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25th out of 41 books
—
49 voters
The Virgin and the Gipsy & Other Stories
These stories of myth and resurrection, of uncanny events and violent impulse, were with one exception written and published in the latter half of the 1920s, coinciding with the composition of Lawrence's controversial masterpiece Lady Chatterley's Lover.
Paperback, 216 pages
Published
December 5th 1999
by Wordsworth Classics
(first published 1930)
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A real, wild bodice-ripper of a book, but much better written because D.H. Lawrence whether he was writing his deep, intense novels or frippery like this, wrote really well. I don't like romances much but this one was quite good, if a bit silly and unlikely, but then that is often the point of romance books anyway. In this case, because the book is so old and it does read in a dated way too, it could be excused by saying it was 'of its day'.
Loved the book. This is for any woman who has had to curb her natural urge to go against the grain.
D.H. Lawrence can kiss my ass!
Jul 09, 2008
Allison
rated it
1 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
no one
Recommended to Allison by:
no one
Shelves:
fiction
Can someone tell me why DH Lawerence is so well loved as a fiction writer? I am speaking strictly on fiction here as I have not read enough of his poetry to comment on that genre. At this point I've read Sons and Lovers, Lady Chatterly's Lover, and now The Virgin and the Gypsy and I just get mad trying to figure out why people think these books are good. He doesn't really know anything about women, his writing is not "sexy", provokative, endearing, illuminating, or any other emotionally loaded a...more
Lawrence's short stories are always interesting and often brilliant when he doesn't load the plot with a lot of clumsy polemic. This is one of his more entertaining ones and has all his characteristic hallmarks. The theme of an Anglican clergyman strangling nascent sensuality and an earthy, untutored gypsy bringing it back to life is one that is threaded through all his work. In this story and in these characters he has found the perfect expression of it, which is probably why it is so famous. I...more
At this point in his career, he was living under the radar after his previous novels caused quite a few stirs with their scandalous presentations of never-before-published four letter words and graphically sexual scenes. This novel has little to thrust a curious eyebrow to the modern reader, but still raises some interesting topics such as love, class, youth, and ennui, that should be able to hold your attention for a book that I read in one sitting. The ending is appealingly quite unexpected.
A little gem of a story by the always delightfully debauched Lawrence. He really lets his anger and frustration at the general repression of his sexual urges as dictated by society seethe in this one, one of the last things he wrote I believe. And there's the usual dichotomy between society/authority and nature/desire, but laid out very concisely. If you need a jumping off point for Lady Chatterly's Lover/Lawrence this is a good novella to start with.
This was going to be a solid 4 stars until I came to the last two stories of the collection, The Man Who Loved Islands and The Man Who Died. Both are about being at peace along, rather than settling for less in an attempt to escape lonliness, and they just spoke to my soul at the moment... Hopefully in the future I'll feel the same about other stories, as these two just reached into me, I loved them.
1 like · like · see review
I love vintage prose, but for some reason I just couldn't get into it. The story really annoyed me. It's another one of those stories that's supposed to be about 'female empowerment' via adultery and acting like a little miss. A mother leaves her husband and two daughters for a younger man. The two daughters grow up with their father, bitchy grandmother, and spinster aunt. The younger(?) of the two daughters goes out with her friends and runs into a gypsy caravan. She falls in love with one of t...more
2 likes · like · see review
Jun 18, 2012
Valerie
added it
The Virgin and the Gipsy actually takes up most of this collection, and is more novella than a short story. Published after the author's death. Maybe that's why it felt so unfinished to me. Still, the tension between Yvette and the Gipsy is captivating, and I loved the description of Yvette's rotting home. I actually preferred some of the short stories included in this collection, like "The Lovely Lady" and "The Rocking Horse Winner." The last two stories in the collection are tough to get throu...more
'A Remarkable Writer'
I began reading this book some time ago and read the stories in the order in which they appealed to me. I've written a separate review of 'Love Among the Haystacks,' which was the first story I read from the collection.
What's really striking about this book is the diversity of the stories. I don't think these stories were ever published as a collection in Lawrence's lifetime and I couldn't help but wonder how he would feel about them being presented as a collection. But for...more
I began reading this book some time ago and read the stories in the order in which they appealed to me. I've written a separate review of 'Love Among the Haystacks,' which was the first story I read from the collection.
What's really striking about this book is the diversity of the stories. I don't think these stories were ever published as a collection in Lawrence's lifetime and I couldn't help but wonder how he would feel about them being presented as a collection. But for...more
Disclosure:
The Collection of the Virgin and the Gypsy, have been among my best collection of Short stories. I bough them with audio Cd's. I own a eBook version too.
My Plot:
The Story focus on a Small vicar family which contains a Father and two daughters in addition to an old blind woman and a spiteful aunt. The whole family moves from the south of England to a Vicarage in the Middle of Britain. the two Daughters Yvette and Lucile, were fighting against the gloom that start to dominate their lif...more
The Collection of the Virgin and the Gypsy, have been among my best collection of Short stories. I bough them with audio Cd's. I own a eBook version too.
My Plot:
The Story focus on a Small vicar family which contains a Father and two daughters in addition to an old blind woman and a spiteful aunt. The whole family moves from the south of England to a Vicarage in the Middle of Britain. the two Daughters Yvette and Lucile, were fighting against the gloom that start to dominate their lif...more
I had absolutely no expectations from this collection of short stories, and now I have nearly no idea what to say about them. I wasn't disappointed by any of these tales, and feel like the last one ('The Woman Who Rode Away') was the most powerful. If I were any kind of decent reviewer, I'd go through each one of the stories and discuss them, but I just don't have that kind of time. I'll say that the persistent theme throughout all these unconnected pieces seemed to be the infeasibility of marri...more
I read this story years ago, one day in a small colonial town in Uruguay. The setting along with the story gave me the impression of being suspended in a dream. I loved this story, simple though it is, and thought it romantic and full of erotic yearning. Like Lady Chatterly's Lover, Lawrence seems to be fascinated with the idea of a woman falling in love with someone far below her station. Can she chose a life with this person, and what kind of life would that be if she is ostracized from her ow...more
Reads like a low-budget Sunday afternoon TV film and has undoubtedly been made into one many times over.
Nothing but nonsense. I'd say it's hard to follow, but there's nothing to follow. Also a bit lewd.
The story of a "decent" girl, her dysfunctional family and her wild un-consumed love to a gypsy. Though the story starts off well, in terms of analysis of characters and actions. Though the author exaggerates a bit the evilness of the evil, the goodness of the good and the stupidity of the stupid. But then once the story starts getting serious and the frame is set, the author loses track of details and focuses on the main character only.
In the end, the book seemed more like a teen's show rather...more
In the end, the book seemed more like a teen's show rather...more
if you're looking for a quick foray into lawrence's style, this is a nice quick read, and moves a little more quickly than Lady Chatterly's Lover, or Women in Love. of course, it also doesn't dive nearly as deep. i really enjoyed lawrence's descriptive passages of the countryside and his ability to convey the sense of social confinement and boredom his characters feel within that landscape.
Jan 11, 2013
Xhekson
added it
I dont know yet
Yvette and Lucille return reluctantly from school to their father the Rector and their dank, dark home in the rectory. They find life stultifying and yearn for something more. A chance encounter with a gypsy begins a sexual awakening in Yvette. She sees in the handsome gypsy a life with fresh air and freedom, a life totally different from the narrow expectations of her own class.
Mmmm...yummy - all the classic elements of taboo and insanity in family and society, shown for the tragedy they are. Lawrence has honed his skills by this last stage in his career, sparing the reader at least an extra hundred pages of roundabout mood setting. A smashing ending gives it an extra star and a special place in my memory.
It seems people either despise Lawrence or really really like it. I reread this after 15 years. It's still good. Spectacular no. It was unpublished at his death and is very short. Gypsy fans, or anyone living on the fringes, will like it.
Best quote: "She did not want to mate with a house-dog."
Best quote: "She did not want to mate with a house-dog."
the dialogue is not up to lawrence's best but the character studies are fab
he puts you in the parlour and throws you into the neurotic fretwork of a woman, her bitchy sisters, her impossibly dead mother, her annoying grandmother and her own flawed heart.
love lawrence
One I read some time ago, probably a decade past, at my uncle's house over the holidays, hence my noting it here.
The more interesting, general question is: what books have we read, but that we have forgotten entirely? Were they so average?
The more interesting, general question is: what books have we read, but that we have forgotten entirely? Were they so average?
What I realized when I finished the book was that the whole thing was building to the last line, and the payoff of the last line was absolutely incredible. The Eastwoods were really fascinating characters, quite original (to me).
Somewhat disappointing. Not up to the DH Lawrence I have read in the past.
Lots of build up to an ending where nothing happens...
There are glimmers of the author's insight into relationships and human interaction.
Lots of build up to an ending where nothing happens...
There are glimmers of the author's insight into relationships and human interaction.
It's been a while since I've read anything "classic" and it strikes me that D.H. Lawrence tells the story with all the things he leaves out as much as what he describes... I like the simplicity of the language.
To be honest I never finished this book of short stories. While many held promise the way they ended without resolution annoyed me and I found reading this book a chore more than an enjoyment.
These stories made me a D. H. Lawrence fan and no, I have not yet read the "big" D. H. Lawrence books. That doesn't mean I'm not a fan. Yes, I enjoyed this slim volume that much.
interesting, however i kept finding myself waiting for sometiming more to happen. but the fact that nothing did kept me reading more and more..and thats why i say INTERESTING!!
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David Herbert Richards Lawrence was an English writer of the 20th century, whose prolific and diverse output included novels, short stories, poems, plays, essays, travel books, paintings, translations, literary criticism and personal letters. His collected works represent an extended reflection upon the dehumanizing effects of modernity and industrialisation. In them, Lawrence confronts issues rel...more
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“Somewhere, deep down him, he was scared, he was born scared. And those who are born with fear are natural slaves, whose profund instint leads to dread, with poisonous fear, all of those who suddenly can possibly cut loose the slave colar around their necks.”
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4 people liked it
“I think,” said the Major, taking his pipe from his mouth, “that desire is the most wonderful thing in life. Anybody who can really feel it, is a king, and I envy nobody else!” He put back his pipe.”
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1 person liked it
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Jan 20, 2013 10:44am