High Windows (York Notes Advanced) [Paperback]

Philip Larkin (Author), Steve Eddy (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 31, 2007 | ISBN-10: 1405861827 | ISBN-13: 978-1405861823

For more than 25 years, York Notes have been helping students throughout the UK to get the inside track on the written word. Firmly established as the nation's favourite and most comprehensive range of literature study guides, each and every York Note has been carefully researched and written by experts to make sure that you get the most wide-ranging critical analysis, the most detailed commentary and the most helpful key points and checklists. York Notes Advanced offer a fresh and accessible approach to English Literature. Written by established literature experts, they introduce students to a more sophisticated analysis, a range of critical perspectives and wider contexts.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Philip Larkin was born in Coventry in 1922 and was educated at King Henry VIII School, Coventry, and St John's College, Oxford. As well as his volumes of poems, which include The Whitsun Weddings and High Windows, he wrote two novels, Jill and A Girl in Winter, and two books of collected journalism: All What Jazz: A Record Library, and Required Writing: Miscellaneous Prose. He worked as a librarian at the University of Hull from 1955 until his death in 1985. He was the best-loved poet of his generation, and the recipient of innumerable honours, including the Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry, and the WHSmith Award. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 127 pages
• Publisher: Trans-Atlantic Publications, Inc. (October 31, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1405861827
• ISBN-13: 978-1405861823
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.7 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #964,598 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Make time!, April 20, 2000

By 

courtney J angermeier - See all my reviews

This review is from: High Windows (Paperback)

Phillip Larkin rocks. When I was a sophmore in college I burned down my dorm room and my copy of High Windows. It was truly tragic. This slim little volume contains some of Larkin's best work. It is wry, revealing, and sardonic in true Larkin fashion. I particularly like the title poem and None of the Books Have Time. Also, there's one in there about the stubborn stupidity of old folks that is absolutely delightful and hilarious though the title escapes me at the moment. Anyway, this small book that won't take up either much time to read or much space on the shelf is a delightful and highly recommended piece. One of my all-time favorites.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful collection!, April 26, 2010

By 

Tuesday "thriving tuesday" (COLUMBUS, GA, US) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: High Windows (Hardcover)

As a new comer to Philip Larkin I wasn't quite sure what to expect of his work. However, since receiving High Windows it has been a delightful addition to my collection. I've found myself at times tossing it in my bag to take with me only to read and reread it out of sheer enjoyment of this man's talent!

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Oddly uninspired given his previous work., July 16, 2003

By 

Robert P. Beveridge "xterminal" (Lakewood, OH) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: High Windows (Hardcover)

Philip Larkin, High Windows (Faber, 1974)

Larkin, the celebrated librarian-poet, got somewhat cranky in his middle age. He also got more experimental, both qualities that make for fine poetry. Add to these scurrilousness, a wicked sense of humor, and an ear for rhythm matched only in the modern world's finest poets, and you have a recipe for greatness.

So why doesn't Larkin always pull it off? Good question. When he's on, he's very, very on, but when he's off, it's a mess. Unlike most poets, Larkin seems to have been able to switch back and forth between formal and free verse at will a number of times, but he did make the grade-school gaffe of trying to combine the two more than once. And a good deal of his "politically incorrect" (for lack of a better term) poetry smacks more of the juvenile than the Shakespearean:

"Jan von Hogspeuw staggers to the door
And pisses at the dark. Outside, the rain
Courses in cart-ruts down the deep mud land.
Inside, Dirk Dogstoerd pours himself some more..."
("The Card-Players")

Despite these excursions into the ridiculous, however, Larkin does still exhibit his mastery more often than not in this slim volume, and it's worth picking up either for the established Larkin fan or the newcomer who wonders what happened to metrical poetry after World War II. ***