Hi, Craig

I thought you might enjoy Larkin himself, reading his poem The Explosion: http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/today/newsid_8435000/8435768.stm

As for "disaster porn", Vonnegut insightfully quipped: "If you die horribly on television, you will not have died in vain. You will have entertained us". That sentiment may be too cynical for what has happened here, perhaps. I don't know. I do know that I have wept openly when viewing coverage of this awful tragedy. But reports of media vultures feeding on the raw grief of loved ones made me think of Vonnegut's pithy observation, nonetheless. Too much sensational voyeurism; not enough unsentimental empathy.

Nice radio show. Thank you. :)

Damn, that was beautiful. For someone who hated reading his own work (and poetry readings in general), he did a superb job of not "emoting" all over the very carefully worked music of his work. He's the kind of poet who makes it all look (and sound) so very casual and natural you can miss the craft involved.

And just to add extra delight, the poem was part of a broadcast guest edited by one of my favourite novelists, P.D. James (who among much else, was a former Governor of the BBC).

Nice radio show. Thank you. :)

No, thank you. Always nice to know you're not talking to yourself, like a crazy person. :)

Well let's not get carried away here: you're still a crazy person. :-p

One of my favourite possessions is a book called Poetry Speaks. I'd lend it to you, but you're out of town. It comes with 3 CD's of great poets reading their own work, from a crackly old wax cylinder recording of Tennyson, through to more modern recordings of Parker and Plath. Many of the longer poems are incomplete in the recordings, but the experience of hearing them read their own work is still magical, imo. You'd love it, I think. :)

http://www.amazon.com/Poetry-Speaks-Great-Poets-Tennyson/dp/1570717206

Nicely done, Craig.