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Summary: Hit the North!
Comment: Read this book some time ago now and it has a very important message that viewing yourself as Northerner is a positive statement.
As a Lancastrian I would testify that this isn't simply a Yorkshireman's view of the world - it presents the implacable, grizzled, matter-of-factness of a died-in the wool Northerner from either side of the Pennines and probably up a far as Geordieland.
And it's the affirmation of Northerness which is one of the reasons why this book, and Armitage's work is so special and important. Whilst the tanned hordes South of Watford take Northern humour for granted - vis. Peter Kay's enormous success - they fail to see that his charm and wit is an integral part of Northern life - Mr Kay has just managed to distil it better than most. In the North it is important to be funny, as often as possible, and to be friendly in a way which is anathema to those in the deep south.
The sad fact is that so many Southerners will read this and miss the point entirely...or may be it's not so sad because the last thing we would want is for hordes of humour-free, snobbish opportunist to flock North in search of some spiritual Nirvana.
Rock on Simon!
Neil
Customer Rating: 
Summary: Needs to be read with an open mind - reviewers think on!
Comment: I have to confess to being slightly alarmed and very disappointed by some of the Amazon reviews of this book. There is no doubt that Armitage has a great way with both poetry and prose - I have taught his poems at GCSE for several years and have heard him give readings which never fail to amuse and make me chuckle wryly at the vagaries of life. The reason I am concerned is the way that people have depicted life in The North of England - I grew up in Sussex and only moved to Sheffield in 1996 - after over a decade here I can honestly say that I would never move back down South. I encountered far more 'parochialism' as a 'Southerner' and a Grammar school education in Tunbridge Wells left me in no doubt as to the inherent ignorance and small-mindedness of many in the 'Home Counties'.
Armitage depicts the kind of daftness, naivety and sheer buffoonery that is encountered from John O' Groats to Land's End - but he does it through the eyes of an intelligent individual who is utterly at ease with himself and his upbringing. One of the best parts is Simon's recounting of an amateur dramatics staging of 'Camelot' and the all-male cast's sheer enjoyment and unfettered enthusiasm from start to finish. It does help that I know many of the places mentioned - I have family in Marsden too - but even without this I can recommend 'All points North' as a great read and perhaps even an eye-opener for anyone who claims knowledge of life beyond Birmingham.
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Summary: A delight - very original
Comment: This book is a collection of prose, poems and snatches of news reports capturing the essence of all things northern, more specifically all things Yorkshire.This is quite a rare kind of book because it includes so many different styles of writing. Also unlike say, Bill Bryson's Notes from a Small Island or Theroux's 'The Kingdom by the Sea'it is written by a native and allows the reader to make their own interpretation of the text. He does not appear arrogant or aloof, but becomes part of the landscape he describes.
Armitage is a wonderful writer. He writes about a variety of issues from Saturday Night out in Leeds (this chapter is quite superb)to discarded tractor tyres in the moors. He can make even the dull things in life have a kind resonance.
Some things I will always remember with a smile. His sports report when he likens 80's football shorts to 'skin-tight satin knickers'. When he was told there is no need to go outside and watch the total eclipse because 'it is on Channel 66'. Or the man who spent 26 days up a tree to set a new world record when he realised the record was 26 years- 'I did feel a bit of a prat when I heard'.
He can be funny/serious and strikes the right balance. He deals with a lot of issues here, including the homeless and Politics.
There are also pieces on the art of writing as Armitage alludes to his influences. These pieces are really inspiring and anything that encourages poets in this day and age is a good thing.
Armitage comes across as a sound bloke with a wonderful everyman talent. The North? Well, it will always remain a mystery to me.
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Summary: A bit southern for me
Comment: As a hardened northerner from County Durham, to hear West Yorkshire described as anything other than south was a great surprise to me. Joking apart, the book is absolutely wonderful in places. Not only does it embody a true northern community spirit wonderfully, and recount village stories in a lively and amusing way; but some of the social observation is put in language that almost made me cry it was so beautiful. Often it is little comments such as the section regarding the cricket County Championship and TV coverage of football that is the best. However, by the end of the book it becomes too much a trail following Armitage's life and not enough of the observation on a community it was at the start. This does not stop it having some incredibly funny moments, though - particularly good is his encounter with the shop assistant when trying to photocopy his own work. Overall, a very good book, well worth buying - even goes someway to explaining why Yorkshiremen are so contrary.
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Summary: It Almost Makes Me...But Not Quite
Comment: Okay, I'll be honest: I HATE the North of England with quite a passion. I lived the first two years of my life in Liverpool and the last fifteen in W Yorkshire. So my whole life i have been up here, passionately hating it. I look forward to going to University in a few months in Cambridge with a fervour. I hate almost everything about where I live. Seriously.And yet, a couple of years ago, when I first read Simon Armitage's poetry, and even though so much of it is based around...not parochialism (because S.Armitage HAS travelled about, it's just that, bafflingly, he's settled back up here again)...but a (to me) strange love of The North, and that love is something completely alien to me, I couldn't help but get sucked into the language, the subjects and the new way in which Simon Armitage communicates his love of where he lives.
Perhaps it was the silly thrill of reading placenames, even shop names (like Bronx Clothing in Huddersfield, which I walk past every college day), and thinking...I know there. I've looked at that too. I've looked at somewhere that Simon Armitage has looked at. But when he looked he saw something poetic and beautiful, but when I looked I saw something ugly and hardfaced.
Or perhaps it was the dizziness of that I SEE, every day of my life, where the poetry comes from, but I disagree so much with the essence of it. but the stunningly skilful way in which it's written makes me want to read anyway, to disagree.
It's also, maybe (and for me, worryingly!) that I know S.Armitage is completely sincere with all his feelings for this place in which he and I both live. I've met him, several times. He's a lovely man. He IS everything Northern, but minus the ugly, hardfaced, parochialism that is so trademark up here. If everyone from Yorkshire were like Simon Armitage - blunt, amusing, intelligent, creative, friendly - then I'm sure I'd be as enthusiastic about living up here as he is. I've seen him reading his poems and prose. I've seen him read out lines about his love for this place, while we were actually IN this place. The wonderful thing about him is that he means every word of it.
So perhaps that's what makes this book so special to me: I think every positive thing written is the opposite from the truth, but that's probably part of the attraction. But Simon Armitage could write about a WHEELIE BIN and make it sound transcendental. This book is a must: whether you share Simon's thoughs of The North, whether you share mine, or whether you're lucky enough to be well away from here!
