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3.45 AVERAGE
3.45 AVERAGE
Edit: After reading The First Women in Love and re-reading this, and from reading about the background to this, I changed my opinion about it and it went up to 4 stars. Okay, the characters are still way too verbose and can be quite unpleasant at times, but somehow there are elements that get through about Lawrence's feelings about sex, love and relationships. This was a very brave book considering some of the plot elements. Also, I do think it's the Delphi edition that seems to like caps! The centaur edition of the First Women In Love didn't have them. I found it very interesting to see the changes, but I have to say DHL was a bit too keen on the old rewrite - think I preferred the First edition of both this and Lady Chatterley's Lover, though I understand he had reasons for changing the both.
Ok, so writing about love between men was a brave choice for Lawrence to make. Unfortunately, in the process of making a point some of the major stylistic elements got lost such as a coherent plot and decent characters. What you're left with is a group of snobby, pretentious narcissists prancing about Europe being vile to one another and making ludicrous pronouncements in different languages about just how tedious EVERYTHING is (I don't know if it's just my edition or if Lawrence genuinely did write some of it in all caps). I didn't particularly want to dislike it as much as I did, and I can't say I hated it, I just don't know how I am supposed to take it as a reader; whether I am supposed to find the characters this dislikeable. It's a great pity as I thought the Ursula of The Rainbow had a great deal of potential, but by the end I was left wondering where the rest of the story was and even if he was actually writing about the woman from The Rainbow or just someone with the same name. It was like he'd made his point and did feel like anything else was necessary. Anyway, I think a break from Lawrence would probably do me some good.
Ok, so writing about love between men was a brave choice for Lawrence to make. Unfortunately, in the process of making a point some of the major stylistic elements got lost such as a coherent plot and decent characters. What you're left with is a group of snobby, pretentious narcissists prancing about Europe being vile to one another and making ludicrous pronouncements in different languages about just how tedious EVERYTHING is (I don't know if it's just my edition or if Lawrence genuinely did write some of it in all caps). I didn't particularly want to dislike it as much as I did, and I can't say I hated it, I just don't know how I am supposed to take it as a reader; whether I am supposed to find the characters this dislikeable. It's a great pity as I thought the Ursula of The Rainbow had a great deal of potential, but by the end I was left wondering where the rest of the story was and even if he was actually writing about the woman from The Rainbow or just someone with the same name. It was like he'd made his point and did feel like anything else was necessary. Anyway, I think a break from Lawrence would probably do me some good.
It is not a page-turner, nor is it particularly fascinating in terms of plot or pace, but the prose is mind-blowing and luxurious enough to make one forget that. Lawrence writes beautifully, imbuing his characters with a kind of fierce passion, drawing out expressions from their innermost recesses. At times it will jump out at you, speaking directly to you, feeling so akin to your own vacillations that you are left to gape at it.
Într-o dimineaţă, Ursula şi Gudrun[1] Brangwen stăteau în firida ferestrei boltite din casa tatălui lor în Beldover, lucrând şi vorbind. Ursula cosea o broderie viu colorată iar Gudrun desena pe o tăbliţă pe care o ţinea pe genunchi. Tăceau, vorbind doar nunei când câte un gând le rătăcea prin minte.
― Ursula, zise Gudrun, chiar nu vrei să te măriţi?
Ursula dădu drumul broderiei să-i cadă în poală şi ridică privirea. Chipul ei avea o expresie calmă şi atentă.
― Nu ştiu, replică ea. Depinde ce înţelegi prin asta.
Gudrun fu puţin surprinsă. O privi pe sora ei timp de câteva momente.
― Ei bine, zise ea pe un ton ironic, nu înţeleg decât un singur lucru! Dar totuşi, nu crezi ― şi aici se întristă puţin ― că ai fi mai avantajată decât eşti acum?
Chipul Ursulei se întunecă.
― S-ar putea, zise ea. Dar nu sunt sigură.
Gudrun se opri din nou, uşor iritată. Voia să fie cât mai explicită.
― Nu crezi că e necesar să ştii cum e să fii măritată? întrebă ea.
― Crezi că e nevoie să ştii? replică Ursula.
― Trebuie, într-un fel sau altul, zise Gudrun destul de rece. Nu e chiar plăcut, dar trebuie să treci prin asta cumva.
― Nu chiar, zise Ursula. Mai degrabă să vezi cum e finalul unei asemenea experienţe.
Gudrun stătea nemişcată, ca să fie atentă la discuţie.
― Desigur, spuse ea, mai e şi lucrul acesta de luat în considerare.
Acestea fiind spuse, conversaţia se încheie. Uşor supărată, Gudrun îşi luă guma şi începu să şteargă o parte din desen. Ursula broda foarte preocupată.
― N-ai lua în calcul o partidă bună? întrebă Gudrun.
― Cred că am respins câteva, spuse Ursula.
― Ursula, zise Gudrun, chiar nu vrei să te măriţi?
Ursula dădu drumul broderiei să-i cadă în poală şi ridică privirea. Chipul ei avea o expresie calmă şi atentă.
― Nu ştiu, replică ea. Depinde ce înţelegi prin asta.
Gudrun fu puţin surprinsă. O privi pe sora ei timp de câteva momente.
― Ei bine, zise ea pe un ton ironic, nu înţeleg decât un singur lucru! Dar totuşi, nu crezi ― şi aici se întristă puţin ― că ai fi mai avantajată decât eşti acum?
Chipul Ursulei se întunecă.
― S-ar putea, zise ea. Dar nu sunt sigură.
Gudrun se opri din nou, uşor iritată. Voia să fie cât mai explicită.
― Nu crezi că e necesar să ştii cum e să fii măritată? întrebă ea.
― Crezi că e nevoie să ştii? replică Ursula.
― Trebuie, într-un fel sau altul, zise Gudrun destul de rece. Nu e chiar plăcut, dar trebuie să treci prin asta cumva.
― Nu chiar, zise Ursula. Mai degrabă să vezi cum e finalul unei asemenea experienţe.
Gudrun stătea nemişcată, ca să fie atentă la discuţie.
― Desigur, spuse ea, mai e şi lucrul acesta de luat în considerare.
Acestea fiind spuse, conversaţia se încheie. Uşor supărată, Gudrun îşi luă guma şi începu să şteargă o parte din desen. Ursula broda foarte preocupată.
― N-ai lua în calcul o partidă bună? întrebă Gudrun.
― Cred că am respins câteva, spuse Ursula.
While I enjoyed the over-reaching metaphors and long-winded esoteric speeches for the sheer amount of vocabulary, I was always torn between liking the book and hating it. I struggled through it the past months being occasionally in-line with Ursula, but utterly despising almost all of the other characters. I took particular offense to the ludicrous Birkin who spouted such contradictory nonsense that it made any passages with him hard to bear.
Plus, the ending of the book wasn't even an ending at all so I felt heavily unresolved.
Maybe I will try reading this again in a couple of years, but for now I will just be pleased that I have completed it once.
I liked the style of the book and the phrasing, but the content was really 50/50 love and hate for me.
Plus, the ending of the book wasn't even an ending at all so I felt heavily unresolved.
Maybe I will try reading this again in a couple of years, but for now I will just be pleased that I have completed it once.
I liked the style of the book and the phrasing, but the content was really 50/50 love and hate for me.
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
emotional
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Bit too flowery and repetitive for my liking. Some bits lulled me into a coma-like state. Too bad, as the actual idea was very intriguing, especially for the time he wrote the book.
I did this book a horrible injustice by reading it beachside in high school the first time around. Four years later, I was thankfully able to revisit the novel and dedicate the proper time, thought and discussion to the dramatic inconsistency and nuanced psychology of Lawrence’s characters in a college literature course earlier this year.
On a slightly irrelevant note, I particularly enjoyed the trained, modernist eye on the two sisters’ unusually colorful wardrobes. The bright tights and mixed patterns of last season seemed to pay homage to Gudrun and Ursula’s unique sense of style:
“Gudrun had a sash of brilliant black and pink and yellow wound broadly round her waist, and she had pink silk stockings, and black and pink and yellow decoration on the brim of her hat weighing it down a little. She carried also a yellow silk coat over her arm, so that she looked remarkable, like a painting from the Salon. Her appearance was a sore trial to her father.”
Can't you picture that concoction walking down a Jean Paul Gaultier runway?
On a slightly irrelevant note, I particularly enjoyed the trained, modernist eye on the two sisters’ unusually colorful wardrobes. The bright tights and mixed patterns of last season seemed to pay homage to Gudrun and Ursula’s unique sense of style:
“Gudrun had a sash of brilliant black and pink and yellow wound broadly round her waist, and she had pink silk stockings, and black and pink and yellow decoration on the brim of her hat weighing it down a little. She carried also a yellow silk coat over her arm, so that she looked remarkable, like a painting from the Salon. Her appearance was a sore trial to her father.”
Can't you picture that concoction walking down a Jean Paul Gaultier runway?