Writings PDF Author: Philip Larkin
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1441117881
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 225

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Book Description
Philip Larkin (1922-85) was not only one of the foremost English poets of the twentieth century, but also a notable novelist and a distinguished writer on jazz. He was jazz critic for The Daily Telegraph between 1961 and 1971. Jazz Writings brings together Larkin's reviews, articles and essays written for The Guardian, The Observer, The New Statesman, and numerous other publications.

Somebodies and Nobodies

Somebodies and Nobodies PDF Author: Brian Turner
Publisher: Penguin Random House New Zealand Limited
ISBN: 1775531597
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 438

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Book Description
Honest and insightful, this memoir is a revealing picture of our recent past, of sport and poetry, the spirit of New Zealand's south and its distinctive people. This is the story of a typical Dunedin childhood, surrounded by 'nobies' - an extended family of eccentric grandparents and uncles, cousins and neighbours - who made a huge impact on a young mind. It's also the story of a not-so-typical family that was fanatical about sport - cycling, hockey, cricket, golf, fishing - and went on to produce top-ranking sportsmen. It's also the story of the growth of one of New Zealand's most loved poets. It shows three boys who became somebodies, but no better nor worse than the nobodies who inspired them. This is Brian Turner's view of the world: the landscape and people he was surrounded by; the principles he was taught; his sporting achievements; the early development of his brothers; his time moving between jobs as distinct as rabbiting in Central Otago and working in Customs; and his entry into the world of books.

On Not Being Someone Else

On Not Being Someone Else PDF Author: Andrew H. Miller
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 0674238087
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 233

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Book Description
“To be someone—to be anyone—is about...not being someone else. Miller’s amused and inspired book is utterly compelling.” —Adam Phillips “A compendium of expressions of wonder over what might have been...Swept up in our real lives, we quickly forget about the unreal ones. Still, there will be moments when, for good or ill, we feel confronted by our unrealized possibilities.” —New Yorker We live one life, formed by paths taken and untaken. Choosing a job, getting married, deciding on a place to live or whether to have children—every decision precludes another. But what if you’d gone the other way? From Robert Frost to Sharon Olds, Virginia Woolf to Ian McEwan, Jane Hirshfield to Carl Dennis, storytellers of every stripe consider the roads not taken, the lives we haven’t led. What is it that compels us to identify with fictional and poetic voices tantalizing us with the shadows of what might have been? Not only poets and novelists, but psychologists and philosophers have much to say on this question. Miller finds wisdom in all of these, revealing the beauty, the allure, and the danger of sustaining or confronting our unled lives. “Miller is charming company, both humanly and intellectually. He is onto something: the theme of unled lives, and the fascinating idea that fiction intensifies the sense of provisionality that attends all lives. An extremely attractive book.” —James Wood “An expertly curated tour of regret and envy in literature...Miller’s insightful and moving book—both in his own discussion and in the tales he recounts—gently nudges us toward consolation.” —Wall Street Journal “I wish I had written this book...Examining art’s capacity to transfix, multiply, and compress, this book is itself a work of art.” —Times Higher Education

A History of Modern Poetry

A History of Modern Poetry PDF Author: David Perkins
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 9780674399471
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 712

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Book Description
This study of British and American poetry from the mid-1920s to the recent past, clarifies the complex interrelations of individuals, groups, and movements, and the contexts in which the poets worked.

The Importance of Elsewhere

The Importance of Elsewhere PDF Author: Richard Bradford
Publisher: Frances Lincoln
ISBN: 9780711238886
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
"A beautifully produced book ... the photographs display the full range of his poetic sensibility, from the melancholic to the comical" The New Yorker "Larkin's photographs not only illustrate his poems - they explain and deepen them...superlative, succinct and subtle biographical commentary" The Times The most widely read British poet of the twentieth century, Philip Larkin was also a keen amateur photographer and through his life he made images of the people, places and things that meant most to him. The Importance of Elsewhere gathers the best of Larkin's photographic work, divided into short thematic chapters arranged in chronological order. Written by Richard Bradford, the acclaimed author of the Larkin biography First Boredom, Then Fear, the book shows how Larkin, as an individual, as a writer and indeed as a photographer, developed an acute sensitivity to all aspects of the world around him, from his love of open uninhabited landscapes and empty churches to his mixed feelings about crowds. There are also fascinating portraits of those people who were closest to Larkin, including his lovers, his mother and his literary peers. The book beautifully reproduces more than 200 images from the Larkin archive at Hull: the majority have never previously been seen in print. A substantial foreword by Mark Haworth-Booth, formerly curator of photography at the V&A, explores what it meant to be a serious amateur photographer of Larkin's generation. Together with Larkin's literary works and his letters, these images make up the third, so far unseen, constituent of the material upon which our future perceptions of him will be based.

The Philip Larkin I Knew

The Philip Larkin I Knew PDF Author: Maeve Brennan
Publisher: Manchester University Press
ISBN: 9780719062766
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 268

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Book Description
Maeve Brennan had a close friendship with Philip Larkin, as well as working with him for a number of years. In this book, she provides new insight into the poet's complex personality, overturning the perceived image of him as a misanthrope.

Philip Larkin

Philip Larkin PDF Author: James Booth
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1408851679
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 815

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Book Description
_______________ 'Superb ... Booth's psychology is subtler than Motion's and more convincing' - Peter J. Conradi, Spectator 'Booth's diligence is unquestionable and even readers who think they know the poems will see nuances they had previously missed ... should render further attention by biographers superfluous for several years' - Guardian 'Those of us who never warmed to Larkin the man or poet, will have our aversions challenged by this sympathetic but different account of his life and work' - Independent _______________ A fascinating and controversial study of Philip Larkin's world and how it bled into his work, James Booth's biography is a unique insight into the man whose life and art have been misunderstood for too long Philip Larkin was that rare thing among poets: a household name in his own lifetime. Lines such as 'Never such innocence again' and 'Sexual intercourse began / In nineteen sixty-three' made him one of the most popular poets of the last century. Larkin's reputation as a man, however, has been more controversial. A solitary librarian known for his pessimism, he disliked exposure and had no patience with the literary circus. And when, in 1992, the publication of his Selected Letters laid bare his compartmentalised personal life, accusations of duplicity, faithlessness, racism and misogyny were levelled against him. There is, of course, no requirement that poets should be likeable or virtuous, but James Booth asks whether art and life were really so deeply at odds with each other. Can the poet who composed the moving 'Love Songs in Age' have been such a cold-hearted man? Can he who uttered the playful, self-deprecating words 'Deprivation is for me what daffodils were for Wordsworth' really have been so boorish? A very different public image is offered by those who shared the poet's life: the women with whom he was romantically involved, his friends and his university colleagues. It is with their personal testimony, including access to previously unseen letters, that Booth reinstates a man misunderstood: not a gaunt, emotional failure, but a witty, provocative and entertaining presence, delightful company; an attentive son and a man devoted to the women he loved. Meticulously researched, unwaveringly frank and full of fresh material, Philip Larkin: Life, Art and Love definitively reinterprets one of our greatest poets.

High Windows

High Windows PDF Author: Philip Larkin
Publisher: Faber & Faber Poetry
ISBN: 9780571260140
Category : English poetry
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
Re-packaged in the much-loved Faber typographic look.