High Windows: Signed by the author

High Windows by Philip Larkin

UK Edition Faber & Faber London 1974, 1st edition reprint.
ISBN 10: 0571105521 ISBN 13: 9780571105526



Signed by the author.



Condition:
A very good tight copy in a very good jacket in a plastic protector (jacket is price-clipped) There is a gift dedication on the front free endpaper. Very clean apart from some spotting to the top edges.

About:High Windows is a collection of poems by English poet Philip Larkin, and was published in 1974 by Faber and Faber Limited. The readily available paperback version was first published in Britain in 1979. The collection is the last publication of new poetry by Larkin before his death in 1985, and it contains some of his most famous poems, including the title piece, "High Windows", "Dublinesque", and "This Be The Verse". The collection contains themes presented in his earlier collections, though the tone of the poems caused critics to suggest the book is darker and more "socially engaged" than his earlier volumes. It is currently on the AQA AS/A2 level English Literature syllabus.

Blurb:
The following is the blurb from the published book. When Philip Larkin's High Windows first appeared, Kingsley Amis spoke for a large and loyal readership when he wrote: 'Larkin's admirers need only be told that he is as good as ever here, if not slightly better.' Like Betjeman and Hardy, Larkin is a poet who can move a large audience — to laughter and to tears — without betraying the highest artistic standards."

Critical Reception:
Clive James, in As of this writing, describes High Windows as Larkin's bleakest volume of poetry, though he does admit that there are aspects of the poetry that contain the humour found in Larkin's earlier books of poetry. James suggests that Larkin has never liked the idea of a poet "Developing" and that Larkin himself remains the same throughout his career as a poet. High Windows, in James's opinion, shows that Larkin simply strives, with the addition of each poem, to state more clearly the same principles shown by his early works and concludes that "The total impression of High Windows is of despair made beautiful."