Reading Time! at The Ugly Frog (tm)

My Thoughts on "Women in Love" by DH Lawrence!

My Thoughts on "Women in Love" by DH Lawrence; as published by Penguin Twentieth Century Classics

Hello Froggies, I am currently reading "Women in Love" by DH Lawrence. This is yet another in the quest to clear my TBR shelf of his books this year. I have read already of his in the past: Lady Chatterly's Lover which was a naughty book. . . naughty naughty naughty Lady Chatterly . . . Recently, this year I have read "The White Peacock" and "The Rainbow." I believe I have already read Fathers and Sons (however, for some reason it is not on my complete list, and I am hoping that I did not misplace one of my commonplace journals that is on the to do list to find out if I have). . . If I have read it which I'm 99.9% sure I have, then I only have a couple anthologies of short stories to go to complete my task. Anyways, that was a digression. However, a missing journal is really bothering me if so! Wouldn't it bother you? haha. . .

Anyway, you can read my thoughts on "The Rainbow" now because this book is the sequel to that one. Carrying on with the lives of two of the girls in that book Ursula and Gudrun who at the start of this book are in their 20s and both single. At the time of writing up this, I am to page 187 in it. The end page is number 583, so still quite a way to go in this one. Like "The Rainbow" it is enjoyable. The book is an interesting work on the courting process or dating process like rainbow was and it is well done was to the relationships between the various characters. The interactions are interesting and done well. I like that there are some discussions in there about society generally at the time as it relates to distinctions between the sexes and class distinctions. It is an enjoyable and easy read really (for those who are intimidated by classics for whatever reason). . .

Reading continues. Next up I will be reading Mark Twain's "A Tramp Abroad" (Penguin Classics).

A quote from "Women in Love" for your enjoyment:

"After all, what is mankind but just one expression of the incomprehensible. And if mankind passes away, it will only mean that this particular expression is completed and done. . . . There will be a new embodiment, in a new way." (p111).

How do you feel about that lack of concern if mankind gets wiped out?

14 April 2024 Update. Hello Froggies! I am still working my way through "Women in Love." I only have about 70 pages to go as of the typing of this update (although the day ain't over yet, right). The book is very enjoyable as far as the adventures of Ursula and Gudrun, carrying on from "The Rainbow." The book in part is a discussion / exploration of alternative marriage ideas and ways. I enjoyed that debate which stems from Ursula and the one she is matched up with. The book really is a good exploration of relationships and their development and all the little things that go into and affect it: including: ideas of relationships, the degree to which one might lose their individuality in a relationship, jealousies, frustrations, ebbing and flowing. Those apsects are really what this book is about as it contrasts Gudrun and who she is matched up with and Ursula, her sister, and who she is matched up with.

DH Lawrence Books

Questions for Thought / Discussion:

* If you eat oysters, do you ever drink Brandy with them? Why or why not? That's a whimsical question.

* Is anything really purely by accident or does everything have some significance in the universe's workings?

* Would you rather be "the swan among geese" or "the artistic creation of ordinariness" ? haha. . I love that latter description he used. (p102)

* "What do you live for?" (p107)

* How do you feel about black beetles?

* What is a song that is "fixed in eternity" for you? (p513).

* Do you want a relationship like your parents have/had?

* Are Opal rings really bad luck?

* What are three cures for Ennui? (one of my favorite words by the way).