"Jazz Writings" made Larkin's jazz criticism widely available - Palmer now offers the first extensive revaluation of Larkin's writing on jazz as well as covering his poetry and early work."Such Deliberate Disguises: The Art of Philip Larkin" argues that a true understanding of Philip Larkin as man and poet lies beyond his enduring public appeal and the variety of criticism that has recently been applied to his work.Richard Palmer suggests that the ostensible simplicity of Larkin's writing, which continues to attract so many readers to him, is deceptive, masking as it does one of the richest and most resonant of oeuvres in twentieth-century poetry. Penetrating the many masks of Larkin, the book sheds new and considerable light on the hitherto largely ignored spiritual significance of his work. Based upon close and scrupulous reading of the poems themselves, it draws upon insights gained from the history of art and the study of religion and myth as much as literary criticism and personal biography.It also brings long-overdue attention to what is seen to be perhaps the chief love, and operative aesthetic force, of Larkin's life: jazz. "Such Deliberate Disguises" is thus a major contribution, not just to Larkin studies, but to the wider cultural history of our times.
| ISBN | 1847140254 | | Volumes | 1 | | ISBN13 | 9781847140258
(What's this?) | | Weight (grammes) | 322 | | Publisher | Continuum International Publishing Group Ltd. | | Published in | London | | Imprint | Continuum Collections, an imprint of Continuum International Publishing Ltd | | Series title | Continuum Literary Studies | | Format | Paperback | | Height (mm) | 234 | | Publication date | 24 Apr 2008 | | Width (mm) | 156 | | DEWEY | 821.914 | | Spine width (mm) | 15 | | DEWEY edition | DC22 | | Academic level | Undergraduate, Postgraduate | | Pages | 200 | |
|
|
|
Acknowledgements; Preface; Part I: Larkin's Jazz: 'An Enormous Yes'; 1. Prologue: 'Useful to get That Learnt'; 2. All What Jazz: Larkin's Most Expensive Mistake; 3. 'Essential Beauty'; 4. Conclusion: 'The Natural Noise of Good'; Part II: Arrival: Larkin's Mature Verse; 5. Departures and Arrivals; 6. Larkin and Religion; 7. Fears, Antipathies & Aversions; Part III: Larkin the Librarian; Bibliography; Index.
"Richard Palmer has written a highly intelligent, sharp and challenging book. 'Larkin Studies' (as Larkin ruefully called them as early as 1981) are likely to be changed by Palmer's alert ventures into this contentious area." Anthony Thwaite, Poet and Co-Executor of the Larkin Estate"
Be the first to write a
customer review
Enlarge
