{"id":184,"date":"2015-07-27T16:15:28","date_gmt":"2015-07-27T16:15:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wentest\/?p=184"},"modified":"2016-08-31T23:42:53","modified_gmt":"2016-08-31T22:42:53","slug":"the-page-turners","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=184","title":{"rendered":"Sons & Lovers"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tby DH Lawrence<\/strong><\/em><\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tIn between newer books, Barry Library often select classics for us, which are always received with mixed feelings. Those of us who had not read them before, are glad of a 2nd chance. Those who HAVE read them before, find their impressions now, with the maturity of years, and from a different era, are quite different from their teenage years.\n<\/p>\n

\n\tAll of us agreed that the book was very well written, with excellent descriptions of the landscape, scenery, flowers, and the hardship of the times, but we felt the characters were not as successfully depicted. The mother of the family was a very strong character, from a cultured, affluent family, who had "married beneath her", and her husband soon felt inferior and inadequate. He took refuge in alcohol to bolster his ego, and, his aggression fuelled by drink, was cruel to his sons. They in turn despised him but worshipped their mother, and her relationship with all her sons, was so unnaturally strong as to be almost incestuous.\n<\/p>\n

\n\tWilliam was adored and seen to be his mother's favourite, and Paul, the main character was attracted to 2 ladies, Clara and Miriam. His mother disapproved of both, and did not think them "suitable". Paul also seemed to find them unsatisfactory, yet could not allow either out of his life, or search for someone else. We found endless descriptions of long conversations, and thoughts, about these ladies were tedious and frustrating, and never seemed to lead anywhere.\n<\/p>\n

\n\tWhen the immensely strong matriarch eventually fell ill, the balance of power shifted, and the long, slow lingering death was very well portrayed. The painful end, after she was helped by Paul to take an overdose of morphine was quite horrific.\n<\/p>\n

\n\tWe found it difficult to mark this book out of 10, as is our custom. It was VERY well-written, and the graphic detail of the tedium of poverty, cruelty, really hard work, long hours, and repression, underlined the comfort and ease of our lives in the last half of the 20th century. But the book's content had no "feel good" factor at all, and was in fact quite depressing. So our enjoyment was much less than our acknowledgement of Lawrence's craftsmanship. (A few of us wondered why the book is no longer part of the A Level Syllabus.) So the overall score was a healthy 7.5 – but with a "spinach warning"! (Good for us but not enjoyable!).\n<\/p>\n

\n\tThis was totally unlike the scrumptious feast of homegrown Welsh strawberries and cream, and delicious cakes, provided by our hostess that evening – Thank You, Babs, you're a hard act to follow!\n<\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by DH Lawrence In between newer books, Barry Library often select classics for us, which are always received with mixed feelings. Those of us who had not read them before, are glad of a 2nd chance. Those who HAVE read them before, find their impressions now, with the maturity of years, and from a different era, are quite different from […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[41],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6cWjO-2Y","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":11597,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=11597","url_meta":{"origin":184,"position":0},"title":"Life in the Shadow of the Crown","author":"Alan Williams","date":"6th May 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"OFF THE SHELF \u00a0 Lady in Waiting: My Extraordinary Life in the Shadow of the Crown by Anne Glenconner This month\u2019s book was Lady in Waiting: My Extraordinary Life in the Shadow of the Crown by Anne Glenconner This memoir was written in 2019 at the age of 87 by\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Off The Shelf"","block_context":{"text":"Off The Shelf","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=347"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/glenconner.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":14261,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=14261","url_meta":{"origin":184,"position":1},"title":"“Memphis” by Tara Stringfellow","author":"Alan Williams","date":"16th May 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"\"Memphis\" by Tara Stringfellow This is Tara Stringfellow\u2019s debut novel; she is a former attorney and known for published poetry and prose and her love and use of language is displayed throughout the novel. The story follows four strong women over three generations and is based around the family home\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Wenvoe Page Turners"","block_context":{"text":"Wenvoe Page Turners","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=41"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":9635,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=9635","url_meta":{"origin":184,"position":2},"title":"Sons of the Desert","author":"Alan Williams","date":"6th May 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"THAT'S ANOTHER FINE MESS STANLEY While on a visit to the Tourist Office in Ulverston which is in Cumbria, we came across a statue of Laurel and Hardy. This comedy pair were well known in the silent film era and went on to make many 'talkies'. I have seen many\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General Interest Articles"","block_context":{"text":"General Interest Articles","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=334"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Picture6.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":15404,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=15404","url_meta":{"origin":184,"position":3},"title":"The National Trust","author":"Alan Williams","date":"29th April 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"THE NATIONAL TRUST Many readers of Wenvoe What\u2019s On will be members of the National Trust, one of the great institutions of the United Kingdom, or they will know something about it. The National Trust was founded in 1895 by Octavia Hill, Sir Robert Hunter, and Hardwicke Rawnsley. These visionaries\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "New Items for May 2025"","block_context":{"text":"New Items for May 2025","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=421"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Picture1-1.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3877,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=3877","url_meta":{"origin":184,"position":4},"title":"Mad World – Gun Control","author":"Alan Williams","date":"30th October 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Mad World I have witnessed many horrible events happen in my lifetime, and as an aware young person living in today\u2019s society, being kept from the horrors of the world is impossible. I follow the news. I am on most social media platforms. I have watched as tragedies occur, and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Miscellaneous"","block_context":{"text":"Miscellaneous","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=127"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4746,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=4746","url_meta":{"origin":184,"position":5},"title":"Library Book Club – Off The Shelf","author":"Alan Williams","date":"27th June 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0 The Library\u2019s second book club \u2018Off the Shelf\u2019 met for the first time on June 6th. The book we read was Anthony Doerr\u2019s About Grace. Hydrologist David Winkler, the protagonist of the story has disturbing prophetic dreams. 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