D.H. Lawrence Books

D.H. Lawrence is better known for his various novels, i.e., Women in Love; Lady Chatterly's Lover; and Sons and Lovers than for his travel writing. With that said, I highly recommend this book. Personally I love Lawrence's writing style and this particular book is exceptional even for Lawrence. You will feel as though you are there with him experiencing the moment he is describing. The people and places of Italy come alive through his prose. His writing moves, at times, from reality and physical descriptions to abstraction and philosophy, but it is so wonderfully written, you will cherish every word and never question the move from one to the other. Images abound in this work and the scenes he describes are beautifully sensual. I have read this work twice and plan on reading it numerous other times throughout my life.

A great collection of short stories that describe the life of simple people, in simple circumstances, yet seen from extraordinary points of view. Stories that make you say, why didn't I see that ? There's a rhythm to the writing that makes it very close to poetry.

It seems to me that D.H. Lawrence had a dissatisfied wanderer's soul. As the son of a miner, he did not fit into English literary society. His ties with his mother precluded easy relationships with women in early life. He always looked for that overpowering love from others who could hardly respond to that degree. He disagreed with prevailing opinion about many things, including sex, patriotism, and class. Eventually his discontents drove him from England and he wandered the globe looking for that "better home". So many try, so few succeed. The style of his discontent led to his novels being banned and his paintings being confiscated by the authorities. Though I have admired his writing in the past, and the stories in this volume are excellent, I find a certain disquiet in Lawrence. He always wants to find the unhappy ending, the love jelling into hatred, the lover going away forever, disappointed at last. His characters' slogan might be, "I love you but I can't stand you." While over-optimism is tiring, I find this focus on unhappiness also fatiguing. Men abandon their former loves and marry ("The Witch A La Mode") or go away to new urban lives("The Modern Lover"). Women beckon men and then push them away in tediously familiar mating games with no ending ("New Eve and Old Adam"). There are also stories of violent, perverse love, such as "The Prussian Officer". The mentally-unstable injured miner, the domineering father that spoils the lives of his children, the deserting soldier without a plan---it's as if Lawrence loved to concentrate on the flaws of each person, to turn over each stone and lovingly point out the bugs and worms to make us squirm instead. "The Daughters of the Vicar" is perhaps the most optimistic, though of the two girls, only one manages to escape her narrow, constricting fate dictated by false class pride---well, she is forced out(the other is married off to an autistic midget---whoa, nice !). Each story portrays extremely well-developed characters whose conversations and movements never lack meaning. D.H. Lawrence was one of the top British writers of the twentieth century. If you have never read him, I suggest you should begin here. These are brilliant stories. Just don't expect many happy endings.

Stimulating and thought provoking critical approach to Lawrences work. Ground breaking research by the late Prof. Yudhishter 30 years ago, this book is still a 'must' for any serious Lawrence reader.

Invaluable record in understaning young Lawrence. Self-effacing and painful (at times) it required a great woman (and a very good writer) to open up such a gushing wound caused due to his mother's influence. "Sons and Lovers" simply cannot be understood without this real life remembrence (for those interested of course).
Lawrence and Jessie irrevocably split before he left England and headed to Germany: ther he would fall for the married mother of three. Jessie Chambers (aka Eunice Temple) married in 1915 (Lawrenze married Frieda in July 1914): she and Lawrence never saw each other again.
A heavy stone of death laid by Lawrence's manically possessive mother burdened both star-crossed friends and lovers to the very end: Lawrence's in 1930 and Jessie's in 1945.

John Keats (5934-0, $19.95) adds to the research guides in the 'Major Poets' series, blending a biography with extracts of major critical essays examining the poet's works. New to the Major Short Story Writers series ($19.95 each) is D. H. Lawrence (5947-2) and Henry James (5943-X), which use similar approaches to examine the major themes and ideas of each writer. All are recommended as basic library acquisitions.

Rare is the book that can keep you enthralled and page-turning on a topic of which you previously couldn't hold ground past two seconds in conversation.

Or one that you can actually read cover to cover from first picking up.

The style of writing is as breezy as it is intensive and never dry.

An excellent work and book.

Lawrence wrote two kinds of poetry as he wrote two kinds of Literature. One is alive, spontaneous , reacts to and connects with external reality, even brings that reality alive through sympathetic identification with it. The second kind of poetry is dogmatic, one- dimensional, opinionizing and comes at us without complexity. It is the preaching poetry.
The best poetry of Lawrence is that which flows and is fused with a kind of ongoing passion, and feeling.

D.H. Lawrence's "The Rainbow" is a very good book that has been rated as one of the 150 most influential books of the 20th century by many lists. But even classics go out of print. The book is about a young couple, how they meet, and their sexual relations. The couple produces many children which causes the mother to be more of a mother than a lover. Will, the eccentric, masculine father, is confused by this lack of interest in him and frightened by his dominating wife. This book is a classic of psychological realism.

Once in the South of France, I met a man not of this Earth. His eyes spoke of Old Testament knowledge while his body was reminiscent of Greco-Roman athletes in their prime. The honeyed words which flowed from his lips bathed the throng of admirers that flocked about him in a golden light of Olympian purity. I stumbled haltingly, almost not daring to look upon such a god/man. And yet, to look away, to leave the presence of such a being would surely bring far greater pain. Edging my way forward, I found it impossible to reach this man. The mass of followers which pulsed about him were far too great. As I collapsed to the ground, frustrated and overcome, I felt a strong yet gentle hand touch my shoulder. "Rise up and Read, my child." The stranger placed a copy of "Cafe Millennium" in my eager hands and drifted off in monastic solemnity towards all that is good and right in the world. My life has never been the same.