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Comments about this poem (A Study of Reading Habits
by
Philip Larkin
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comments about this poem (A Study of Reading Habits by
Philip Larkin
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Robert Kimmitt
(1/28/2009 2:00:00 PM) |
Philip Larkin is adopting the persona of a character who is trying to use fiction to escape from reality over different stages in his life. Larkin is putting across the message the vicarious living should be avoided at all costs; this is why it catches up with the persona as he is only if reminded of himself by the fiction in the final stanza, because his life has been ruined by him not living it
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Robert Quilter
(10/4/2008 8:32:00 AM) |
I hope it's supposed to be an ironic piece of writing, rather than tongue in cheek.i must admit, ive gone through certain stages where i have thought what good are books. Maybe i know a few longer than average longer words and have an active imagination.Then again what's the use of that for the average joe or jane when the next mortgage payment is due?
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Kenneth Wright
(8/28/2008 10:51:00 AM) |
No, not tongue-in-cheek; Larkin both celebrates the delight of reading and mourns its limitations in the face of inevitable mortality. He was a man 'much possessed by death', and the prose meaning of several of his poems can be boiled down to 'What's the use of anything? ' Whether this is a wise or healthy outlook is not for me to judge, but it made for some incredibly touching and humane poetry, though also a terribly sad life.
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Daphne Grant
(12/13/2006 5:21:00 PM) |
I honestly hope that Philip Larking has written this poem tounge in cheek. Books are and endless fascination, and everyone should have a monthly book allownace, what civiles world wouldn't?
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