D. H. Lawrence’s “Women in Love Review

I  just  finished  reading D. H.  Lawrence’s  “Women  in Love.”  I  have  read  the  book  before  and  loved  it  but this time  my  feelings  are  more  muted.  I liked  it  a lot  but  it  was  a hard  read  to get through.  I  don’t  know  what  propelled  me  to read it the first  time  but  maybe  it is  my age(I am fifty-one years  old  now),  but  I don’t recall it being as  difficult to get  through  as  I  did reading it the second  time.

The  story takes  place in the twentieth  century  and  focuses  on the relationship  of  Rupert Birkin,  Ursula, Gudrun,  and Gerald.   Ursula and Gudrun are  sisters  and  Rupert  and Gerald  are good friends.  The one thing I always enjoyed  about  D.H.  Lawrence is that he writes  about love  seriously.  He is  trying to find a  new  way  of talking about love  and  as  someone  who  grew  up reading romance  novels is  intrigued  me  to no  end  and  because  of that I went on to  read  more of his  books.  

As  the story  progresses,  Birkin and Ursula  get  involved and so does Gudrun  and  Gerald.  There  is a lot  of talk about the new order of things in industry and man.  There is a lot of talk of love;  of  what it is and isn’t.   Lawrence’s  talk  about  love is interesting but hard  to grasp  and understand. Although  I  appreciated  his effort.

There  is  a  lot  in Women  In  Love  that  makes  me  recommend it.  The  women  are  a  bit  neurotic  and  fecund  is  the word  of the day  but  it is a classic  that  is worth  reading.  The  writing  in  the book  is  beautiful. There are passages talking  about  nature    will  make  you  want to reread  them.

The opening of  the  book has one of my favorite  openings  in any  book- A bride and groom race to the door  of the  church they are  getting married  in.  Ursula  and  Gudrun are intriguing. They  are school  teachers and Gudrun is also an artist.  They have the intellect,  self  sufficiency,  and  confidence  that  it makes  their  romantic  relationships  interesting.

If you  decide to read “Women In Love”  there are some things  you just  won’t  get  and that is all right  but  the  crux  of the novel is  about love  and how the  industrial  industry  is  changing  man.  The  writing  can  be  seen  as pretentious  but I think  Lawrence  was  really  trying  hard  to  say something unique and  overall he  succeeds.