Sons and Lovers (1913)

Sons and Lovers by D.H. Lawrence was published a hundred years ago, in 1913. As many see Lawrence as one of the exponents of modernism, the lapse of time of a century allows for a more balanced appreciation, which may show that Lawrence early work still had many characteristics of the traditional novel, so much so that Stella Gibbons also particularly targeted Lawrence in her parody Cold Comfort Farm.

In Sons and Lovers Lawrence explores various sides of human love relationships, particularly in the social setting of the backward rural-industrial proletariat. While apparently Mrs Morel hold her husband, who works as a collier in the mines, in contempt, their bonds of love are at least as strong as their bond of marriage, and the view that Mrs Morel might not love her husband, are the result of the way Paul Morel views that relation.

Paul Morel, the main character in the novel, grows up in poverty. The story of the novel is seen through his eyes. This perspective creates the raw, apparently loveless view of the relationship between his parents, and Paul's relation to his mother gradually takes the form of Paul being his mother's eye-apple while Paul grows up as a protective "mother-lover".

As Paul grows up and benefits from getting an education, under his mother's care he is able to develop his artistic talent as a painter. The education and his talent enable him to literally "open his eyes" and see new possibilities, and other ways of life. This is reflected in the novel's writing which becomes increasingly lyrical and beautiful, as the reader sees the world through Paul's eyes.

Paul's first love is a farm girl whom he has known for a long time. Their relationship evolves out of Miriam's shared love for books, and Paul's admiration for her attempts to learn French. However, when Paul meets the much more emancipated Clara Dawes he passionately falls in love with her. Clara is older than Paul, and has a husband. Baxter Dawes is a lowly character, but very jealous, and he comes after Paul attempting to kill him as they fight. Their struggle is a powerful description of the opposing powers of Baxter's brute and primitive love versus Paul's agility and spiritual love. However, Clara's love for Paul is adulterous, and like the deep and mysterious love that kept Mrs Morel married to her husband, the paradox of love-hate keeps Clara and Baxter together, which means she cannot leave Baxter for Paul. In the meantime, Paul has dropped Miriam. Their separation is described with all the cruelty on Paul's part to create a rough separation, hurting Miriam's feelings deeply to sever their love-relation, while later on Paul attempts to mold their relationship into one of Platonic love. Paul wants Miriam to remain a friend, but not a lover.

At the end of the novel, Paul Morel is alone. His mother has died, and neither of his two lovers, Miriam and Clara, are what he wants. The end of the novel, while dark, shows that Paul is, barely, able to turn away from his background, the love of his mother, and the land, and turn towards the light, moving to the city where a new lifestyle beckons, and, probably, new chances.

Written more than a hundred years ago, Sons and Lovers, a bulky novel, has many characteristics of modern novels, especially a lot of Freudian symbolism. Restored editions give the reader the full sense of the modern character of the novel, and the open, realistic way relationships are described. ( )

This book...

Ugh, I can't really think of enough bad things to say about it.

It was boring. It was insanely sexist. The main character was a selfish jerk with very few redeeming qualities. There was no plot. Women were used as plot devices at best, plot devices that were generally responsible for all the ills in the world. Abusive men were forgiven and the women blamed in their place. The main character used women for mindless sex and then got angry at the women when they didn't want to "belong" to him. In addition, I wasn't overly impressed with the writing style, blah. It was flowery and stupid at some points, while being repetitive and banal in other places.

A terrible, terrible book. ( )

Beautifully-written account of love, the lack of it, motherly love and a son breaking away from home and trying to overcome his upbringing. Extremely human, ever so contemporary. ( )

I did not find this a memorable book ( )

This book seems the forerunner of all endless soap operas. It was torturous.

Granted, the book centers around a permanent state of frustration, both physical and spiritual, but about three quarters through the book, I thought I would have strangled each and every character for their wishy-washiness and ineffectual decisions. If D.H. Lawrence had meant the reader to feel the anger from accumulated sexual frustration by building the story up but avoiding satisfying conclusions again and again, well, he certainly succeeded!

I will credit him for incredible insight into the minds and motives of introverts and his intertwining of the simple beauty of flowers (the birds and the bees, as it were) vs the complexity of self-conscious civilized people trying to connect. However, I think I need something to actually happen to fully enjoy a story. ( )