“Loving Philip
Larkin”
Hitchens’ review of Letters
to Monica by Philip Larkin and edited by Anthony Thwaite. The letters, and
Hitchens, give us a very disturbing look into the Larkin’s personal life as
explanation and, sometimes, inexplicable contradiction, of his poetry. The
descriptions of Larkin’s life and relationship with Monica Jones are
disturbing, “These collected letters reflect his contribution to a distraught
and barren four-decade relationship with Monica Jones, an evidently
insufferable yet gifted woman who was a constant friend and intermittent
partner…” Hitchens says of the contradiction, “It is inescapable that we should
wonder how and why poetry manages to transmute the dross of existence into magic or gold, and the contrast in Larkin’s
case is a specially acute one." He describes Larkin as “…drenched…in a tide
of cloacal filth and bigotry that was at least somewhat self-generated.” And
finally, “Letters to Monica obliquely shows the civilizing effect that even the
most trying woman can exert on even the most impossible man.”
Doesn’t sound like a fun read.
Maybe worth while linking to a Larkin classic as reminder of why we should
care at all:
New Learning: Great quote from Larkin’s Aubade, “I work all day, and get half-drunk at night.”
New word: cloacal = cavity at the end a digestive tract for
release of excretory products (except in mammals)…most notably birds.
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