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lara1977's review against another edition
3.0
The main character is unlikable. The attitudes expressed in the book are well written but hard to empathize with. Aaron seems to be waiting for something to make him happy, expecting to be made happy, while doing nothing to improve his condition. As my first D.H. Lawrence novel, I can appreciate this work, but I did not "enjoy" the characters. Self-absorbed and narcissistic, floating through life on the kindness of others. When the novel was over I was left with the impression of the bleakness of human existence. Human existence is only bleak if you leave your happiness up to others to fulfill.
mick_travel's review
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
seebrandyread's review
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
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
2.0
Aaron Sisson is having a midlife crisis. At least that’s what we’d probably call it today. He abandons his wife, children, and career at Christmas with no real explanation or plan except to go where the wind takes him, making his way by playing the flute. In his wandering, Aaron meets Rawdon Lilly, a man living more or less the way Aaron aspires to: married but standing on his own and secure in his singularity, traveling where and how he likes, only working (as a writer) when the need or desire arises. The novel pulls them apart and brings them together as they both navigate post WWI Europe in an attempt to figure out where their lives are going. One of the main hitches in Aaron’s plans is women. For Aaron, love means surrendering to someone else, and now that women have found more freedom and agency after the war, they have become the dominant sex (in his mind) which causes them to require the upperhand in a sexual or romantic relationship. Thus women and the war are co conspirators in the elimination of manhood as the men in this novel know it. For all of the talking and thinking Aaron does alone and with his friends, he never questions gender roles very critically. All of the conflict Aaron observes between the sexes, both real and imagined, comes from insisting on a rigid binary. He thinks one must have power over the other, and Lilly confirms that all people are driven by an urge to love or have power, but they never point those urges inward, never think that maybe they need power over or can’t love someone else because they don't have power over or love their own selves. This novel (which should've been a play) is a mess because Aaron is a mess or vice versa. Instead of a convertible or motorcycle as a stand-in for Aaron’s penis, he has his “rod” or flute. His story is neither interesting or unique by today’s standards, and he probably could have solved most of his problems with divorce and therapy.
bob625's review against another edition
3.0
Actually pretty good. Some scenes show Lawrence at his funniest, in my opinion. The novel is inconsistent, though, and wavers severely in quality - Lawrence's tendency to go on is in full force, and you'll undoubtedly get bored in parts, but it is a nice read overall, and one worth the time of any Lawrence fan.
krishnalover_nb's review against another edition
4.0
I think this book is highly underrated and some parts/moments of it could only be understood by someone with highly evolved consciousness. I am surprised at the explanation of what soul's desires mean and what it means to be in a state of complete peace with oneself. Aaron is a flutist who walks through life without goal wanting to explore and not be tied to something. His friend and mentor, Lilly is in the same boat but unlike Aaron who is clueless as to how to deal with his lost soul, Lilly has some pretty convincing solutions.
Aaron, a married man for over a decade walks away from his wife and four children because married life isn't cutting him any more interest. And he was in a constant battle with his wife for who is the superior between the two. So he makes a journey through London, Milan and Florence making aquaintances, having flings with some exceptional women. All through, he couldn't feel to let himself loose or share himself with another without restraint. He builds relationships and tears them away to be a free soul. At the end Lilly teaches him what it means to not search for something outside of himself and build his soul,his inner God by staying rooted..
Aaron, a married man for over a decade walks away from his wife and four children because married life isn't cutting him any more interest. And he was in a constant battle with his wife for who is the superior between the two. So he makes a journey through London, Milan and Florence making aquaintances, having flings with some exceptional women. All through, he couldn't feel to let himself loose or share himself with another without restraint. He builds relationships and tears them away to be a free soul. At the end Lilly teaches him what it means to not search for something outside of himself and build his soul,his inner God by staying rooted..
lnatal's review
3.0
Free download available at Project Gutenberg.
Quotations:
"Do you think, Lilly, we're the world? said Robert ironically. "Oh, yes, I guess w're shipwrecked in this box, like Robinson Crusoes. And what we do on our own little island matters to us alone. As for the infinite crowds of howling savages outside there in the unspeakable, all you've got to do is mind they don't scrap you."
When you love, your soul breathes in - when your soul breathes out, it's bloody revolution.
A man should remain himself, not try to spread himself over humanity. He should pivot himself on his own pride.
Love was a battle in which each party strove for the mastery of the other's soul. So far, man had yielded the mastery to woman. Now he was fighting for it back again. And too late, for the woman would never yield.
Like the Invisible Man, we are only revealed through our clothes and our masks.
Give thyself, but give thyself not away. That is the lesson written at the end of the long strange lane of love.
5* Women in Love
4* Sons and lovers
5* Lady Chatterley's Lover
4* The Rainbow
3* The Fox
3* The Virgin and the Gipsy
3* The Prussian Officer
3* Daughters of the Vicar
3* The White Stocking
3* England, My England
4* The Ladybird
3* The Captain's Doll
3* The Plumed Serpent
3* Aaron's Rod
TBR The Trespasser
TBR Studies in Classic American Literature
Quotations:
"Do you think, Lilly, we're the world? said Robert ironically. "Oh, yes, I guess w're shipwrecked in this box, like Robinson Crusoes. And what we do on our own little island matters to us alone. As for the infinite crowds of howling savages outside there in the unspeakable, all you've got to do is mind they don't scrap you."
When you love, your soul breathes in - when your soul breathes out, it's bloody revolution.
A man should remain himself, not try to spread himself over humanity. He should pivot himself on his own pride.
Love was a battle in which each party strove for the mastery of the other's soul. So far, man had yielded the mastery to woman. Now he was fighting for it back again. And too late, for the woman would never yield.
Like the Invisible Man, we are only revealed through our clothes and our masks.
Give thyself, but give thyself not away. That is the lesson written at the end of the long strange lane of love.
5* Women in Love
4* Sons and lovers
5* Lady Chatterley's Lover
4* The Rainbow
3* The Fox
3* The Virgin and the Gipsy
3* The Prussian Officer
3* Daughters of the Vicar
3* The White Stocking
3* England, My England
4* The Ladybird
3* The Captain's Doll
3* The Plumed Serpent
3* Aaron's Rod
TBR The Trespasser
TBR Studies in Classic American Literature
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