The Rainbow (Everyman's Library Classics)
by D.H. Lawrence
published
1993
(first published 1995)
by Everyman's Library
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binding
Hardcover, 475 pages
isbn
1857151615
(isbn13: 9781857151619)
description
Introduction by Barbara Hardy
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other reviews (showing 1-20 of 1244)
i love this book -- a seminal favorite! so organic initially in it's portrayal of people and relationships and then there is this evolution of the people as the generations pass, new ideas, new freedom, stronger selves. i just love the thoughts on having children -- d.h. never had children and he's a man, nevertheless his insights into a woman's experience are so word perfect! here are some of my favorites snippets:
first a short one:
"There was life outside the church. There was muc...more
first a short one:
"There was life outside the church. There was muc...more
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Read in August, 2007
I forget how weird this book is. Really beautiful in places, and groundbreaking (still, I think) in its treatment of how sex and power play themselves out in male-female (and female-female!) liasons. Lawrence writes women in love almost as if he's a gay man, which is interesting to me, since he seems manifestly to have preferred the weaker sex. He's very in touch with what desire for a male body looks like, which I think is part of what's so ground-breaking (and originally offensive) about hi...more
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Read in January, 2005
This book tells the story of three generations of Brangwens, following the lineage through the female line. Although the time line isn’t defined, I’d estimate that the book begins around the turn of the 19th century.
There are some writers who show more than tell, and vice versa, and Lawrence is definitely one of the tellers. Much of the narrative is a verbose account of what is taking place within the psychology of the character, much of which is quite likely on a subconscious level. Th...more
There are some writers who show more than tell, and vice versa, and Lawrence is definitely one of the tellers. Much of the narrative is a verbose account of what is taking place within the psychology of the character, much of which is quite likely on a subconscious level. Th...more
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Read in May, 2008
The first 2/3 are worth 5 stars, easily. Once Ursula Brangwen becomes a teenager, and DHL begins to use her as a barometer of "repressed modern civilization," it begins to collapse. I also think it must have suffered from trying to edit the one large manuscript into the two novels that became this and WOMEN IN LOVE. Whatever the cause, this book's ending is alien and absurdly forced. As the center of the 3rd generation of Brangwen protagonists in the novel, Ursula is a fascinating ...more
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Read in December, 2007
Hail Ursula!
"To be oneself was a supreme, gleaming triumph of infinity."
This is a profound, visionary novel about the stages of human development and Lawrence's philosophy of individualism. By recounting the lives of three generations of one family, he repeatedly renders the internal struggle of the individual as he or she grapples with the "core" self (or, in religious terms, the "soul") and the mere social self. Each succeeding generation seems to emerge...more
"To be oneself was a supreme, gleaming triumph of infinity."
This is a profound, visionary novel about the stages of human development and Lawrence's philosophy of individualism. By recounting the lives of three generations of one family, he repeatedly renders the internal struggle of the individual as he or she grapples with the "core" self (or, in religious terms, the "soul") and the mere social self. Each succeeding generation seems to emerge...more
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Read in October, 2007
It took me forever to finish because there is hardly a plot. It's like everything has already happened in some netherworld by the time Lawrence gets around to explaining it happening in the fictional world, and then by the time the reader's eyes connect the words and bring the fictional world into this world--considerable delay. It is written as if we are catching up on rather stale news.
But besides this, I think Lawrence is brilliant. And I think I might be Ursula Brangwen. Either that,...more
But besides this, I think Lawrence is brilliant. And I think I might be Ursula Brangwen. Either that,...more
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Read in July, 2008
Wow! What can I say about D.H. Lawrence? I finished this book on the train from Montreal to New York and I think it left a greater impression upon me than my entire trip. The first chapter is tremendous. The next couple of hundred pages was difficult for me to read--a testiment to the impossibility of ever really connecting with someone you love. Lawrence is an amazing writer, despite the reputation. It was an interesting experience reading this after Women in Love and knowing what was in store ...more
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Read in February, 2008
To say what one really likes about Lawrence, one would need to write a book--and I know there are at least two Goodreaders who know exactly what I mean. For now just one quick thought on a recent discussion of Lawrence and endings: I think he's a beginner in the deepest sense of the word; his words, his ideas, his style are saturated with incipience and possibilty and ever-renewed freshness of sensation and expression. If his endings aren't as tight or as rounded as other novelists, that's not n...more
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Some of it is very tedious: the author often goes on for pages detailing the psychology of one character....but Lawrence is truly a master of the English language, and the novel has many passages of strikingly beautiful prose. All in all, an interesting chronicle of a family through a few generations, their loves, hatred, jealousy, desire, etc. I'm looking forward to reading more by D.H. Lawrence. I have good memories of reading this book under a clear blue sky in the sunny Washington spring.
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I actually read Women in Love prior to reading this, completely unaware that it was the sequel to The Rainbow. The two books can stand completely alone, but they do add much to each other. Women in Love is perhaps an easier read because the entire book centers around a group of five people, while The Rainbow is more of a familial history that spans several generations. Once into the book, however, the language takes over, and you are lost in the emotions and relationships of each character.
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Read in April, 2000
I recall this one being most excellent and I want to read it again sometime soon. Reading Chatterley recently reminded me again why I dig DH so much. The perfect combination of philosophy, sex, nature, the fall of nature and the English countryside...it all comes together so perfectly. I even read books by Geoff Dyer that are supposed to be about Lawrence...I am so obsessed.
Back to the Rainbow. Ken Russell (of course) made a movie of it but I have yet to see it. Is it good? Anyone know?
Back to the Rainbow. Ken Russell (of course) made a movie of it but I have yet to see it. Is it good? Anyone know?
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Read in July, 2008
This is the second book I read by DH Lawrence. I felt challenged to do alot of thinking about relationships between men and women while reading this. It is a book that I feel that I will read many times before being able to absorb it fully. I got the impression that Mr. Lawrence feels that alot of what is wrong in relationships fall more on the woman than the man. That men's mistakes are in reaction to the woman's. Like I said, I may have to read this a few more times before I get it.
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Read in February, 2008
So, I tried to broaden my spectrum and read some DH Lawrence. This is a very tough read, I had to have a dictionary with me the whole time, and he uses terms like "Whither", yeah, kinda hard to get into.
This book took 250 pages to introduce a family on a farm, the daughter gets married and has many kids but isn't happy. I had to give up, it was depressing and long winded. Sorry classics, I'm going back to crime and mystery...a little hisorical fiction never hurt anyone.
This book took 250 pages to introduce a family on a farm, the daughter gets married and has many kids but isn't happy. I had to give up, it was depressing and long winded. Sorry classics, I'm going back to crime and mystery...a little hisorical fiction never hurt anyone.
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recommends it for:
lovers of literature
This book was banned soon after publication for its sexual content and it is indeed a rather sensuous, earthy and wondrous book. Lawrence did away with many conventions of the modern novel, namely plot, and managed to realise a vivid portrayal of the Brangwen family, with their inner struggles and emotional journeys intact. Totally compelling read and an important novel for the development of literature.
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Read in September, 2008
recommended to Jessica by:
Library reading listrecommends it for: People who appreciate natural beauty and colorful descriptors
Lawrence's knack for nailing his female characters is astounding. I said to myself more than once, "I know that feeling and never could've put it into words". However, there were a few places that the details were redundant to the point of tedium, and I skimmed through the rest of the paragraph.
The ending, like Lady Chatterly, was perfect, though not at all the way I wanted it to end.
The ending, like Lady Chatterly, was perfect, though not at all the way I wanted it to end.
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Read in January, 1998
The fecund fecundity of Lawrence's fecund verbosity is enough to drive anyone to distraction. Paragraphs upon paragraphs describing a sunrise (or was it a sunset? I forget) apparently is the moment two protagonists make love in a field. You need the notes to tell you that. So much for the man who wrote the infamous 'Lady Chatterly'.
Almost as tedious a read as George Eliot.
Almost as tedious a read as George Eliot.
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Read in June, 2001
recommends it for:
people with time on their hands
I was discouraged reading this book, because I really wanted to like Lawrence more than this. I thought this book dragged on for too long, and tried to cover too much. The sexuality which I had been told existed in Lawrence seems to be virtually non-extant here. Years later I read Sons and Lovers, which I found a hundred times as interesting.
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Read in July, 2005
recommends it for:
poets, romantics
Long, dense, and truly beautiful, the precursor to Women in Love is some of the most beautiful prose I have ever encountered. You MUST, however, have the patience to really sit and let the words wash over you (to quote Ms. Phelps from Matilda). It is several love stories encompasing three generations and well worth the slow digestion time.
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I took a full semester on D.H. Lawrence and read ALL of his works. The stack of books was taller than me. Luckily, this was the only class I took! The Rainbow is my favorite out of all his works, although I'm at a point in my life where I think I will revisiting the last tales he wrote while living in the Southwest and painting.
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I think about this part a lot, when they are first married: "He would say during the daytime: 'Tonight I shall know the little hollow under her ankle, where the blue vein crosses'... the little miraculous white plain from which ran the little hillocks of the toes and the folded, dimpling hollows between the toes."
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