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Product Description
Product Description
'An exemplary biography of its kind - detailed, meticulous and sympathetic.' Peter Ackroyd, The Times
'Larkin lived a quietly noble and exemplary version of the writer's life; Motion - affectionate but undeceived about the man's frailties, a diligent researcher and a deft reader of poetry - has written an equally exemplary 'Life' of him.' Peter Conrad, Observer
'Honest but not prurient, critical but also compassionate, Motion's book could not be bettered.' Alan Bennett, London Review of Books
'There will be other lives of Larkin, but Motion's, like Forster's of Dickens, will always have a special place.' John Carey, Sunday Times
About the Author
Andrew Motion was Poet Laureate from 1999 to 2009; he is Professor of Creative Writing at Royal Holloway College, University of London, and co-founder of the online Poetry Archive. He has received numerous awards for his poetry, and has published four celebrated biographies. His group study The Lamberts won the Somerset Maugham Award and his authorised life of Philip Larkin won the Whitbread Prize for Biography. Andrew Motion's novella The Invention of Dr Cake (2003) was described as 'amazingly clever' by the Irish Times and praised for 'brilliant and almost hallucinatory vividness' by the Sunday Telegraph. His memoir, In the Blood (2006), was described as 'the most moving and exquisitely written account of childhood loss I have ever read' in the Independent on Sunday. His most recent collection of poems, The Cinder Path (2009), was shortlisted for the Ted Hughes Award for New Work in Poetry. Andrew Motion was knighted for his services to poetry in 2009.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
24 of 26 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is the best biography I have ever read. As a greatly distinguished poet hiself (accepting the Laureateship, whilst Larkin turned it down 25 years earlier), Motion understands the centrality of poetry to Larkin's life, and this is reflected in the book. Larkin's poetry was a continual reflection of his interior states, and so with great empathy and scrupulous research Motion brings these to light. He is unflinching about Larkin's worse aspects and does not absolve Larkin of his racism, sexism and political vituperativeness but explains the impulses from which they sprang. Motion also writes clearly and with no little finesse. A wonderful book.
9 of 11 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
When Larkin's diaries were burnt (at his request) "the Truth" about him became beyond human reach. Motion's book attempts to discover what might have held the contradictions of "Philip Larkin" together, always with a sensitive eye to the poetry and the prose. We are very unlikely to see a book as thorough as this about Larkin's life again.
3 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is a gripping read.
Andrew Motion has responded sensitively to Larkin's character. In the introduction, Motion quotes Larkin as saying that when he reads a biography he starts in the middle, 'when the chap's grown up and it becomes interesting'. Motion has avoided the necessity for this by making his book fascinating from the start. In chapter one, Larkin's parent's marriage is considered through the filter of his adult poems and reflections, so that we start to learn about the man straight away.
As I set the book down at the end, I felt as if I had lost someone I knew intimately.
Some readers might be shocked by some revelations, and by some of Larkin's language. However, the vast majority of the writing - both Larkin's and Motion's - is elegant and precise. Motion is not setting out to sensationalise, only to record. If you are already aware of the various controversies that surrounded Larkin, this volume contextualises them sympathetically. He was a flawed man, but such a fascinating one.
A useful facet of the book is that it has a good index, so that in addition to reading it, you can use it as a companion book to the poems, looking up the context for particular pieces. I shall be re-reading my Collected Poems in this way.
The physical book is not perfect. The print is a little small, and my copy has a squashed line, about two thirds of the way down the page on most pages - readable, but not too pretty to look at. But these are minor irritations, easily overlooked.
Andrew Motion has responded sensitively to Larkin's character. In the introduction, Motion quotes Larkin as saying that when he reads a biography he starts in the middle, 'when the chap's grown up and it becomes interesting'. Motion has avoided the necessity for this by making his book fascinating from the start. In chapter one, Larkin's parent's marriage is considered through the filter of his adult poems and reflections, so that we start to learn about the man straight away.
As I set the book down at the end, I felt as if I had lost someone I knew intimately.
Some readers might be shocked by some revelations, and by some of Larkin's language. However, the vast majority of the writing - both Larkin's and Motion's - is elegant and precise. Motion is not setting out to sensationalise, only to record. If you are already aware of the various controversies that surrounded Larkin, this volume contextualises them sympathetically. He was a flawed man, but such a fascinating one.
A useful facet of the book is that it has a good index, so that in addition to reading it, you can use it as a companion book to the poems, looking up the context for particular pieces. I shall be re-reading my Collected Poems in this way.
The physical book is not perfect. The print is a little small, and my copy has a squashed line, about two thirds of the way down the page on most pages - readable, but not too pretty to look at. But these are minor irritations, easily overlooked.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
a worthy life more than worthily explored
This is an outstanding biography of a man who, paradoxically, had all sorts of unattractive views and kinds of behaviour but nonetheless, as delineated here, is hugely, fallibly... Read more
Published 4 days ago by Mr. Ian A. Macfarlane
Mum loved this book
Christmas gift for a poetry lover who found this biography of Larkin to be fascinating and full of insight yet well balanced overall.
Published 4 months ago by seb
What a tome!
Has been heavily recommended to me. A bit put off by the length but will dive in soon ............
Published on 22 Dec 2009 by Sharon
Tiny, tiny print
OK, I'm sure it's a great book and I had really looked forward to reading it -- that is, until I actually opened up this paperback edition and found that I would need a magnifying... Read more
Published on 1 Oct 2009 by maxbrod
A thorough and compelling exposition of one of the poet
This book takes us through (as you would expect) the life history of Philip Larkin, perhaps one of our finest, yet most misunderstood poets. Read more
Published on 3 Nov 2000 by Mrs Sarah Hunter
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