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3.47 AVERAGE
3.47 AVERAGE
gothamcityballet's review against another edition
3.0
One of those books that makes a lot more sense if you know about the author's other works. Those being, 1) startlingly effecting and iconic modernist poetry and 2) highly fetishistic lesbian schoolgirl RP by mail, which was discovered long after his death.
'Jill' has the energy of Larkin only being half aware of those two sides of himself, and filtering it through the genre of campus novel. I think it's best recommended as a snapshot of Oxford during WWII, and the way British class boundaries were slow to dissolve. Otherwise mostly for those exploring Larkin's lesser known oeuvre.
'Jill' has the energy of Larkin only being half aware of those two sides of himself, and filtering it through the genre of campus novel. I think it's best recommended as a snapshot of Oxford during WWII, and the way British class boundaries were slow to dissolve. Otherwise mostly for those exploring Larkin's lesser known oeuvre.
indoorswoman's review against another edition
dark
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
rponzo's review against another edition
4.0
What can I say, I love Larkin. This book is not heavy on the plot, and the feminist in me should be bored by the male point of view. But the descriptions are wonderful, the era is fascinating, and even a white boy can be an anti hero.
britineurope's review against another edition
3.0
A very hard book to review. Although it bears all the marks of Larkin's sharp yet lucid voice, the novel suffers somewhat from a lack of actual plot. Larkin himself knew that this would be ascribed to juvenalia however it is no less enjoyable for this, although there is a dearth of any real action, the struggles of the working-class hero in the unfamiliar territory of Oxford University is very well thought out. Larkin explores beautifully the heavy sense of duty that weighs on the protagonist and the anxieties and foibles he is subject to. The love story almost seems like an after-thought and at one part it seemed like Larkin simply wanted to exercise his formidable talents at creating a short story within a novella. Worthwhile if only for the sublime language typical of the author.
powerfulanne's review against another edition
Feb. 2024 -- big month for me and Philip Larkin. I found Jill harder to read and more unsettling than A Girl in Winter. Perhaps, even at 29, I'm still a bit too close to being a gauche adolescent to appreciate such a keenly observed tale of gauche and embarrassing adolescence without wanting to die a little bit. It's interesting -- my mother, who hasn't read Jill in decades, remembers it as ending on sort of a triumphant note, whereas I read that scene (no spoilers, but jam is involved) as much more unsettling and precarious -- the narrator isolating himself even further into his delusions.
scbeachy's review against another edition
3.0
Unless you studied at Oxford in the 1940s, a lot of this will feel too inside baseball. I had no idea what was going on half the time, other than that Kemp's roommate behaved like a horrible, entitled jerk. Some of the descriptions of the cold, rainy town were lovely, however, and Larkin gives a good sense of Kemp's confusion and sadness.
laurene99's review
mysterious
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
firvida's review against another edition
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Lo bueno de leer clásicos, aunque sean clásicos modernos, es la cura de humildad que suponen para el presente. Tendemos a creer, aquí y ahora, que solo nuestra generación ha sentido según qué emociones, o experimentado según qué cosas, y solemos mirar el pasado con ese aire condescendiente, prepotente y ególatra que da el estar vivo. Jill es esa clase de novela que viene a recordarnos la atemporalidad, la universalidad y, por tanto, la falta de originalidad de la experiencia humana, porque es una novela escrita en el año 45, ambientada en el primer trimestre de Oxford en el 40, y fácilmente podría ser un relato contemporáneo, quitando los avances tecnológicos actuales. Los sentimientos de John, su inseguridad, su inmadurez, su ineptitud social, su timidez y su vergüenza tocan todas las fibras sensibles del lector introvertido y, como ya me pasó con Una chica en invierno, es muy fácil sentir a John una parte de ti trasladada a un papel de ficción hace casi 80 años. Es algo de Philip Larkin que admiro y que me conmueve muchísimo: la empatía y la humanidad con que reviste a sus personajes, su capacidad de crear historias conmovedoras a partir de retazos de las experiencias más mundanas y cotidianas del ser humano. Aquí no hay una gran trama, y de hecho el libro acaba un poco in media res. Observamos solo el tortuoso camino de adaptación a la universidad de un joven tímido, algo anodino y extremadamente inseguro, y cómo el fracaso de esa adaptación le lleva a crear un mundo y una mujer de fantasía que no son más que una ayuda para superar un día a día que puede con él. Hay situaciones y pensamientos de John que casi puedo trasladar a mi vida de juventud en algún momento, sin ser yo ningún chaval de 18 años en su primer año en Oxford, y creo que eso solo lo pueden o saben hacer los buenos libros. Dice el autor en el prólogo que no pretendía escribir sobre las diferencias sociales, que le salió de manera inintencionada, pero verdaderamente es un tema esencial: en contraposición a John, tenemos a Cristopher y su panda de niñatos chicos ricos y privilegiados que se pasan el día fumando y borrachos, no solo no aceptando a John en su seno, sino directamente impidiéndole el paso, a veces de manera clara y directa, a veces de manera más sibilina. En todas y cada una de estas ocasiones, un John derrotado se ve obligado a cavar un poco más hondo el pozo de su soledad.
Sin gustarme tanto como Una chica en invierno, lo cierto es que he devorado Jill, he tenido que parar su lectura en ocasiones para mirar al techo por lo certero de la descripción de los sentimientos de John y, de haber más novelas completas de Philip Larkin, me las bebería como uno de mis escritores ingleses favoritos que es.
Sin gustarme tanto como Una chica en invierno, lo cierto es que he devorado Jill, he tenido que parar su lectura en ocasiones para mirar al techo por lo certero de la descripción de los sentimientos de John y, de haber más novelas completas de Philip Larkin, me las bebería como uno de mis escritores ingleses favoritos que es.
mirandags's review
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Overall the sentences are quite well-written but the plot suffers. Started strong, but got very slow in the middle when the main character created an imaginary sister. Quite tedious. Picked up at the end with his bizarre infatuation with a 15 year old girl. 🤮