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3.4 AVERAGE
3.4 AVERAGE
This highly autobiographical book primarily follows Paul, a sensitive boy with artistic tendencies born in a northern English mining town, and his relationships with his mother and two lovers in his youth. It's an earnest and reflective story, with sadness and tenderness for his mother's difficult life, but also how it affected, and stunted, his ability to form romatic relationships. Perhaps my expectations were excessive, as the book is often mentioned in lists of "greatest novels of all time" but I was a bit underwhelmed by this first introduction to DH Lawrence's work. The writing can carry you away at times, but it can also a bit of a tedious slog at others. Part of this might be my own start and stop reading over the last few months, as I've been very busy. Nonetheless, the psychological perspective he unravels is impressively honest in its ability to identify and explore Paul's emotional challenges. In particular, Lawrence is a master of exploring the uncertainties and ambiguities of love from passion and lust to fear of rejection and self-sacrifice, we watch Paul and his partners cycle through them all, sometimes even in the same moment. At some point, I will need to return to DH Lawrence's later work, which is reported to be more 'radical.'
6/10
6/10
challenging
dark
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I think Paul Morel would benefit from knowing about bisexuality, and from a crash course in resisting gender essentialism.
Despite Paul’s grating hatred of women, and his endless struggle to confront this while refusing to name it for what it is, I liked this book. Lawrence constructs place in this novel beautifully and vividly. The pages come to life. There is a mixture of sweeping strokes and minute details that blend together into a incredibly real picture of the landscape. He also populates this defined place with physically present, complex characters. I will say that the sense of place falls apart a bit in the last few chapters, which is a bit confusing. I think there is potentially a reason for that, as it reflects the deterioration of Paul’s sense of belonging, but it didn’t quite feel intentional enough to work for this purpose.
Everyone in this novel hurts others, Paul somehow more than anyone else. It is not always intentional, but it is painful to read all the same. I read this as a reflection of the effects of class differences and gender essentialism. Paul feels burdened by his confusion over his place in the world. He inherits generational struggles against the gender binary from his parents (more specifically his mother and her disappointment around men). This leads to a hatred of himself, and a hatred of women which he attributes his cruelty towards his lovers to. The characters seem to believe more strict gender roles would relieve this issues, while I would disagree. Obviously this is a product of an earlier time, and an interesting perspective to contrast to with my modern queer interpretation of gender and its role in society.
Despite Paul’s grating hatred of women, and his endless struggle to confront this while refusing to name it for what it is, I liked this book. Lawrence constructs place in this novel beautifully and vividly. The pages come to life. There is a mixture of sweeping strokes and minute details that blend together into a incredibly real picture of the landscape. He also populates this defined place with physically present, complex characters. I will say that the sense of place falls apart a bit in the last few chapters, which is a bit confusing. I think there is potentially a reason for that, as it reflects the deterioration of Paul’s sense of belonging, but it didn’t quite feel intentional enough to work for this purpose.
Everyone in this novel hurts others, Paul somehow more than anyone else. It is not always intentional, but it is painful to read all the same. I read this as a reflection of the effects of class differences and gender essentialism. Paul feels burdened by his confusion over his place in the world. He inherits generational struggles against the gender binary from his parents (more specifically his mother and her disappointment around men). This leads to a hatred of himself, and a hatred of women which he attributes his cruelty towards his lovers to. The characters seem to believe more strict gender roles would relieve this issues, while I would disagree. Obviously this is a product of an earlier time, and an interesting perspective to contrast to with my modern queer interpretation of gender and its role in society.
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I am a great lover of the classics, and remembered reading Lady Chatterly's Lover with a lot of pleasure. This book is just boring, and has not aged into the timeless category. I remember reading the author describe a particular character and thinking, ah, this is a real woman he was in love with. Interesting, and a little weird, but it really does not make for good reading. There is no reason to read this book unless it is on an academic reading list.
I can see why it was controversial at the time but overall I wasn't impressed.
The ending of this book really pissed me off. Waiting for a story about redemption that never happened. Still, the writing was beautiful and the story line was quite scandalous for a classic.
This was my first (unsuccessful) attempt to co-read a book with a friend. It was doomed to failure, mostly because I was disinterested with this novel. I've no great love for Lawrence, though I find certain aspects of his work casually interesting.
reflective
sad
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