{"id":396,"date":"2022-01-12T23:31:18","date_gmt":"2022-01-12T23:31:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bexroden.com\/?p=396"},"modified":"2022-01-12T23:31:18","modified_gmt":"2022-01-12T23:31:18","slug":"an-exercise-in-formalism-with-larkins-a-study-of-reading-habits","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bexroden.com\/?p=396","title":{"rendered":"An Exercise in Formalism with Larkin\u2019s \u201cA Study of Reading Habits\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A Study of Reading Habits<\/strong><\/p>

When getting my nose in a book
Cured most things short of school,
It was worth ruining my eyes
To know I could still keep cool,
And deal out the old right hook
To dirty dogs twice my size.

Later, with inch-thick specs,
Evil was just my lark:
Me and my cloak and fangs
Had ripping times in the dark.
The women I clubbed with sex!
I broke them up like meringues.

Don’t read much now: the dude
Who lets the girl down before
The hero arrives, the chap
Who’s yellow and keeps the store
Seem far too familiar. Get stewed:
Books are a load of crap.<\/p>Philip Larkin<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Philip Larkin\u2019s \u201cA Study of Reading Habits\u201d opens with a past-tense image of a child with his \u201cnose in a book\u201d. It is an upbeat tone, a voice that relates a witty boy\u2019s deeds with a chuckle of reminiscent pride. Throughout the three-stanza poem, however, the voice shifts twice. The first shift is subtle\u2014still in the past, it builds upon the first thought in a crescendo-like manner, growing more volatile and loud. It climaxes in the second stanza with a senseless excitement, the kind you might find listening to the story of a long-time inmate of an insane asylum. Abruptly, the third stanza drops the tone to a calm, matter-of-fact voice, relating the speaker\u2019s conclusion through the mouth of what seems to be a lethargic and depressed old man. \u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first stanza expresses imaginative pleasure, that which comes from escape in books: \u201cWhen getting my nose in a book cured most things\u2026\u201d (1-2). The speaker uses a witty and positively nostalgic voice here to represent the lightness of childhood imagination. He also uses simple syntax to create a fast-paced sentence. There are no breaks or pauses which demonstrates the certainty and simplicity of this time in his life. The diction of the first stanza confirms the wit of the voice by using hard and childish words. In lines 3 through 6 he says, \u201c\u2026I could still keep cool, \/ And deal out the old right hook \/ To dirty dogs twice my size” (3-6). The speaker\u2019s choices of \u201ccool\u201d, \u201cdeal out\u201d, and \u201cdirty dogs\u201d are words to be found in a boy\u2019s vocabulary, as well as hard sounds that highlight the wit and rebelliousness of the depicted boy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The second stanza expresses physical pleasure, that which comes from escape in darkness and lust: \u201cEvil was just my lark\u201d (8). The voice here still holds traces of wit, but shifts away from lightness toward a heavy sense of contentment in wickedness. With this, there is also a tone of resistance toward regret and shame\u2014two sentiments one would expect to be heard with such foul imagery. The speaker uses rigid vocabulary to depict this resistance: \u201cMe and my cloak and fangs \/ \u2026 \/ The women I clubbed with sex!\u201d (9, 11). The images of darkness, fangs, and lust give a rough and rather psychotic aspect to the voice. There should be no hint of glee in words such as these, yet the speaker offers excitement and malevolent contentment throughout the stanza. Here, the syntax also becomes more complex, and provides three pauses to slow the pace and demonstrate an older, more experienced and hardened voice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the third stanza, the speaker changes the voice drastically. Until this point, the poem has been like a steady crescendo. Now, the symphony goes silent. The speaker\u2019s voice is suddenly calm and unfazed\u2014no wit, no innocence, and no malevolence. It is bland, like a discontent elderly man sitting in the musty sun room of a nursing home reflecting on his life. The vocabulary is unspecific and disinterested\u2014\u201cthe dude who\u2026\u201d, \u201cthe chap who\u2026\u201d (13-16). He refers to stories in books as if they were bothersome, worn, and entirely predictable. \u201cDon\u2019t read much now \/ \u2026[they] \/ Seem far too familiar\u201d (13, 17). The voice appears to find no pleasure in anything at all. It is depressed and hopeless. The syntax of stanza three represents this voice through its breaks and pauses. It is much more refined, slow, and choppy. The poem ends with a blunt and harsh command, demonstrating the speaker\u2019s conclusion on the matter, and his lingering desire for escape: \u201cGet stewed: books are a load of crap\u201d (17-18).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

January 22, 2018<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Works Cited<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Larkin, Philip. “A Study of Reading Habits.\u201d Philip Larkin Collected Poems<\/em>, edited by Anthony Thwaite, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2004, pp. 102.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A Study of Reading Habits When getting my nose in a bookCured most things short of school,It was worth ruining my eyesTo know I could still keep cool,And deal out the old right hookTo dirty dogs twice my size. Later, with inch-thick specs,Evil was just my lark:Me and my cloak and fangsHad ripping times in…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[265,107,264,104],"class_list":["post-396","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-critical-analyses","tag-a-study-of-reading-habits","tag-explication","tag-formalism","tag-philip-larkin"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bexroden.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/396","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bexroden.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bexroden.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bexroden.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bexroden.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=396"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/bexroden.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/396\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":428,"href":"https:\/\/bexroden.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/396\/revisions\/428"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bexroden.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=396"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bexroden.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=396"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bexroden.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=396"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}