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Title: Sons and Lovers (Modern Library 100 Best Novels) by D. H. Lawrence ISBN: 0-375-75373-7 Publisher: Modern Library Pub. Date: 01 August, 1999 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $10.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.1 (61 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Mothers and Lovers
Comment: A tour de force! Bravo. It is story of Paul Morel who loves his mother more than himself. Mrs. Morel who is married to a ignorant, illiterate coal miner tries to find comfort, solace and love in her sons, first with Walter and when Walter dies unexpectedly, with Paul, the second son. She lives for him, he for her. She is so possessive of him that she objects his involvement with his first love, Miriam. He then goes after, Clara, a married woman. The book revolves around Paul and these three desperate women, who comfort him, torture him and
he scornfully resiprocates. But he is always faithful to his mother , who he adores. I guess we are all like Paul, in some
ways. Miriam is a haunting character who reverberates in the entire book, so innocent, pure, religious, pious and madly in love with Paul. Clara, on the other hand, very rigid, calculating, demanding and yet very vulnerable. In Paul we see callousness, sacrifice, piety, haughtiness, repentance, a bit of Roskolnikov, a young man whose life is torn between a adoring mother and two lovers. In the end his high spirits and intellegence prevail and he conquers his demons.
Rating: 4
Summary: Husbands and Mama's Boys
Comment: This story of the Morel family begins with a dramatic portrayal of the effect industrialization has on human lives. Mr. Morel, a coal miner in turn-of-the-century Britain, lives a life of drudgery, anger and desperation. He takes his frustrations out on his wife Gertrude, while the real source of his unhappiness is his own low self-esteem. Gertrude is embittered by his hardness and so looks to her sons to fill all her emotional needs. This constitutes Part One of the novel, which to this reviewer's taste is the more satisfying section. The detailed descriptions of the arguments and even outright fights between the married couple are as powerful as anything in fiction, and bleakly dramatize how poverty can destroy the very hearts and souls of the working classes. Morel is oppressed by his employer, so he in turn oppresses his wife, who emotionally smothers her sons. Fight the power!
All of which is what makes Part Two such a disappointment. The entire second half of the book revolves around the second son, Paul, and how his closeness to his mother makes it impossible for him to engage in satisfactory relationships with other women. Miriam, the milquetoast who yearns for a transcendent, spiritual love, cares for Paul so much that she lets him walk all over her. The much tougher and independent Clara introduces Paul to a more physically satisfying relationship, but neither of them has any real attachment to the other. The weakness of this second half is not just that it all seems to take far too long; it's that over time, the characters become very unsympathetic. None of them have the strength of will to break away from their failing relationships, despite the fact that these failures cast dark shadows across their lives. And there's certainly nothing tragic about these young people mooning about, complaining that their relationships aren't what they'd like them to be; most especially in the context of Part One, which reminds us that there are people in this world who are really suffering.
Readers who are deeply interested in the internal subtleties of male-female relationships (and this probably includes a majority of young women) will love this book. If the two parts were published separately, this reviewer would unhesitatingly give Part One five stars, while grudgingly giving Part Two three and a half. For Mama's boys (and those who've seriously dated them) this book certainly rates five stars, but others will find these characters so annoying that even four stars may seem generous.
Rating: 5
Summary: Sons and Lovers
Comment: This work by D.H. Lawrence was rated number 9 on the top 100 list, and I think it's a fair rating. Sons and Lovers is a beautifully written and intricately drawn story of a young man. This actually serves as a pseudo autobiography as it mirrors DHL's life rather closely. There is a quality to this work that you do not find in contemporary novels. The characters are developed to an incredible depth and with great skill and precision. You find after reading this book that you feel you know some of the characters better than your neighbors. This is not a book about action or drama, it is about life. The focus here is not on the storyline, but on the people involved in it. As opposed to today's authors, Lawrence uses the storyline to define the character and personality of the participants. I think this book is so well written that it can make you look at your own friends and family and understand how little you really know of them. Many scholars talk about the idea of Lawrence introducing the Oedipal complex, but it's not really what this book is all about. While that psychiatrical phenomenon is a component of this work, the defining quality of this work is really about Lawrence's ability to capture the people in his story as eloquently and with such detail as he has. If you can appreciate good literature, this book is a must read for you.
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Title: Women in Love by D. H. Lawrence ISBN: 0451525914 Publisher: Signet Pub. Date: January, 1995 List Price(USD): $6.95 |
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Title: Lady Chatterley's Lover by D.H. Lawrence ISBN: 0553212621 Publisher: Bantam Pub. Date: 01 November, 1983 List Price(USD): $4.95 |
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Title: The Rainbow by D.H. Lawrence, Keith Cushman ISBN: 0375759654 Publisher: Modern Library Pub. Date: 12 February, 2002 List Price(USD): $9.95 |
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Title: A Portrait of the Artist As a Young Man by James Joyce, Seamus Deane ISBN: 0142437344 Publisher: Penguin USA (Paper) Pub. Date: 25 March, 2003 List Price(USD): $9.00 |
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Title: Darkness at Noon by ARTHUR KOESTLER ISBN: 0553265954 Publisher: Bantam Pub. Date: 01 March, 1984 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
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