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Larkin, Philip

the works of, [33] 29; A Girl in Winter, [80] 54

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20231201093057 A Girl in Winter, Philip Larkin

The Loss of Innocence

Nigel Andrew on Philip Larkin, A Girl in Winter

I had been reading Philip Larkin’s poetry for years before, quite recently, I decided to have a look at his novels. I knew he had written a couple in his early years: Jill (1946) and A Girl in Winter (1947). I knew too that, in their Oxford days and for some while after, Larkin saw himself as primarily a novelist, while his friend Kingsley Amis regarded himself as primarily a poet (how wrong they both were). What I did not know was that, of Larkin’s novels, the second, A Girl in Winter , far from being an early misfire, is, well, a bit of a masterpiece.
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How Did He Do It?

Ranjit Bolt on the works of Philip Larkin

I came to them, the second time, quite late, It was the day The letters, full of snobbery and race hate That caused the chattering classes such dismay Came out, and Terry Eagleton had pounced: ‘Larkin is now beyond the pale,’ he’d said, ‘All decent folk should chuck him off the shelf.’ As soon as this stiff sentence was pronounced, Feeling perverse, I picked him up instead Although (because?) I was a ‘wog’ myself.

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