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Book Description
An entirely new edition that brings together all of Larkin's poems in addition to some unpublished pieces
Product Description
This entirely new edition brings together all of Philip Larkin's poems. In addition to those in Collected Poems (1988), and in the Early Poems and Juvenilia (2005), some unpublished pieces from Larkin's typescripts and workbooks are included, as well as verse (by turns scurrilous, satirical, affectionate, and sentimental) tucked away in his letters. The manuscript and printed sources have been scrutinized afresh; more detailed accounts than hitherto available of the sources of the text and of dates of composition are provided; and previous accounts of composition dates have been corrected. Variant wordings from Larkin's typescripts and the early printings are recorded.
For the first time, the poems are given a comprehensive commentary. This draws critically upon, and substantially extends, the accumulated scholarship on Larkin, and covers closely relevant historical contexts, persons and places, allusions and echoes, and linguistic usage. Due prominence is given to the poet's comments on his poems, which often outline the circumstances that gave rise to a poem, or state what he was trying to achieve. Larkin played down his literariness, but his poetry enrichingly alludes to and echoes the writings of many others; Archie Burnett's commentary establishes him as a more complex and more literary poet than many readers have suspected.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
30 of 32 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
There are likely to be two reasons why you would read a review on this page. Firstly, you may be new to Larkin's poetry and looking for a good guide to his work. Secondly, you may already be familiar with his collection of poems, particularly if you already own some of the previous collections.
With regards to the first point, I would like to keep the review fairly terse. Larkin's poetry is superlative. He can be quite gloomy at times, but never fails to be wonderfully astute and thought provoking. In this collection, you have everything; possibly too much making it, at times, tricky to navigate. Perhaps try some of the earlier collections if this puts you off. The latter half of the book is dedicated to corrections and commentary, which, in some places, can be very detailed. To somebody that is relatively 'green' when it comes to Larkin I would suggest starting with High Windows to get a real taste of his best work.
Focusing on the second point, the additional material when compared to the earlier collections is certainly more extensive. Considering the price tag however, I could understand why people would perhaps only recommend this collection to avid fans. If you are only casually interested in his poetry then go for one of the earlier collections. Despite this, I am pleasantly surprised by the clearly erudite investment that has been put into this new collection and am very glad to have made the purchase.
The book itself is very well made and fairly large. Obviously at 700+ pages it's going to be big but the pages are fairly thick which does add to the expected size. On the plus side however, there is no need to fear this book falling into the all too obvious cliché whereby all the pages soon start falling out - something I've found many other large books succumb to relatively quickly.
In summary, this is a well thought out collection, clearly put together by someone very familiar with Larkin's work, containing large amounts of insightful additional material on top of his COMPLETE work. It may be slightly overwhelming for a newcomer and is obviously more expensive than the other collections out there, but probably for good reason.
With regards to the first point, I would like to keep the review fairly terse. Larkin's poetry is superlative. He can be quite gloomy at times, but never fails to be wonderfully astute and thought provoking. In this collection, you have everything; possibly too much making it, at times, tricky to navigate. Perhaps try some of the earlier collections if this puts you off. The latter half of the book is dedicated to corrections and commentary, which, in some places, can be very detailed. To somebody that is relatively 'green' when it comes to Larkin I would suggest starting with High Windows to get a real taste of his best work.
Focusing on the second point, the additional material when compared to the earlier collections is certainly more extensive. Considering the price tag however, I could understand why people would perhaps only recommend this collection to avid fans. If you are only casually interested in his poetry then go for one of the earlier collections. Despite this, I am pleasantly surprised by the clearly erudite investment that has been put into this new collection and am very glad to have made the purchase.
The book itself is very well made and fairly large. Obviously at 700+ pages it's going to be big but the pages are fairly thick which does add to the expected size. On the plus side however, there is no need to fear this book falling into the all too obvious cliché whereby all the pages soon start falling out - something I've found many other large books succumb to relatively quickly.
In summary, this is a well thought out collection, clearly put together by someone very familiar with Larkin's work, containing large amounts of insightful additional material on top of his COMPLETE work. It may be slightly overwhelming for a newcomer and is obviously more expensive than the other collections out there, but probably for good reason.
21 of 24 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
This thick heavy book weighs approximately one and a half kilos, see product details above. There are 759 pages made up as follows: Introduction pages i-xxx; pages 5-95 poems from the four published books containg almost all Larkin's notable poetry, i.e. pages 5-24 The North Ship; pp25-46 The Less Deceived; pp50-72 The Whitsun Weddings and pages 73-95 High Windows.
Pages 99-120 are taken by other poems published in the poet's lifetime, mainly of interest only in the context of his life's work and reputation. Pages 123-324 are 'Poems not published in the poet's lifetime' - these are taken from letters etc almost entirely occasional verse, often quite funny, occasionally scurrilous. Pages 333 to 671 are editor's notes on individual poems. The remaining pages 675-729 comprise appendices and an index of titles and first lines. There is no general index (it would be too long).
The highly significant XX Poems, an edition of 100 copies Larkin had printed in Belfast in 1951 to circulate to friends and other poets, is covered without enough (for me) detail in the introduction. The Fantasy Press booklet printed in Oxford by Oscar Mellor, only five poems, but again significant in the build up to The Less Deceived, has scant mention. I would have welcomed more information about these two booklets and less quotation from what various critics have had to say about individual poems.
For the general reader there are 90 essential pages in this book. As a work of scholarship the value of the other 600+ requires proper consideration and review. I am glad to have purchased it, yes, all this material should be available for reference. I have loved Larkin's work since someone gave me The Less Deceived in 1956 in the modest neatly designed Marvell Press edition, such a pleasure to read. Now immodestly we have everything. It's a bit of a clunker. I can imagine Larkin's 'poem unpublished in the poet's lifetime' on the subject
Pages 99-120 are taken by other poems published in the poet's lifetime, mainly of interest only in the context of his life's work and reputation. Pages 123-324 are 'Poems not published in the poet's lifetime' - these are taken from letters etc almost entirely occasional verse, often quite funny, occasionally scurrilous. Pages 333 to 671 are editor's notes on individual poems. The remaining pages 675-729 comprise appendices and an index of titles and first lines. There is no general index (it would be too long).
The highly significant XX Poems, an edition of 100 copies Larkin had printed in Belfast in 1951 to circulate to friends and other poets, is covered without enough (for me) detail in the introduction. The Fantasy Press booklet printed in Oxford by Oscar Mellor, only five poems, but again significant in the build up to The Less Deceived, has scant mention. I would have welcomed more information about these two booklets and less quotation from what various critics have had to say about individual poems.
For the general reader there are 90 essential pages in this book. As a work of scholarship the value of the other 600+ requires proper consideration and review. I am glad to have purchased it, yes, all this material should be available for reference. I have loved Larkin's work since someone gave me The Less Deceived in 1956 in the modest neatly designed Marvell Press edition, such a pleasure to read. Now immodestly we have everything. It's a bit of a clunker. I can imagine Larkin's 'poem unpublished in the poet's lifetime' on the subject
Format:Hardcover
I have a copy of the early and later collected poems and would certainly welcome a new quality hardcover version of the poems alone. Having said that, whilst the shortcomings of this collection are highlighted in other reviews I have been enjoying the notes and volume edited by Prof Burnett. It is disappointing however that certain poems have the titles missing i.e. Pages 265 and 280 for example. Overall though a very enjoyable new publication on Larkin.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Five stars for Larkin less two stars for Burnett
Philip Larkin was a very good poet indeed. Alas, his complete body of work has now been embalmed in this massive tombstone of a book. Read more
Published 2 months ago by William D. Freeman
The definitive edition
Finally the definitive edition of Larkin's poetry. A service to those who admire him. Great notes to fill in essential details. Long overdue. Bravo!
Published 3 months ago by James Connelly
Oh dear
There are many things wrong with this book. I find it odd that Faber would subject Larkin, who felt poets should stay out of the Universities (working in the library didn't... Read more
Published 3 months ago by the whitless weddings
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