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Product Description
Book Description
A collection of twenty-six of Larkin's best-known poems, read by the poet
Product Description
The Sunday Sessions consists of twenty-six poems, the contents of two tapes recorded by Philip Larkin in Hull in February 1980 - reportedly, each on a Sunday, after lunch with John Weeks, a sound engineer and colleague of the poet. The tapes, which contain work from Larkin's first major collection, The North Ship, as well as poems from his best-known collections, The Whitsun Weddings and High Windows, remained 'lost' for over two decades, lying on a shelf in the garage in which they were recorded. Since their rediscovery they have been the subject of widespread media attention, including a BBC Radio 4 Archive Hour documentary. Their contents are here published in full for the first time.
Running time approx. 1 hour / 1 disc
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
36 of 36 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
'This is the first time I have read before such a large audience,' Larkin once said on Radio 4. A tiny pause. 'And if I have anything to with it, the last.' He seemed to prefer the smallest audience possible whether it was George Hartley, his tape spools turning slowly as Larkin recited his verse, swallowing both his stammer and annoyance with the noisy recording conditions; or here after Sunday lunch in a converted garage with only his sound engineer friend John Weeks for company.
We too are an audience of one for any poet we read, but the complicity between reader and writer is where Larkin particularly thrives. It's implicit in his reasons for writing ('I suppose the kind of response I am seeking from the reader is, Yes, I know what you mean, life is like that') and explicit as he invites us inside to share his bleak though never entirely hopeless view ('You can see how it was', 'Think of being them', 'We know beyond doubt'). The rewards for going with him are the vivid journeys and consolations he provides.
'The Sunday Sessions' lifts that complicity to another level. Now Larkin addresses us directly as his gently see-sawing delivery sets the scenes for his poems. These are rendered with extraordinary precision using a wide range of devices. In 'Mr Bleaney', we see 'Flowered curtains, thin and frayed/Fall to within five inches of the sill'. Condensing our waiting-room culture of patience into four brief lines, Larkin shows us, 'There are paperbacks, and tea at so much a cup/Like an airport lounge, but those who tamely sit/On rows of steel chairs turning the ripped mags/Haven't come far.' His pause in the last line of 'Home is so Sad' ensures we catch the god-awfulness of 'That vase'.
Then he gives the occupants of those settings a voice. Some are comic turns as he does Mr Bleaney's landlady, Warlock-Williams and booms 'here endeth' so we snigger even as 'the echoes snigger briefly'. Others are quizzical, delicate, finely balanced in debate with themselves. In 'An Arundel Tomb', the narrator has it out about the nature of love yet can't quite bring himself to come down on one side or the other, the optimism of the famous last line qualified by the preceding one. For the most part, the mood is benign. Only in 'The Old Fools' does Larkin's voice seem to emerge from the poems, rising as he heads for the final warning of 'We shall find out.' In that moment, it sounds as if he's telling us about his dread of endless extinction.
But don't be put off: the quotable lines and haunting images make this CD a must-have, the typo in the accompanying track-listing notwithstanding. Now all we need to do is persuade Faber to round up the rest of Larkin's readings on cassette and LP and reissue them digitally.
We too are an audience of one for any poet we read, but the complicity between reader and writer is where Larkin particularly thrives. It's implicit in his reasons for writing ('I suppose the kind of response I am seeking from the reader is, Yes, I know what you mean, life is like that') and explicit as he invites us inside to share his bleak though never entirely hopeless view ('You can see how it was', 'Think of being them', 'We know beyond doubt'). The rewards for going with him are the vivid journeys and consolations he provides.
'The Sunday Sessions' lifts that complicity to another level. Now Larkin addresses us directly as his gently see-sawing delivery sets the scenes for his poems. These are rendered with extraordinary precision using a wide range of devices. In 'Mr Bleaney', we see 'Flowered curtains, thin and frayed/Fall to within five inches of the sill'. Condensing our waiting-room culture of patience into four brief lines, Larkin shows us, 'There are paperbacks, and tea at so much a cup/Like an airport lounge, but those who tamely sit/On rows of steel chairs turning the ripped mags/Haven't come far.' His pause in the last line of 'Home is so Sad' ensures we catch the god-awfulness of 'That vase'.
Then he gives the occupants of those settings a voice. Some are comic turns as he does Mr Bleaney's landlady, Warlock-Williams and booms 'here endeth' so we snigger even as 'the echoes snigger briefly'. Others are quizzical, delicate, finely balanced in debate with themselves. In 'An Arundel Tomb', the narrator has it out about the nature of love yet can't quite bring himself to come down on one side or the other, the optimism of the famous last line qualified by the preceding one. For the most part, the mood is benign. Only in 'The Old Fools' does Larkin's voice seem to emerge from the poems, rising as he heads for the final warning of 'We shall find out.' In that moment, it sounds as if he's telling us about his dread of endless extinction.
But don't be put off: the quotable lines and haunting images make this CD a must-have, the typo in the accompanying track-listing notwithstanding. Now all we need to do is persuade Faber to round up the rest of Larkin's readings on cassette and LP and reissue them digitally.
12 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
The poems read here just epitomise Larkin's work. To hear him reading such poems as The Old Fools, Church Going and The Whitsun Weddings is wonderful. A collection of 26 poems that takes you back to the written originals to see if you agree with his interpretation!!
Good quality sound reproduction, very little documentation included. A must for anyone who enjoys his work.
Good quality sound reproduction, very little documentation included. A must for anyone who enjoys his work.
38 of 40 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Why hasn't this new release had more coverage? I only found out about it because my miserabilist chum who works in the City received it for his birthday recently. It's a joy. Every Sunday, after the pub (one hopes), Pop Larkin went into the garage and laid down a few tracks on the old reel-to-reel. Skip forward a few decades and the tapes are discovered on the shelf, gathering dust and growing a rind. What a magnificent discovery. They're all here - The Whitsun Weddings, Church Going, Toads, The Old Fools, Vers De Societe - around 45 minutes in total. Larkin reads them with a droll, conversational panache that makes you (well, me anyway) laugh out loud at their mordant wit and charm. He is the Dad. Buy this CD.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Great vinyl release for this poet
Philip Larkin would have liked this release. He was an avid vinyl collector (especially jazz) and Faber have released this as a tribute to his poetry and vinyl itself, most... Read more
Published 3 months ago by lottigee
Well recieved gift.
I've not listened to it, as it was a gift, though I'm told it is very good. Wouldn't hesitate recommending it.
Published 4 months ago by pr0fyaff1e
The main man
The main man - Philip Larkin - reads his own verse. I would also highly recommend Larkin's non-fiction prose articles that have been collected together in two volumes.
Published 7 months ago by Diana Foster
Sermons from the master of 20th century English verse
If you like Philip Larkin then you simply must buy this compact disc. The sheer pleasure of being able to listen to Mr Bleaney and other masterpieces cannot be measured. Sublime!
Published 9 months ago by Mr Rags
There's something about poets reciting their own work
The 26 poems on this CD are the contents of two tapes recorded simply in a colleague's garage two decades ago - and what a find! Read more
Published 15 months ago by Isola
A diamond in the dust
Some of the best recordings of a fine poet reading his own poetry you are ever likely to hear.
Published 19 months ago by ennis del mar
Giving Voice To Genius
Beautiful readings from the greatest post-WWII poet in the English-speaking world. This collection is well worth having for any Larkin admirer or anyone who appreciates the spoken... Read more
Published on 28 May 2010 by Paul Gallagher
A true cultural relic
This is a remarkable collection. Recorded at Larkin's behest and rescued from anonymity in a dusty basement several years ago it is probably the definitive account of his output. Read more
Published on 20 May 2010 by Fraser Magee
Listmania!
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