To mark the one-year anniversary of Book of the Week, I wanted to feature a work that covers one of my favourite literary figures: Philip Larkin.
Written by Andrew Motion, a younger man who befriended Larkin during their tenure the University of Hull, Philip Larkin: A Writer’s Life is a memoir-style biography that seeks to capture the elusive, controversial Larkin in all his perverse, weird glory.
Across this book, it seems Motion tries to understand the man Larkin was, whilst piecing together the events and influences of the poet’s remarkably simple, yet endlessly interesting, sixty-three-years-long lifetime.
I confess, I am breaking the rules here, as I have read a few chapters of this book some weeks ago. Considering its major length and vast detail that I have barely sunk my teeth into, plus the special occasion this post marks, I think we can both look the other way for just one week. Back to normal rules for week #53!
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