Martin Amis on the poet Philip Larkin

MARTIN AMIS ON PHILIP LARKIN: In what could, perhaps, be included in our 'The Art of Poetry' thread, the author Martin Amis dissects the work and life of Philip Larkin more than 25 years after the poet's death. More poignantly, however, he provides some interesting perspective on the question of literary criticism and its merits. "Literary criticism, throughout its long history (starting with Aristotle), has restlessly searched for the Holy Grail of a value system – a way of separating the excellent from the less excellent. But it turns out that this is a fool’s errand. [...] The 'value' words here, both positive and negative, are in effect mere synonyms for individual preferences. Evaluative criticism is rhetorical criticism: it adds nothing to knowledge; it simply adds to the history of taste. After all, when we say 'Shakespeare is a genius' we are joining a vast concurrence; but we are not quite stating a fact. How good/great/important/major is Philip Larkin? Instinctively and not illogically we do bow, in these matters, to the verdict of Judge Time. Larkin died 25 years ago, and his reputation (after the wild fluctuation in the mid-1990s, to which we will return) looks increasingly secure." Read the whole thing.