Sons and Lovers

D H Lawrence — 2012

'"She was a brazen hussy." "She wasn't. - And she was pretty, wasn't she?" "I didn't look ... And tell your girls, my son, that when they're running after you, they're not to come and ask your mother for you - tell them that - brazen baggages you meet at dancing classes"' The marriage of Gertrude and Walter Morel has become a battleground. Repelled by her uneducated and sometimes violent husband, delicate Gertrude devotes her life to her children, especially to her sons, William and Paul - determined they will not follow their father into working down the coal mines. But conflict is evitable when Paul seeks to escape his mother's suffocating grasp through relationships with women his own age. Set in Lawrence's native Nottinghamshire, Sons and Lovers is a highly autobiographical and compelling portrayal of childhood, adolescence and the clash of generations. The Penguin English Library - 100 editions of the best fiction in English, from the eighteenth century and the very first novels to the beginning of the First World War.

Reviews

Clay Carey@clayclay

Jul 24, 2024

I know this is a decisive book but it was just perfect to me. The projection and insecurity and attachment feels so genuine

Jeni Enjaian@jenienjaian

Oct 30, 2021

I really did not enjoy this book at all. When I first started reading I thought that I might but it quickly devolved. Here are the complaints/critiques that I have about the book in no particular order. 1. For such a long book, Lawrence achieves very little depth. 2. The marriage briefly and shallowly described (the parents) is stereotypical Irish. I know that this book is supposed to be semi-autobiographical but this fact still rubbed me the wrong way. 3. Each character's motivations for his actions even when stated felt obscured and never truly explained. 4. The constant back and forth that continued through over two hundred pages between characters such as Paul and Miriam drove me absolutely nuts. I kept wanting to scream at them to make up their mind or at the very least put some conviction behind their actions. 5. Speaking of relationships, the relationship between Paul and his mother, especially as described at certain points late in the book, was creepy. It grossed me out really and made very little sense in the context of the book at that point. 6. Nothing in the book felt concrete or remotely normal. 7. The narrative is eminently readable but I found no reason to read it beyond a desire to read through the classics.