The Sunday Sessions

'This is the first time I have read before such a large audience,' Larkin once said on Radio 4. A tiny pause. 'And if I have anything to do with it, the last.' He seemed to prefer the smallest audience possible whether it was George Hartley, his tape spools turning slowly as Larkin recited his verse, swallowing both his stammer and annoyance with the noisy recording conditions; or here after Sunday lunch in a converted garage with only his sound engineer friend John Weeks for company.We too are an audience of one for any poet we read, but the complicity between reader and writer is where Larkin particularly thrives. It's implicit in his reasons for writing ('I suppose the kind of response I am seeking from the reader is, Yes, I know what you mean, life is like that') and explicit as he invites us inside to share his bleak though never entirely hopeless view ('You can see how it was', 'Think of being them', 'We know beyond doubt'). The rewards for going with him are the vivid journeys and consolations he provides.'The Sunday Sessions' lifts that complicity to another level. Now Larkin addresses us directly as his gently see-sawing delivery sets the scenes for his poems. These are rendered with extraordinary precision using a wide range of devices. In 'Mr Bleaney', we see 'Flowered curtains, thin and frayed/Fall to within five inches of the sill'. Condensing our waiting-room culture of patience into four brief lines, Larkin shows us, 'There are paperbacks, and tea at so much a cup/Like an airport lounge, but those who tamely sit/On rows of steel chairs turning the ripped mags/Haven't come far.' His pause in the last line of 'Home is so Sad' ensures we catch the god-awfulness of 'That vase'.Then he gives the occupants of those settings a voice. Some are comic turns as he does Mr Bleaney's landlady, Warlock-Williams and booms 'here endeth' so we snigger even as 'the echoes snigger briefly'. Others are quizzical, delicate, finely balanced in debate with themselves. In 'An Arundel Tomb', the narrator has it out about the nature of love yet can't quite bring himself to come down on one side or the other, the optimism of the famous last line qualified by the preceding one. For the most part, the mood is benign. Only in 'The Old Fools' does Larkin's own voice seem to emerge from the poems, rising as he heads for the final warning of 'We shall find out.' In that moment, it sounds as if he's telling us about his dread of endless extinction.But don't be put off: the quotable lines and haunting images make this CD a must-have, the typo in the accompanying track-listing notwithstanding. Now all we need to do is persuade Faber to round up the rest of Larkin's readings on cassette and LP and reissue them digitally.

Many ilsteners will find their favourite Larkin poems here, including he Whitsun Weddings, Afternoons & An Arundel Taamb. I was disappointed that Ambulances had not been included. The sleeve gives no explanation for the choiceof title for this CD : the Sunday Sessions. I think the recordings are taken from the old auduio cassettes, whereas weare led to imagine Larkin had new Sunday sessions for thie recording. However, I am grateful for what we have.

The 26 poems on this CD are the contents of two tapes recorded simply in a colleague's garage two decades ago - and what a find! The duration is approximately an hour and includes tracks from 'The North Ship' (1945), 'The Witsun Weddings' (1964) and 'High Windows'(1974); the sound quality is exceptionally clear.After reading his two novels, I came to appreciate Larkin's work more via a charity performance of 'Down Cemetry Road' - The Landscape of Philip Larkin, with Alan Bennett and Patrick Garland, but I hadn't heard him recite his own work.At first I was disappointed with Larkin's performance. I found myself listening to a charmless voice with an upper crust accent giving what appeared to be an understated delivery. But there's something about a poet reciting his or her own work which completely disturbs my own inferences (Stevie Smith being a prime example). When I played the CD again, I immediately found the appeal, the droll wit and perfect intonation in every poem.

Why hasn't this new release had more coverage? I only found out about it because my miserabilist chum who works in the City received it for his birthday recently. It's a joy. Every Sunday, after the pub (one hopes), Pop Larkin went into the garage and laid down a few tracks on the old reel-to-reel. Skip forward a few decades and the tapes are discovered on the shelf, gathering dust and growing a rind. What a magnificent discovery. They're all here - The Whitsun Weddings, Church Going, Toads, The Old Fools, Vers De Societe - around 45 minutes in total. Larkin reads them with a droll, conversational panache that makes you (well, me anyway) laugh out loud at their mordant wit and charm. He is the Dad. Buy this CD.

Philip Larkin would have liked this release. He was an avid vinyl collector (especially jazz) and Faber have released this as a tribute to his poetry and vinyl itself, most impressive. The sound is clear and the heavyweight 180g LP really gives the atmosphere you need for spoken word. Limited to 500 copies according to some sites but no ltd details on the sleeve.This is a lovely release and I, for one, would be willing to purchase other Faber poets on this format, Cd seems so impersonal yet vinyl feels special, long may it continue. Maybe a booklet with ome info on the poet/poetry would be a good addition next time, as well as an MP3 for portability?

Purchased on a whim, this lovely C.D. Stayed and played in my car for weeks. Listening to this audibly adorable charater read this selection of his own works, placed him quickly in the centre of my heart. Most who study Larkin, must buy this. It will open doors, in so many of his works, shedding light on suble meanings, by the intonation of his own very charming voice. An treasure of an archive, which is so much more, captured hopefully for future generations, if not eternity. Wonderful audio collection and worth getting to know.

i purchased this collection after listening to a radio 4 programme concerning the tapes recorded in 1980 by phillip larkin"after lunch on sundays", i love it i must say it is not my usual choice of poetry it seemed to me it would be industrial and gloomy, not at all it last 45 mins approx and i enjoyed every minute, perfect to listen to on a sunday after lunch, and read by the author,how it should be heard