#Poetry by Larkin… Waste of my reading time
UPDATE: 25.11.2022
- Here are 50+ POETRY READING SUGGESTIONS
- …I hope you can find something better than Larkin!
- I placed a LINK in right sidebar “#Poetry 50 Reading Suggestions”.
- I hope you can find something there to read.
- There are poets from USA, IRELAND, AUSTRALIA, NEW ZEALAND
- Advice: don’t try to over analyse poetry.
- I never read poetry b/c I had no idea how to review the poems.
- I just read each poem as a “mini story”. When a poem plucks a heartstring
- …or delivers a gut punch last few lines…I make note of it in my review.
- I always tally the total number poems with the number I like
- …and give the collection percentage score.
NOVEMBER
Finish date: November 2022
Genre: poems (242)
Rating: F-
Review: Philip Larkin Collected Poems (ISBN: 0374522758)
Bad news: Just because P. Larkin had a miserable childhood, distant parents, unhappy marriage and an obsession with death…does not mean he has to drag me down into his dismal world!
This book has been on my bookshelf for years…and I decided it was time to confront this poet.
Good news: After reading these poems I am so excited that there are so many OTHER POETS to enjoy and I will throw Mr. Larkin’s book in the dust bin immediately!
Personal: This review will be super short because I have NOTHING good to say about Larkin’s poetry. He is a famous poet but I have no idea why. His vocabulary is filled with words like grief, scars, shame, suffering, slums, deplorable…and this just goes on and on…page after page. But to be fair…there was one nice poem (pg 11) that had the world happiness in it “Wedding-Wind”.
Please, if you don’t read much poetry…avoid Larkin at all costs. Look to some wonderful uplifting poets like Rita Dove, Billy Collins, Shane McCrae, Jericho Brown and James Levine just to name a few.
242 dark, dreary poems…read between World Cup 2022 Qatar matches…at least the soccer was exciting! If you asked me if I would ever read more poems by Philip Larkin…then I would say: ” I’d rather walk headfirst into a woodchipper.”
NancyElin 
Oh dear! That is some pretty strong dislike if you would rather walk straight into a wood chipper! Now I’m going to Google him to see some examples of what you’re talking about!
Jinjer…don’t waste your time with P. Larkin! I placed a LINK in right sidebar “#Poetry 50+ Reading Suggestions”. I hope you can find something there to read. There are poets from USA, IRELAND, AUSTRALIA, NEW ZEALAND Advice: don’t try to over analyse poetry. I never read poetry b/c I had no idea how to review the poems. I just read each poem as a “mini story”. When a poem plucks a heartstring…or delivers a gut punch last few lines…I make note of it in my review. I always tally the total number poems with the number I like and give the collection percentage score.
I haven’t gotten to his poems yet but I just added his “Letters to Monica” to my TBR. LOL
Given how little poetry I actually read, it”s fairly safe to say that I wouldn’t have picked up anything by Larkin in the first place. Sounds like I can safely stick to the Indigenous poets that I find so interesting atm.
I agree, Australia has produced some very impressive Indigenous poets!
Charmaine Papertalk Green, Alison Whittaker, Ali Eckermann and love to listen to 2018 SLAM winner poet Melanie Mununggurr-Willliams ” I Run” (see You Tube video) gives me shivers, so beautiful! Thanks for your comment, Brona! Hope you enjoy your summer!
I love Attila the Stockbroker, Wendy Cope, Brian Bilston and Simon Armitage, maybe try one of those. I do like Larkin but I’m a miserable British ex-librarian, so …!!!
Oke…thanks so much for the reading suggestions!
😂😂😂