Bly respectfully and elegantly puts the smugly cynical Amis in his place, showing him how a mature adult man handles himself. Thanks for sharing this video!
Rewatching this lecture just a few weeks after what would have been Philip Larkin's 100th birthday -- only further emphasizes that Larkin was a self-conscious, messed up, intelligent, hilarious and pitiable human being who was deeply sensitive in some ways and deeply insensitive in others -- a man of his time, like most of us.
It always amazes me how people treated Bly back then, and how petty their criticism of him seems now. A lot has changed, many of the feminists who hated him then are likely Terfs now, and Amis wrote an autobiography that was mostly about his father. Go figure.
on the day of his death, let me say i feel that this among all available here is the finest example of Martin Amis's literary and personal gifts; it's where i, anyway, came to pay tribute on hearing of his death. thanks to OP.
@@adagietto2523 aye to be sure, not all have your burnished character unimpeachable. then again, i detect in your above one or two rancid spots, ya shite and onions.
I love Kingsley Amis - the man seemed funny - and his work was excellent … The poetry of Larkin is exemplary of a culture and time. I find Martin’s work patchy and intensely disappointing. As for the “man”, MA was clearly a lamentable blowhard… Vomit inducing sanctimoniousness. I left England and Amis and his leader Tony Blair in the late 90s - and I cannot feel anything but shame for my nation and the scummy direction it chose.
