A Study Of Reading Habits Flashcards
(13 cards)
Theme:
‘When getting my nose in a book Cured most things short of school’
-informal register is in direct contrast to the title
-creates a physical barrier between himself and reality
-‘cured’ usually refers to some kind of illness so somewhat implies he is using books as a medicine/remedy to his reality and real life situations
-‘short of school’ acts as contraction as schools are a place of learning
-metaphor
-anapaestic meter creates a jaunty and uplifting tone –> enthusiastic and eager image
-metaphorically describes reading as the medicine that improved his life
‘It was worth ruining my eyes’
‘Deal out the old right hook to dirty dogs twice my size’
-sense of fighting and playing the role of a heroic character
-witty violence
-parody of the ‘cool hero’
-creates the sense of invincibility in the narrator through the books
-reflective of childhood fantasies through the simple imagery
-young and naive enough to prevent he is the hero and strong, he imagines himself at being able to get back at his bullies
-old-fashioned adventure novel
-reading conjured alternative realities in which he could feel strong enough to tackle anyone who picked on him
‘Later, with inch-thick specs’
-suggests that time has been passing
-‘inch think specs’ is possibly biographical, introspective and humorous in a somewhat self deprecating manner
-clear change from simple imagery to a much more sexualised and aggressive fantasy
-comical image where he recognises his own short comings
-in his youth the escapism was his fantasy but now he takes on the fantasy of being attractive and aggressive
‘Had ripping times in the dark. The women I clubbed with sex!’
-double entendre of ‘ripping’ as it suggests something colloquially as great but also the ripping of clothes
-moment of darkness and mystery
-narrator has now been draw to antiheroes (negative progression from childhood)
-enthusiasm for violence against women ‘clubbed’ with the exclamation highlighting his enjoyment at this
-undertones of misogyny
‘I broke them up like meringues’
-simile of fragility
-‘meringues’ provokes the connotation of sweetness and delicacy often associated with women + perhaps suggests the narrators feeling of a sense of physical superiority and dominance over women viewing them as something to be devoured
-plurality of ‘women’ implies that the fantasy isn’t isolated and emphasis the generalisation and hostility
‘Books are a load of crap’
-harsh colloquial distancing language
-insult, rejection
-reality has finally overridden his fantasy of books causing him to dismiss them
-rejects the clichés he once loved and welcomed
-heavily disillusioned character during the poem
-hates the sentiment presented by books for him and the characters that he sees
-heavily ironic by rejecting learning and literature: exposing narrow minded nature
-harshness, insult, rejection
-reduction of language due to its colloquial nature (maybe referring to people who don’t read)
-refers to the loss of youthful idealism and has become disillusioned in adulthood
-nihilistic attitude towards books and reading
Context:
-Larkin was a Librarian in Hull for most of his life so the poem is more a dramatic monologue rather than a personal Larkin story: seemingly stylistically similar to Duffy (although he was writing before her)
-By 1964, the “teenage” years had become recognized as a distinct life stage between childhood and adulthood
-Larkin’s poems, however, are invariably written from an outsider’s perspective and share little of the youthful enthusiasm in the air at the time
Structure:
-The stanzas work like chapters in a book, unfolding chronologically from childhood to adolescence to adult life
-Past tense at first
-Colloquial language
-stanza 1: childhood and early;y school days
-stanza 2 and 3: adolescence and adulthood
-the simple rhyme suggests an almost song-like nature, adding to the sense of meaningless and hilarity
Critics: J.D McClatchy
Larkin Wrote ‘in clipped, lucid stanzas, about the failures and remorse of age, about stunted lives and spoiled desires’.
Critics: James Naremore
Larkin presents himself as a skeptical, less deceived observer of contemporary life’
Summary:
The ironic poem details the reading habits of Larkin, or perhaps a persona, as he grows up and progresses through life. It’s whimsical and ridiculous in many ways as the speaker mocks what they once believed through stage of his life
