Volume 48, Number 6 · April 12, 2001
Wounded by Un-Shrapnel
By James Fenton
It is often casually said of Larkin's poetry that it expresses common experience, that it has its origin in the commonplace, or even—I have seen this in newspapers—that the famous catchphrases that have been drawn from it ('What will survive of us is love,' 'Books are a load of crap,' 'Life is first boredom, then fear,' 'They fuck you up, your mum and dad') express a common point of view. But what strikes us most about Larkin is not the commonness but the singularity of the point of view.
Feature, 5711 words
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