Sons and Lovers
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Review
The jaunty miner who proud Mrs Morel married has become a boorish drunk, so she devotes herself to her sons, particularly Paul. The suppressed sexuality of this intense relationship prevents Paul from choosing a wife. The mute yearning of the dark and brooding Miriam eventually repels him, nor can he give himself wholly to the over-demanding Clara. The cloying love between mother and son borders on the repellent, but the sympathetic narration rescues it, making the web of emotions startlingly real. The narrator is a Nottingham man and his presentation of the dialect is skilful. Mr Morel gains in humanity, emerging as emotionally wounded as his wife. --Rachel Redford
Slack s reading of Lawrence s classic novel portrays, with clarity, the class differences between Walter Morel and his wife, Gertrude, in the tough world of coal mining. Gertrude s middle-class background and her husband s working-class origins are clearly indicated in Slack s varied accents and tones. But it is the mother s relationship with her children, especially William, the eldest, and Paul, after William s death, that is most lyrically and elegiacally relayed. Slack s rendering of Paul s obsessions and preoccupations is sympathetically handled. Gertrude s aloofness is icily portrayed. Walter, despite his drunkenness and coarseness, seems far more sympathetic in audio. Paul s relationship with Miriam Leivers is pivotal, and the tensions that their relationship causes between Gertrude and her favorite son are central to the story. Slack underscores her maternal jealousy, showing it in sharp contrast to Gertrude s cold manner with her husband. Lawrence s central themes are heightened through the marvelous British-laced reading. --Mary McCay, Booklist
Slack s reading of Lawrence s classic novel portrays, with clarity, the class differences between Walter Morel and his wife, Gertrude, in the tough world of coal mining. Gertrude s middle-class background and her husband s working-class origins are clearly indicated in Slack s varied accents and tones. But it is the mother s relationship with her children, especially William, the eldest, and Paul, after William s death, that is most lyrically and elegiacally relayed. Slack s rendering of Paul s obsessions and preoccupations is sympathetically handled. Gertrude s aloofness is icily portrayed. Walter, despite his drunkenness and coarseness, seems far more sympathetic in audio. Paul s relationship with Miriam Leivers is pivotal, and the tensions that their relationship causes between Gertrude and her favorite son are central to the story. Slack underscores her maternal jealousy, showing it in sharp contrast to Gertrude s cold manner with her husband. Lawrence s central themes are heightened through the marvelous British-laced reading. --Mary McCay, Booklist
Book Description
Set in 1900s, this is a lushly descriptive and highly autobiographical portrayal of a young man growing up in class-divided Nottingham
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Audio Edition by Paul Slack Is Brilliant,
By Angus Jenkinson "angusjenkinson" (Cambridgeshire, England) - See all my reviews (VINE VOICE) (TOP 1000 REVIEWER) (REAL NAME)
This review is from: Sons and Lovers (Classic Fiction) (Audio CD)
This is of course the masterwork by one of the great influential writers of the 20th century. It's autobiographical content is not only an explanation of the evolving souls of its characters, the Morel family and those they love, but a brilliant evocation of life in a working-class mining town and the struggle to escape such roots. It's one of those must read texts!Or rather, in the audio edition, it's become a must-listen text. Paul Slack, a former RSC actor and now the principal voice of Lawrence through his one-man touring production, Phoenix Rising, gives a virtuoso reading performance during which he brings to life the characters in all their rich vernacular and character. Normally, I'd prefer a book over an audio version unless I wanted something to listen to while driving, but this is such a fine rendering they did add significant value to the original book, particularly as the accent, indeed patois of the mining village is so important to the quality of the novel and its dialogue.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Sons & Lovers by D H Lawrence,
By iandliz (Dubai, UAE) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Sons and Lovers (Kindle Edition)
This book begins with the story of Gertrude, a well educated girl with a passion for books and the arts who falls in love with and marries a charming and dashing coal miner, Morel. Once the initial passion wears off she finds herself unhappily married to someone with whom she has little in common. Her husband also loses his spark and becomes distant, aloof and somewhat cruel and violent towards his family. Stuck in a dull and loveless marriage, Gertrude pours her love on her three sons, living out her hopes and dreams through them.Following the loss of her eldest son, the attention of the story turns to the middle son, Paul, and his conflicting relationships with the women in his life. Paul is a gifted artist who shares his mother's love for culture and the beauty of nature. He meets a girl, Miriam who is his intellectual soul-mate and the two of them make an ideal match. However, Gertrude sees Miriam as a threat and Paul is torn between the two of them, ultimately choosing his mother. He then embarks on an affair with Clara, an older woman separated from her husband. Clara and Gertrude get on well and there is no conflict. Clara's loyalty remains with her estranged husband throughout the affair and she is no threat to the mother-son relationship. I found this book difficult and it took a long time to read. It jumps around a great deal and repeats the same thought processes and concepts ad nauseum. I also felt it was not that well written and could perhaps have done with some decent editing (can I say that about DH Lawrence?). I mean, how many times did Miriam's pupils dilate?! There again, there is so much to think about and talk about with this novel that perhaps it isn't the reading of it that makes it great, rather the analysis that goes alongside it. Furthermore, it is semi-autobiographical with Gertrude representing Lawrence's own mother and Paul being based on Lawrence himself, making it an important piece of literature. I felt the book was somewhat feminist in outlook and ahead of its time. It is set in the early 20th century just before the ourbreak of world war one and when the suffragettes were battling for women's rights and the vote. Lawrence seems to sympathise with the frustrations that intelligent women faced, being expected to stay at home and raise a family whilst men were free to pursue their dreams. That is why Gertrude Morel looked to her sons to go out in the world and make something of themselves though her jealousy of the women in her sons lives held them back. In the end it is only after the death of Gertrude that Paul can be free to choose his own destiny. Is he so dependent on his mother's love that he follows her to the grave or can he choose to live without her?
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Sons and mothers,
By Archy (ALTRINCHAM, Cheshire United Kingdom) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Sons and Lovers (Wordsworth Classics) (Paperback)
I enjoyed the first part very much, and was expecting this to be a 4 or 5 star read, having recently enjoyed Lady Chatterly. The study of the struggling mining family was excellent. But as the second part went on, I found myself getting more and more bored. Irritated, too, with the endless analysis of the main character's relationships with his girlfriend (who isn't really his girlfriend) and his mother (which could be summed up as 'peculiar'). On and on it went, and I do feel sorry for any student who had this foisted on them.There are also a number of continuity and consistency issues that puzzled me; in the first part, the father is taken into hospital with what the reader is given to believe is a very serious leg injury sustained in the mine. But there's no resolution to this - a few chapters later he's back at home and the incident is never mentioned! Then there is Paul's birthday - the author tells us twice that he's twenty three, only for him to celebrate his twenty third birthday two chapters later. The relationship with the father in the second half differs radically from that in the first; the hatred of the sons has turned to indifference, while the mother seems to have accepted him and his behaviour. I suspect this wasn't written as a novel at all, but just as a series of character studies and exercises in writing that were cobbled together. Or maybe it's because it's an early novel. Certainly Lady Chatterly is far superior; this has me wondering whether to try another Lawrence or not.
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