She begins to shrink from his lack of fine feeling and drunkenness. Morel, baffled and thwarted, is sometimes violent, while Mrs Morel turns all her love towards her four children, particularly her two eldest sons, William and Paul.
William goes to London to work as a clerk, and Paul also gets a job as a clerk with Mr Jordan, manufacturer of surgical appliances; William develops pneumonia and dies. Mrs Morel, numbed by despair, is roused only when Paul also falls ill. She nurses him back to health, and subsequently their attachment deepens. Paul is friendly with the Leivers family of Willey Farm, and a tenderness grows between him and the daughter Miriam, a soulful, shy girl. Mrs Morel fears that Miriam will exclude her and tries to break up their relationship, while Paul, himself sickened at heart by Miriam's romantic love and fear of physical warmth, turns away and becomes involved with Clara Dawes, a married woman, separated from her husband Baxter, and a supporter of women's rights.
Paul is made an overseer at the factory and he now begins to be noticed as a painter and designer. Clara returns to her husband. Meanwhile Mrs Morel is ill with cancer. At last, unable to bear her suffering, Paul and his sister Annie put an overdose of morphia in her milk. Lawrence — writer. The inconspicuous rearranging of words and sentence structuring here and there. Me like. View all 25 comments. Its rich earth ripened buds of promise into irresistible blooms of vibrant delicacy.
But reading this at the end of the year, I felt more like I'd been dragged through barren mud. It quickly becomes an unhappy marriage he drinks and loses money , but several children are born, and she strives to raise them up , rather than merely raise them.
Once they are grown, and the eldest son, William, is out of the picture, the story is mainly about Paul and specifically how he is torn between love for his mother and for two women mind versus body? Mrs Morel likes one and dislikes the other. I have no expertise in psychiatry, but almost everyone in this story needs help, Paul most of all. It became increasingly frustrating to read.
Confusion of love and hate; love for a parent or child versus love for a partner; love versus duty; and the difference between platonic friendship, chaste intimacy, and sensual, sexual love. All are exacerbated by endless indecision and, in many cases, by obliviousness to the feelings of others. My friend Apatt pointed out in his review that there is more to Walter Morel than just being drunk and abusing his wife and kids, yet I initially forgot to mention that in mine.
Walter's portrayal is nicely nuanced, though not in initial drafts DHL changed it to be fairer to his father.
The finished version is more credible, and makes the story more balanced. But he's as easily left out of a reader's mind as his children's. An agonising death, drawn out in painful detail, over many months, is all the more acute and momentous because of the conflicted and unbalanced relationships of those affected. The Oedipal overtones become uncomfortably strong and frequent.
Paul is a shy and delicate child, and mother and son are very close, sharing almost everything about their lives. More generally, I came to wonder if "hate" meant something different and weaker to Lawrence.
Every couple relationship here - without exception - has love or mere attraction permanently tainted with hate. Not hate after the love has gone, but allegedly co-existing with it.
Even when the hate is temporarily subdued, attraction is strongest when rebuffed. I know that people get angry, and love can be messy and conflicted, but constant hate is not a feature of love I have known, or want to know. But it never came again. This was first published in , but I did wonder if Lawrence was referencing the symbolism of Victorian Flower Language, especially in a passage with repeated and specific mention of chrysanthemums: seen out of a window, in a bowl on the table, then walking among them, choosing favourites.
They were associated with platonic friendship and lost love. They also bloom in autumn or early winter thanks, Alfred : late bloomers, like Paul and, to a lesser extent, Miriam. However, on another occasion, there is a great crop of cherries at a potentially pertinent time. Clara thinks differently about many things. It is the spirit you pluck them in that matters. Nature and Landscape Quotes Hidden for brevity; no plot spoilers.
The night was very large, and very strange, stretching its hoary distances infinitely. That seems dead to me. Only this shimmeriness is the real living.
The shape is a dead crust. The shimmer is inside really. It was wild and tussocky, given over to rabbits. Mrs Morel watched the sun sink from the glistening sky, leaving a soft flower-blue overhead, while the western space went red, as if all the fire had swum down there… It was one of those still moments when the small frets vanish, and the beauty of things stands out.
Gold flamed to scarlet, like pain in its intense brightness. Then the scarlet sank to rose, and rose to crimson, and quickly the passion went out of the sky. Gold flamed to scarlet, like pain in its intense brightness… and quickly the passion went out of the sky. Quickly the fire spread among the clouds and scattered them… In a golden glitter the sun came up, dribbling fierily over the waves in little splashes, as if someone had gone along and the light had spilled from her pail as she walked.
And yet, till he had seen it, she felt it had not come into her soul. Only he could make it her own, immortal. It was her restoration and recognition. To know their own nothingness, to know the tremendous living flood which carried them. They were scarcely any nearer each other. The warmth, the security and peace of soul, the utter comfort from the touch of the other, knits the sleep, so that it takes the body and soul completely in its healing.
View all 58 comments. Apr 27, Duane rated it really liked it Shelves: english-calssics , rated-books , reviewed-books , guardian Generally considered Lawrence's masterpiece, it is ranked 9th on the Modern Library best books of the 20th century. The story of Paul Morel and his brothers and the influence of the women in their lives, especially of their mother. I think the age old theme of men trying to find a wife or lover in the metaphorical image of their mother is present in all of Lawrence's novels, but more so in Son and Lover's than any other.
It is beautifully written and the characters are well developed and ver Generally considered Lawrence's masterpiece, it is ranked 9th on the Modern Library best books of the 20th century. It is beautifully written and the characters are well developed and very memorable. Overall, it's my favorite Lawrence novel.
View all 3 comments. How do you surrender all your passion to a lover while leaving some for the woman who gave birth to you, reared you, and loved you? Should a man give greater love to his mother or his lover? How do you achieve balance between the women in your life? It is a fragile pendulum that slowly cracks and inevitably breaks. In him was established her life now. After all, the life beyond offered very little to Mrs. She saw that our chance for doing is here, and doing counted with her.
Paul was going to prove that she had been right; he was going to make a man whom nothing should shift off his feet; he was going to alter the face of the earth in some way which mattered.
Wherever he went she felt her soul went with him. Whatever he did she felt her soul stood by him, ready, as it were, to hand him his tools. She could not bear it when he was with Miriam. She would fight to keep Paul. I do not know whether or not this is true, but if it is, this primal instinct is the definitive sign of the maternal clutch that holds us so, that a man never truly leaves his mother, that a wife is, in a way, only her substitute.
Much in the same light that a woman would look for qualities of her father in a partner, this shows the strong influence of the family unit in our romantic compass. At the same time, it can also be seen as a deeply embedded desire for harmony between the abandoned family and the newly established one. But these are all just conjectures. It is often the case that a man would leave his mother for his wife, and forget about her altogether. But should that be how they are treated when their love for you is much more than a lover can ever give you?
And if you do satisfy them, what then is left for you? The novel starts with a wife and a husband. Gertrude Morel, the wife, the mother, I believe, is one of the greatest female figures in literature. Her fortitude despite a slovenly, drunken husband and her defiance towards him is an impressive feat in itself.
Her unfailing love and devotion to her children makes her a champion greater than any female-lover character. Granted, there may be flaws in her character, yet her wisdom, her strength and her abiding maternal love makes these flaws insignificant. The story starts off with the difficulties and relationships of the family, then morphs into focus the second son, Paul, and his relationship with his mother and, later on, his lovers. It scrutinizes how he traverses the tightrope between his love for the woman who brought her into this world, and the women who make his world go round.
These two women give face to the different sides of loving. Miriam, a friend since childhood, embodies the deep love that pierces the soul and being. They understand each other perfectly, soulmates, as they call it. She loves Paul to the very core, yet no passion arises in her. She considers love-making as something she must endure because she loves him, herself a sacrifice. Clara, on the other hand, is the very flame of passion. A beautiful older woman, her affair with Paul is one of desire and physicality.
Her love is that of a wild carnal storm that reduces both into total abandonment. Yet they are two very different beings only united by an animal need, and nothing deep takes hold. They give Paul two different things, but none of them ever truly takes his heart. He was always keenly aware of their poor standing in life.
And as a young man he developed an existential crisis that made him unable to really love another woman. It was as if his deep love for his mother exhausted all his reserve, and made him empty. His life was grounded on his mother, as she had grounded her life on him.
So when the inevitable happened, he was shattered. He gave away all, pouring between his mother and his lovers that none was left for him. His melancholy character enabled him to empty himself, to abandon his preservation. He forgot that before one can be a son or a lover, one should be a man. Before one can be a daughter or a partner, one should be a woman.
As such one should always remember that you must also hold enough love for yourself, to rationally love another. Otherwise the love consumes and is foolish. Lawrence throws a pebble into the sea, not to see it hit the water, but only to feel the freedom of its release.
He would not take that direction, to the darkness, to follow her. Go forward. View all 14 comments. Mama I'm comin' home. Lawrence, one of my personal favorites, seems to have told a tale no truer than his largely autobiographical Sons and Lovers.
While all the primary characters have some major defect of character, I felt the most pity for the protagonist Paul Morel a real mama's boy and Miriam his chi Being Smothered by Controlling Mother Domineering Mommy Coal Mining Son "You made me cry, you told me lies But I can't stand to say goodbye. While all the primary characters have some major defect of character, I felt the most pity for the protagonist Paul Morel a real mama's boy and Miriam his childhood semi-sweetheart.
Mama Morel didn't as much dislike Miriam as she did the idea that she would lose control over Paul. And there I will die smothered. View 2 comments. Jun 14, Amalia Gkavea rated it really liked it Shelves: s , 20th-century , classics , nottinghamshire , british-literature , britain , england , united-kingdom. Stars and sun, a few bright grains, went spiraling round for terror, and holding each other in embrace, there in a darkness that outpassed them all, and left them tiny and daunted.
So much, and himself, infinitesimal, at the core of nothingness, and yet not nothing. Oct 05, Apatt rated it it was amazing Shelves: fave-classics. I had no idea what to expect of Sons and Lovers as I went in.
I had no idea what the book is about, presumably multiple sons and more than one lovers are involved. With the public domain books just knowing that it is a classic is usually enough. I also had no expectation of D. Lawrence, I knew he is the author of Lady Chatterley's Lover , which I have a vague impression of being some kind of Edwardian porn though it probably isn't.
Diving in with no expectation is often fun and rewarding. The I had no idea what to expect of Sons and Lovers as I went in.
The first impression I had while reading the first chapter is that Sons and Lovers is some kind of misery-fest of Thomas Hardy proportions. The novel is centered on a seemingly dysfunctional family, the Morels. The father, Walter Morel, is a good for nothing drunkard. That is nice for her, but their frequent arguments and fights do not make for a very peaceful household. I read the early part of the book with morbid fascination, guessing it is going to be just a family drama.
However, as I read on beyond the first couple of chapters I began to get the impression that these characters seem very real and believable. There is more to Walter Morel than just being drunk and abusing his wife and kids.
Sometime he regrets his behavior, sometime he is nice to his children. Like most human beings he has more than just one facet to his personality; he is still a lousy husband and father though.
Sons and Lovers spans about two decades, as the Morel children grow up, the second child, Paul Morel, becomes the central character. This is where the novel reverberates hard with me. I have a similarly close relationship with my dear old mother and, like Paul, I fret when she is ill. There is a scene of Paul and his mom spending an afternoon together when nothing significant happens, this scene is a thing of beauty as the book suddenly sparkles with happiness.
Once you get to the point where the characters seem like real people and you feel invested in their lives and wellbeing you don't even need a plot to hold your interest. This is just as well because Paul Morel vacillates such a lot between two girls Miriam and Clara, with both of whom he has an awfully discordant relationship.
Gertrude Morel, that is the glue that holds the Morel family, and indeed the entire novel, together. I finished Sons and Lovers almost with regret as I have to take leave of these characters I have been observing for the past couple of weeks. I read the audiobook of Sons and Lovers from Librivox. Wonderfully read by Tony Foster.
Thank you. View all 9 comments. Mar 08, Khush rated it it was amazing. It is a story of a young man who is a budding writer. One sees the poet in him. He is sensitive, forlorn and deeply contemplative. He possesses all the mythic features we often assign to artists. We see him discussing books with his girlfriend, his delight at getting published and earning a little money.
This aspect of his life, without his other difficulties, might be of supreme interest for those who harbor the same sort of ambition. Thi 'Sons and Lovers' is an excellent book on several fronts. This young man is Paul who is extremely attached to his mother. His mother marries Walter Morel, socially her inferior, and later comes to regret her decision. Her oldest son dies young, and now she has nothing to hold onto in her life except Paul, her youngest son.
She focuses all her attention on him. As Paul grows up, he begins to see girls. First, he meets Miriam who, like Paul, has a refined sensibility. They meet often and establish a good rapport. Although they share a great friendship, there is no passion in their relationship. To aggravate this relationship further comes in Paul's mother. She resents Miriam and thinks of her as 'deep', someone who can take her son away from her.
She fears that Miriam seeks to possess her son's soul. Having lost so much in life, she makes sure that nobody comes between her and Paul. Paul meets another girl Clara. With her, there is no spiritual connection, his relationship with her pivots only on passion, and therefore, it begins to crack as soon as it started.
Paul's mother feels less threatened by her, though. One can imagine how a sensitive boy like Paul might have suffered in the web of these powerful forces, each pulling him in a certain direction — and tearing him apart.
What is so impressive about the book is that it captures the tensions and inner turmoil that this young boy grapples with. Lawrence goes very deep in portraying Paul and making him so credible. All his inner thoughts in relation to his mother, his violent father, his two girlfriends, his budding writing career are drawn with extreme care, love, and formidable talent. In addition, the tension that exists between his mother and him is dealt with so powerfully that as a reader I was absolutely lost in the queer vortex of their world.
Who can repeat what Lawrence has achieved in bringing to the page what is so often lived by millions, but so rarely understood and discussed. As I think more about Paul, I feel that there is something about him we do not know.
Lawrence probably leaves that for us to figure it out. For instance, Paul's failure with two girls; his overwhelming and complicated relationship with his mother. Most of the time, ordinary people get over whatever close attachments they have with their parents — sibling or friends — once they have a close, intimate, passionate encounter with the 'right other.
Towards the end, his mother dies. He walks toward the lights, toward the city; Miriam and Clara, now, belong to another time and place. One can only guess what his walk toward the city meant. What is it that he could not find in spiritually inclined Miriam and sexually daring Clara? One keeps wondering. Even though a perceptive reader knows Paul very early in the book, he can feel Paul's deep desires and understand his profound melancholy.
Since he looks for satisfaction in wrong places or rather forced to do so considering the times he lived in , this brings pain, suffering and long spells of sadness in his life and in the lives of those who are attached to him. Jun 12, Amit Mishra rated it really liked it. The novel is largely autobiographical and reflects Lawrence's life at Eastwood, Nottinghamshire before he left home.
May 05, Lena rated it liked it. Psychological drama about a man who's relationship with women are complicated by his intimacy with his mother. Uneventful but with deepest description of various human emotions, traumas and difficulties of love and passion Psychological drama about a man who's relationship with women are complicated by his intimacy with his mother.
Uneventful but with deepest description of various human emotions, traumas and difficulties of love and passion Nov 02, Chrissie rated it did not like it Shelves: audible , bio , relationships , love , classics , read , england , returned , disliked , life-stages. I read books for pleasure. I enjoy learning something new and thinking about human relationships.
Real human relationships, not those of the fantastical sort. I want to have something to ponder. In addition I want writing that describes places, people and situations well. I learned nothing new from this book. The human relationships as described herein are not true to life. Maybe members of the Bloomsbury Group, of which D. Lawrence was one, did in fact communicated with each other with extre I read books for pleasure. Lawrence was one, did in fact communicated with each other with extremely nasty remarks, but the manner in which the characters in this book respond to each other is beyond acceptable.
The dialogs are unimaginable, totally bizarre. If members of the group did speak this negatively, well it just means the book is terribly dated. Page after page of mean criticisms is not something I can enjoy.
This book is extremely hard to read. There isn't a line of humor. Nothing at all to smile about. You move from dysfunctional family relationships to discordant couples to death and sorrow and indecision.
You creep forward at the pace of a snail. Watching the death of a loved one is movingly described. I have not told you who will die. The descriptions of body, landscapes and some situations are well done. Emotions less so. Someone should count how many times the word hate is used in this book. Sure, a person's emotions can quickly flip between love and hate, but the excessive expression of extreme emotions is used so flippantly that the power of such emotions comes to mean nothing.
They lose their value. If you are wondering — there is no graphic sex in this book. The central theme? Love relationships. Between couples and between parents and children. Is there a message? Yes, let your children go. Mothers, don't keep them too tightly tied to your apron strings. A secondary theme: the restraints of the Victorian age on women. These are the topics the book will leave you thinking about…. That was meant to be a joke. OK, I used to love Simon Vance as an audiobook narrator.
He cannot. In a dialog he switches between a female and a male voice. There are different men and there are different women. Dec 06, ISBN Add to Cart.
Buy from Other Retailers:. Paperback —. About Sons and Lovers D. Also by D. About D. Lawrence The son of a miner, the prolific novelist, poet, and travel writer David Herbert Lawrence was born in Eastwood, Nottinghamshire, in Product Details.
Inspired by Your Browsing History. Ivan Turgenev. The Pendragon Legend. The Whole Story and Other Stories. The Coup. The Alienist. Machado De Assis. Georges Simenon. Wish Her Safe At Home.
Stephen Benatar. The Spectre of Alexander Wolf. Gaito Gazdanov. Strawberry Fields. Marina Lewycka. Mendocino and Other Stories. Philip Roth at A Celebration. Philip Roth.
0コメント