Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

more photos (1)

read book

Women in Love (Brangwen Family #2)

by D.H. Lawrence

3.61 of 5 stars 3.61 · rating details · 13,461 ratings · 496 reviews

A sequel to Lawrence's earlier The Rainbow (1915), Women in Love continues the story of the Brangwen sisters in the coal-mining town of Beldover. Based in part on Lawrence's own stormy marriage to German aristocrat Frieda von Richthofen, the tale is charged with intense feelings and psychological insights.

Paperback, thrift, 400 pages

Published January 15th 2003 by Dover Publications (first published 1920)

more details... edit details

Get a copy:

Friend Reviews

To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.

Lists with This Book

Best British Literature

97th out of 723 books — 645 voters

1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die

241st out of 917 books — 2,370 voters

More lists with this book...

Community Reviews

(showing 1-30 of 3,000)

filter | sort: default (?) | rating details

Jan 02, 2012 Diletta rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

QUALCUNO MI RIDIA IL TEMPO CHE HO SPRECATO LEGGENDO QUESTO LIBRO.
Vi prego. Esisterà qualcosa tipo un soddisfatti o rimborsati, che ne so. Un sindacato dei lettori?
Ok, respira a fondo. Cerchiamo di calmarci e di mettere giù il libro, invece di continuare ad agitarlo pericolosamente così. Su, spostati dalla finestra. Da brava, così.

Donne innamorate è uno di quei libri che quando lo finisci di leggere, quando compi quel magnifico e agognato gesto di chiudere l'ultima pagina, fa nascere in te dell...more

10 likes · like · see review

Dec 04, 2011 Chiara Pagliochini rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: classici-inglesi

« Pah – l’amour. Lo detesto. L’amour, l’amore, die Liebe – lo detesto in ogni lingua. Donne e amore, non c’è tedio più grande » esclamò. Lei se ne sentì un po’ offesa. E tuttavia era la sua stessa, elementare sensazione. Uomini e amore, non c’era tedio più grande.

Non c’è cosa più irritante, io credo, che sentirsi troppo stupidi per capire un romanzo. Non c’è cosa più irritante che sentire che la distanza che ti separa dallo scrittore, in termini di complessità ideologica, di esperienze di vita e...more

6 likes · like · see review

May 23, 2008 Edward Waverley rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: humans

Recommended to Edward by: [author: David Lodge]

Ever noticed how many people hate DH Lawrence? Often for opposite reasons by the way--there are those who condemn his misognyny, while others allege him to be too doting of the fair sex. Which is it? Sometimes he's damned for being too obscene, but elsewhere dismissed as overly fussy about flowers and horses. He even gets clubbed for creating self-absorbed characters, just after someone has taken a swipe at him for promoting a harmful ideal of sacrificial love. All of these folks can agree that...more Ever noticed how many people hate DH Lawrence? Often for opposite reasons by the way--there are those who condemn his misognyny, while others allege him to be too doting of the fair sex. Which is it? Sometimes he's damned for being too obscene, but elsewhere dismissed as overly fussy about flowers and horses. He even gets clubbed for creating self-absorbed characters, just after someone has taken a swipe at him for promoting a harmful ideal of sacrificial love. All of these folks can agree that they strongly dislike to read Lawrence's books, but from hearing them converse, one might almost conclude that the entire group can hardly be discussing the works of a single author. The variety of accusations are impossible to reconcile.

I think it is just this pattern of polarized criticism of his work that ought to point us to the obvious power Lawrence held as a novelist. If a single man can provoke simultaneous accusations of depicting egotists and martyrs, obscenity and prudery, sexism against women and reverence for women, then obviously he is hitting his mark in there somewhere as an artist. Lawrence's critics might not all reach the same specific conclusions about the dreck they've just endured, but they are united in judging him a failure.

Now there are plenty of worthy theorists whose tidy explanation of these contradictory responses among Lawrence's critics is that they are not, in fact, contradictory. On the contrary, these psychologists argue that such disparate elements in Lawrence's writing are unassailable proof, not of the man's status as a literary genius, but of his latent homosexuality.

My two objections are strenuous, but almost too obvious to mention. First, the fact that Lawrence wrote a lot about women, love, the self, and sex proves nothing whatsoever about his being gay. It only proves that he was a human, and that his particular strategy for facing his complexity as a human was to write books about it. I happen to think it a great approach, and I find the results to be outstanding and insightful. So I'm happy he turned his feelings and thoughts into novels. Others however will stick to the view that he would have been better off at a gay bar.

The second problem with this dismissive response to Lawrence is that it doesn't answer the original question: how is it that Lawrence's critics say such opposite things when they complain about him, and so vociferously? To call him gay will never do, because simply to accuse a writer of being gay does nothing to explain how he can bring about this sharp contrast in opinions.

I think the truth is that Lawrence is guilty of all of the seemingly dichotomous charges being laid at his feet. But what has caused such alarm in others is a cause of tremendous joy in me. If you couldn't already tell, I'm a Lawrence fan. I love his books, and especially this one. ( Sons and Lovers is also brilliant.) It is full of beautifully made scenes in which you can actually feel the orchestrated and opposing emotions and thoughts of two different characters at the same time. Often these are scenes of disagreement, between lovers, between sisters, and between best friends. As I read, I was pulling for everyone because everyone is sympathetic.

Lawrence's descriptions of nature are often so powerful because of the barely restrained beauty of his objects, and because just as you are beginning to enjoy the ride, violence spills onto the scene and you are swept onto the next chapter. The scene where Gerald is trying to impress his girlfriend by riding his horse up to the edge of the train track as the engine flies past is a perfect demonstration of this ability Lawrence posesses.

The best part of this book is at the end when Gerald dies in the Alps while trying to understand life, and then the final mysterious dialogue between the remaining lovers, Rupert Birkin and Ursula Brangwen. Read the book.(less)

26 likes · like · see review

view all 5 comments

Phillida This is one of my ten favorite novels in my long life. I've read it more times than I can count, and there is always something new in it. I know that...more
Mar 06, 2013 07:07pm

Edward Waverley DH Lawrence was one of the greatest European novelists of the 20th century. He also made a unique contribution to literary criticism, and did not hesi...more DH Lawrence was one of the greatest European novelists of the 20th century. He also made a unique contribution to literary criticism, and did not hesitate to comment extensively upon American literature. Here is a sample of his reaction to Herman Melville's two novels of Pacific adventure, "Typee" and "Omoo". In these remarks, he is referring to the black natives of Polynesia who Melville often met during his sea adventures in the 1840's.

"Far be it from me to assume any 'white' superiority. But they are savages… One does not despise them. One does not feel superior. But there is a gulf. There is a gulf in time and being. I cannot commingle my being with theirs…

Whatever else the South Sea Islander is, he is centuries and centuries behind us in the life-struggle, the consciousness-struggle, the struggle of the soul into fullness. There is his woman, with her knotted hair and her dark, inchoate, slightly sardonic eyes. I like her, she is nice. But I would never want to touch her. I could not go back on myself so far…

Here at last is Rousseau’s Child of Nature and Chateaubriand’s Noble Savage called upon and found at home. Yes, Melville loves his savage hosts. He finds them gentle, laughing lambs compared to the ravening wolves of his white brothers, left behind in America and on an American whaleship.

The ugliest beast on earth is the white man, says Melville…
We can’t go back to the savages: not a stride. We can be in sympathy with them. We can take a great curve in their direction, onwards. But we cannot turn the current of our life backwards… Not for a moment. If we do it for a moment, it makes us sick.
We can only do it when we are renegade. The renegade hates life itself. He wants the death of life. So these many “reformers” and “idealists” who glorify the savages in America. They are death-birds, life-haters. Renegades…

If you prostitute your psyche by returning to the savages, you gradually go to pieces. Before you can go back, you have to decompose."(less)
Mar 07, 2013 12:28pm

Sep 28, 2011 Carolyn F. rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: audiobook, fiction-classic

This is not just because the narrator talks too fast and is really hard to understand, it's also because I'm just too old for this book. In my idealistic youth I would have found the ramblings of these people inspiring but now I'm bored. They go on and on about how the world is awful and I just had enough and can't finish it.

7 likes · like · see review

Jun 07, 2008 Suzanne rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: play-film

The book is a slog to get through, the film version with Alan Bates is much better.

2 likes · like · see review

Mar 05, 2008 Liza rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: thinkers, feelers

It is seemingly impossible to summarize a book such as Women in Love. The book innocuously begins with sisters Gudrun and Ursula Brangwen discussing marriage. Gudrun is an artist and Ursula is a school teacher, and their middle-class status is key in their ostracism from the high-society to which their lovers Geraldthe industrialistand Rupertthe disillusioned intellectual. Although these relationships would seem to be key, the complex relationship between Rupertmodeled after author D.H. Lawr...more

6 likes · like · see review

Jan 05, 2013 bowleaf rated it 4 of 5 stars

I was close to giving this a five, but with the profusion of loins, shanks and limbs scattered around the pretty prose which at times read like straight up harlequin romance i had to pull back the final star. also, despite my having more in agreement with some of the thoughts/ideas expressed in this novel, it shared the flaw of that work which i share far less intellectual common ground with - atlas shrugged. in both works characters can at times feel like lifeless mouthpieces for the authors ph...more

2 likes · like · see review

Jul 08, 2008 Maureen rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: everyone

Shelves: novel

This book is like an Expressionist painting: you look at it once, and return and see something different. The writing is lush, and almost poetic at times. Lawrence uses the idea of the two sisters, Gudrun and Ursula, as his canvas to explore ideas about men and women, marriage and fidelity, and whatever else runs through his mind and on to the page.

In this high-speed, instant world, we are losing the art of leisurely contemplation. D.H. Lawrence needs to be taken up, and put down, and taken up...more

8 likes · like · see review

Sep 03, 2008 Dan rated it 3 of 5 stars

This is a book about the relationships between two sisters and their, how shall we say, lovers.

It's written so that each chapter has dominant symbol (a rabbit, a scared horse, a wrestiling match), and I thought the symbols he chose were compelling (picture a man forcing a terrified horse to stand in place, only feet away from the first train it's ever seen as the train roars by). I especially liked the end, where they all go on a a vacation retreat in some remote and snowy mountains in northern...more

3 likes · like · see review

Oct 19, 2009 Gloria rated it 1 of 5 stars

Ugh - this book was no fun for me. There were some lovely moments and prose that I copied into my quote journal, and that's about all that kept me going. The introduction advised that "one should not begin one's study of Lawrence with Women in Love", and man, I guess that's right. I really can't stand purposefully obscure language, or a supposedly realist novel that's full of dialogue and emotional reactions that make no sense and bear no resemblance to how people actually talk or think. Maybe I...more

5 likes · like · see review

Oct 10, 2008 Brittany rated it 3 of 5 stars

So, I loved this book through about the first half. I was ready to call it one of my favorite books, but then the characters changed into people that I could no longer stand to hear about. I still have to say that the book was really well-written with amazingly developed characters. Lawrence creates a profound connection between the readers and the characters because he allows you into the innermost thoughts of the characters. It is also an excellent portrayal of the ideas running through Europe...more

3 likes · like · see review

Apr 27, 2013 Joanne Campbell rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Adults

The prose was spine-tingling sometimes - poetic, wondrously constructed. Much better eroticism than graphic novels of today, a "pile of dirt" (an earlier critique back in the day) that today seems like a little dust. I got frustrated a little way in because, though I enjoyed the phrasing, the plot ran a bit slow and onerous and was mildly threatening. When the characters interacted, they came across as aware and intelligent, but when the author took us into their thoughts, they became way less w...more

like · see review

Jan 24, 2013 Indiabookstore rated it 3 of 5 stars

The descriptive language used by Lawrence is a powerful tool that unconsciously makes the readers visualize the scenarios, making them feel an avid contributor to the story that is taking place. The most enthralling aspect is that the two women protagonists are portrayed in total contrast to each other, and yet have the common similarities of being confident and liberated in their thoughts.

Women in love is not a dove-eyed story of romance. Instead, it is a whirlwind of emotions; it questions e...more

like · see review

Sep 23, 2012 Realini rated it 4 of 5 stars

Women in Love by D H Lawrence

My reading of D H Lawrence has ups and downs.
The first novel I read was Sons and Lovers, placed among the top 10 novels, by The Modern Library. I loved it, the first time I read it. So much so, that I started reading it again. The second time, I did not feel the same pleasure.
The Rainbow, even if it had been anticipated as a book full o excitement, banned and even burned, did not impress upon me. To put it plainly, it has been a disappointment. That’s not D H Lawren...more Women in Love by D H Lawrence

My reading of D H Lawrence has ups and downs.
The first novel I read was Sons and Lovers, placed among the top 10 novels, by The Modern Library. I loved it, the first time I read it. So much so, that I started reading it again. The second time, I did not feel the same pleasure.
The Rainbow, even if it had been anticipated as a book full o excitement, banned and even burned, did not impress upon me. To put it plainly, it has been a disappointment. That’s not D H Lawrence, I am sure that his work is o great value. For various subjective reasons, I could not relate to it…to think of a possible explanation- nowadays, the financial crisis hits with full force upon our house…
“And all the clouds that loured upon our house
In the deep bosom of the ocean buried… “
I wish I could say that. In this world economy turmoil, my mind can’t always concentrate on what I am reading. The tension, anguish, high anxiety is taking a toll on my nerves, my power of concentration, joie de vivre and more.

Women in Love got my attention, for some 75% of the way. I found it interesting, provoking and preaching “love”, praising Feelings, deep emotions.
There are some breathtaking passages; the one when the young girl drowns and strangles her would-be savior. The characters are “full of life”, they have an amazing intensity.

To my troubled perspective, it all goes wrong, from one point on. The death of Gerald seems absurd to me. Not that I was very fond of him, on the contrary. I can even take a wild guess as to the symbols and messages hidden in this death. I also hate Hollywood happy endings. But Gerald’s end and the manner of his exit is disagreeable, to say the least, for my reading pleasure.

It was my feeling that it all goes awry once the four main characters reach the snow of the end. It is not a judgment over the greatness of the work; it is just an impressionist note:

Like Monet, but with infinitely less talent, I try to paint what I see, to capture my “Impression”, in this light, under the duress of the Euro Crisis, under the Malign Basescu Regime.

I still have to read Lady Chatterley's Lover

On a more positive note, I love Dance to Music of Time, which is great news for me: it has 12 (TWELVE) volumes: I look forward to a long, wonderful reading.
(less)

like · see review

Aug 29, 2012 Joe White rated it 5 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. English modernism at its best? Looking back at this book I'd say I enjoyed it, and I'll certainly--at some point--reread it, because I think 'Women in Love' deserves (and demands) a second or third read-through, as most, if not all, similar texts do. Broadly speaking, this sequel to 'The Rainbow' follows the (inter-)relationships of Ursula and Gudrun, and Birkin and Gerald--with the men, respectively, being the 'partners', so to speak, of the female characters. But it's not that simple: the homo...more

1 like · like · see review

Aug 01, 2012 J. Wootton rated it 3 of 5 stars

To say that Lawrence gives his characters "rich inner lives" would be like saying "the surface of the sun is warm." There is hardly anything in his writing but inner life; the external events and circumstances are provided solely to give his characters excuses for further reflection. In conversations Lawrence writes in a ratio of 1 line of dialogue to 1 paragraph of inward reactions. It makes for tedious reading, but then again, I am glad that an author has tried to capture what goes on within s...more

1 like · like · see review

Sep 24, 2012 Joe Henry rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I don’t read much fiction. However, I was on vacation when I noticed in the library at the B&B three titles by D.H. Lawrence. I confess that the only thing I could remember about D.H. Lawrence was that he wrote Lady Chatterley’s Lover and that my internal parent did not lead me anywhere near that book during my college years a half-century ago. At this point, being on vacation and relaxing and all, I figured I needed to read something a little light, right!? And I figured my education could...more
I don’t read much fiction. However, I was on vacation when I noticed in the library at the B&B three titles by D.H. Lawrence. I confess that the only thing I could remember about D.H. Lawrence was that he wrote Lady Chatterley’s Lover and that my internal parent did not lead me anywhere near that book during my college years a half-century ago. At this point, being on vacation and relaxing and all, I figured I needed to read something a little light, right!? And I figured my education could not be complete without having read something of D.H. Lawrence. So, I pulled down Women in Love and started reading.

I managed only 300 pages in the few days remaining at the B&B; so when I got home, I checked out a copy from the public library to finish. The library copy turned out to be the 2002 Random House Modern Library edition, which hailed the work as “one of the Modern Library’s hundred best novels of the twentieth century.” This edition includes a short bio of Lawrence, a 19-page introduction to the work by Joyce Carol Oates (Roger S. Berlind Professor in the Humanities at Princeton University since 2008 and, by the way, on the Modern Library editorial board), the 2-page Foreword by Lawrence, 500 pages of text, 24 pages of helpful notes, and commentary by Carl Van Doren (1921), Rebecca West (1921), Aldous Huxley (1936), and Henry Miller (1959) as well as a Reading Group Guide. Wow. Light reading…riiiiiiiiiiiiiiight!!!!!

Yes, read the Foreword before the body of the novel, but I would recommend you leave the Introduction to read afterwards. In my uninitiated state, it (the Introduction) was way TMI (too much information). However, I wish I had discovered the Notes section earlier; it would have saved me a lot of time trying to look things up in a dictionary or elsewhere. There are fairly frequent utterances in French by the main characters and a bit of German as well as references to the literature, culture, and current events of a hundred years ago—understanding of which gets some help in the Notes.

From the git-go, I was fascinated with the writing. I grew up in a family and in a culture in the 1950s where there were some things of which apparently one just did not speak. Sex was one of those topics. Yes, Women in Love is an exploration of sexuality and gender roles, but clearly it is about much more than merely sex. With some occasional exceptions where the author explains that the character thinks a thought but doesn’t express it openly, the characters say what comes to mind with apparently little reservation…and they speak of all manner of things, whatever concerns them.

As Lawrence says in his 1919 Foreword, which is something of a defense written two years after the novel was finished:

“Let us hesitate no longer to announce that the sensual passions and mysteries are equally sacred with the spiritual mysteries and passions. Who would deny it any more? The only thing unbearable is the degradation, the prostitution of the living mysteries in us. Let man only approach his own self with a deep respect, even reverence for all that the creative soul, the God-mystery within us, puts forth. Then we shall all be sound and free. Lewdness is hateful because it impairs our integrity and our proud being.
…
“This novel pretends only to be a record of the writer’s own desires, aspirations, struggles; in a word, a record of the profoundest experiences in the self. Nothing that comes from the deep, passional soul is bad, or can be bad. So there is no apology to render, unless to the soul itself, if it should have been belied.” p. xxxi f.

Consequently, with all this saying-it-like-it-is, you might think that the characters are more-or-less transparent and that one eventually understands essentially all there is to know about each. I did not find that to be the case. To me, the characters remain plenty complex and plenty human. In their relationships, they love/admire and hate one another…essentially at the same time, from one paragraph or sentence even to the next. It’s not so much that by reading to the end that we understand what makes each tick but that in a sense we can share the human journey. If there is any single impression that I have, it would be that the main characters are searching for something…something like salvation, justification, personal integrity or redemption. Does it end well? What’s your guess?
(less)

like · see review

Jun 04, 2012 Johanna rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: classics

I really enjoyed this book a lot more than I thought I would. After reading previous reviews, and experiencing the blatant misogyny of some Lawrence’s novels, I was expecting to write off Women in Love as another outdated, sexist book that had crept onto the classics list. Instead I found this novel to be a wonderful exploration of the philosophical and often fickle nature of relationships, marriage, and love. I found that each character frequently contradicted their previous stances to align th...more

like · see review

Mar 21, 2012 Jane rated it 2 of 5 stars

Having just read the back cover (where I have taken the synopsis), I read that Lawrence considered this novel to be his masterpiece. Oh goodness me! If this is his masterpiece then what are his other books like! D.H. Lawrence is considered one of our foremost classic fiction writers and with such status, I felt I should read his novels. Whether this was the best one to read first, I don't know. To be honest, I'm not sure I want to read any more to find out.
First of all, I found his writing style...more Having just read the back cover (where I have taken the synopsis), I read that Lawrence considered this novel to be his masterpiece. Oh goodness me! If this is his masterpiece then what are his other books like! D.H. Lawrence is considered one of our foremost classic fiction writers and with such status, I felt I should read his novels. Whether this was the best one to read first, I don't know. To be honest, I'm not sure I want to read any more to find out.
First of all, I found his writing style rather pompous and arrogant. What was he trying to achieve? I can see that he writes fairly typically of his time, and his audience were obviously the highbrow in literary circles. I did not like the characters very much. I found horrid Hermione to be vapid, manipulative and controlling - whatever gave her the right to hit people? Mrs Crich, selfish, unloving and rather strange. Ursula the elder sister, wasn't so bad, I could understand why she didn't want to rush into marriage with the introspective Rupert. However once she did succumb to the idea and agree, she became very whiny and needy, constantly asking him if he loved her. Gudrun, the younger sister - well - what a cold, manipulative character she was, withholding and driving her lover to nearly murder her and then kill himself! Mrs Brangwen was the only likeable character and I really could not understand why her daughters saw fit to mock and laugh at her. I find Lawrence's characterisations of women to be rather insulting. Yes, women can be manipulative but I have not come across any who are as dreadful as this cast.
Let's look at the men. We have Mr Brangwen the father who is always at loggerheads with his eldest daughter. He is a school master and his daughters have followed into the profession, although Gudrun is an artist. Mr B is controlling, quick tempered but the daughter's seem to be rather selfish and self indulgent. Rupert Birkin is a rather wet character, very introspective and does not really know his own mind. Rather idealistic but unrealistic too. Gerald Crich, I actually found fairly likeable. An industrialist who takes over the running of the family firm and tightens the ship somewhat. Very good looking, a heartbreaker who could have any woman. Although he does love Gudrun, he finds it hard to admit to her and they seem to have a continual battle of wills. Mr Crich, Gerald's father who is dying does come across as a decent sort. He looks after his workers (miners), despite the opposition from his hard hearted wife. He is besotted with his youngest daughter Winnie and you feel that he will not let go and die until he is sure everything is settled.
This book was supposedly a shocker and I can see why for it's time. Lawrence introduces us to fiercely independent women who initially are opposed to marriage but want to be lovers. Ahead of its time, maybe. We are familiar with discussion between both sexes on an intellectual level, read Jane Austen and other early authors and see the influence women had on their husbands in history. In terms of graphic erotica, there is none, today's books can offer much more detail, In this book you get the jist through Lawrence's choice of words rather than any blatant description. It would not shock today. However, a parallel runs along, we have the two relationships between the sisters and their partners but there is also a reference of a homoerotic nature between Rupert and Gerald although this is not followed through.
I'm not a fan of Mr Lawrence and I found this book quite a struggle.(less)

like · see review

Jan 18, 2013 Hebe (The English Student) rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: literary-fiction

Women in Love is a novel about, well, some women who are in love.

Of course, that's not everything, but it's pretty close. And anyway, if you're reading this you're probably not reading it for the plot. The characters have a complex inner life and think a lot about death and apocalypse and the meaning of life and other happy things. And Lawrence does that annoying modernist thing where he repeats words in the same sentence, like this:

But he was far off, in another world. Ah, she could shriek with

...more

like · see review

Sep 18, 2012 Richard Lodge rated it 5 of 5 stars

It is Lawrence's most complete statement. He argues with himself all through it: struggling to find a way to define what he wants to know about the individual and others. The characters are intense, fierce, intelligent, combative. They clash; they pound into each other. Lawrence explores ideas through the fist-tight dialogue and the bold imagery. And he quests for answers in his insistent narrative too. Ursula remains the real centre of the book, but Birkin, Gudrun and Gerald all get close-up fo...more

3 likes · like · see review

Mar 06, 2007 Jon rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

If The Corrections has no redeeming characters, no sympathetic inmates, what should one make of Women in Love? Either way, Lawrence's merciless scalpel and light open dark hearts, callow souls and capricious intellects. The climax is a good one and the novel is reasonably gripping, perhaps because of the shallow nature of so many of the main characters. Class is Lawrence's pallet and he rarely used it to paint as nuanced a picture as this one.

2 likes · like · see review

Mar 30, 2013 Joline Sabourin rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Initially in looking at this book, I thought the central figures would be Ursula and Gudrun. This was assumed in the first few chapters. However, as the book progressed, it was evident that a switch occured to focusing on the male characters as embodying sympathy from their plight within their relationships with women as well as the impossibility of consummating a relationship between the two of them.

The book brought to light some interesting depiction of what is the essense of femaleness and m...more

like · see review

Mar 21, 2012 Kaitlyn Barrett rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: classics-of-obligation

Egotistical and full of himself. Insufferably narcissistic. Full of talk to hear himself talk, which they now call a “modern” style.

I preferred Lady Chatterly's Lover but perhaps I like the subject matter better. I think DH wants to feed sex into everything and doesn’t care about love. He thinks love’s an overworn subject, so much so that he wanted to write this book about it and give it the last word and then bury it. But it’s a subject too big for him, a fact that probably kept him up at nigh...more

2 likes · like · see review

Apr 05, 2012 Jim Leckband rated it 2 of 5 stars

Lawrence is still on my prejudicial do-not-read list. Though it ain't quite prejudice when I've read a book. So I guess he's on my "do-not-read-again" list, where he can talk to his neighbor James Fenimore Cooper. Maybe Cooper can teach him about plots where things happen in less than 40 pages and Lawrence can talk to Cooper about writing sentences where the subject pertains to the object and doesn't get lost amidst clauses as thick as a Adirondack forest.

Lawrence does write awesome sentences. T...more

like · see review

May 31, 2011 Veronica rated it 2 of 5 stars

More of the Brangwen histrionics has most certainly not endeared me to Mr. Lawrence, as I had hoped. Since Women in Love was a continuation of The Rainbow, with the Brangwen sisters growing into young womanhood, I'd expected some revelations of wisdom on their behalves, but was instead subjected to more inane, adolescent angst, not even slightly interesting.

To make it clear and attempting to not give away any details, when one of the sister's love interests considers killing her, I secretly wish...more

like · see review

Mar 21, 2010 Cydney rated it 2 of 5 stars

Well, I'm proud of myself that I finished it. It wasn't horrible but I did push myself through it. I kept reminding myself that this classic novel is "magnificient" and that (the characters) "clash in thought, passion and belief, and the reader is gripped by deeply held convictions about love and modern society" . . or so they say. There are some passages written so beautifully, and definitely some thoughts on our existence that you can't help but think about; but it was the characters that I fo...more

2 likes · like · see review

Jan 14, 2013 Dhara Mehta rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

DH Lawence’s, A Women in Love, is about emotional, psychological, physiologically and finally physical love. Two sisters both fall in love with two different men. Ursula (a school teacher) takes a liking to Birkin (a school inspector). Gudrun (an art teacher) prefers Gerald, a powerful man who is also an heir to the coal mine. Ursula is in tune with Birkin, a mystic at heart. Gudrun is completed overpowered by Gerald. At first, all is well but as Gerald’s true colors emerge, Gudrun has second t...more DH Lawence’s, A Women in Love, is about emotional, psychological, physiologically and finally physical love. Two sisters both fall in love with two different men. Ursula (a school teacher) takes a liking to Birkin (a school inspector). Gudrun (an art teacher) prefers Gerald, a powerful man who is also an heir to the coal mine. Ursula is in tune with Birkin, a mystic at heart. Gudrun is completed overpowered by Gerald. At first, all is well but as Gerald’s true colors emerge, Gudrun has second thoughts. Gudrun is thrust into the weak hands someone a lot more compatible, Loerke (a diminutive sculptor). Seeing Gudrun’s preference for Loerke, Gerald is overcome with a combination of lust and jealousy. He desires to kill her with his bare, but in defense she sends him off a slippery slope in Alps. A strong man plunges to death in the great ravine.

DH Lawence’s novels were considered scandalous at the time they were written. However they are muted compared to today standards. There is an element of homosexual love; that may have caused hiccups in the 1920s. For those looking to be engrossed by the plot, this is truly not your book. The sub-themes give substance to the philosophical mumbo-jumbo that takes a large percentage of the book. Character depiction is definitely Lawerence’s strong point. Each character in the novel has his (or her opposite), Birkin vs. Gerald, Gudrun vs. Ursula, Mr. T Crinch vs. Mr. G Crinch. Birkin is a kind, intellectual and optimistic. His behavior is toward his lover (then wife) is proper. He seeks Ursula’s hand in marriage. Gerald is cruel, practically and a pessimist. Gerald barges into Gudrun room at the middle of the night. Although, Gerald is very handsome his treatment of man and beast should raise red flags in the eyes of her of lover. He mercilessly beats a horse who is startled at the sound of a motorcade. He proudly states ‘Man’s power is infinite over other men and animals”. It is this lack of consideration which finally stifles Gudrun love for Gerald. Birkin gently comforts Ursula when her father throws her out of his house. Ursula love for Birkin liberates her. Gudrun believes she should be subservient to man and to fear him. Ursula believes that she is equal to her man. . Mr. Circh (Sr) is a compassionate man who treats his workers with respect. His death represents the death of compassion. His son (Gerald) is essentially a slave driver and a staunch believer in automation. Workers no longer get: free food, coal at a subsidized rate, destitute women no longer get any form of charity and disparity between the haves and have not increase. “The joy went out of their lives, hope seem to perish”.
(less)

like · see review

Jan 30, 2008 Katie Muffett rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: sisters, brothers, and anyone obsessed with stockings

Recommended to Katie by: a charity shop

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

1 like · like · see review

Oct 05, 2010 Georgia Smith rated it 4 of 5 stars

I found the book dreamy. I'm a sucker for beautiful language and Lawrence is a master at it; his unexpected vocabulary kept me hooked right throughout. The first half I adored, but the second half just seemed a bit of a drag - was it really necessary to have all those meaningless conversations? Likewise the philosophy in the first half was thought-provoking and lovely, but by the second half it had slipped to something of a showing-off; Lawrence seemed to be questioning everything thoughtlessly...more

2 likes · like · see review

« previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 … 99 100 next »

new topic
Discuss This Book

topics	posts	views	last activity
Is it more about the problems of Men in Love or Women in Love?	1	9	Mar 06, 2013 05:26pm

combine
Other Editions (187)

More editions...

Genres

Classics

395 users

Literature

75 users

Romance

40 users

Novels

33 users

European Literature > British Literature

28 users

Literature > 20th Century

24 users

Classics > Classic Literature

17 users

Literature > Banned Books

15 users

Historical Fiction

14 users

Literary Fiction

13 users

See top shelves...

Readers also enjoyed similar books

About D.H. Lawrence

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

More about D.H. Lawrence...

Books by D.H. Lawrence

The Rocking Horse Winner (Travelman Classics)

Complete Poems of D. H. Lawrence (Wordsworth Poetry Library)

More…

Share This Book

Facebook Twitter Your website

Trivia About Women in Love

6 trivia questions

More quizzes & trivia...

Quotes from Women in Love

“I should feel the air move against me, and feel the things I touched, instead of having only to look at them. I'm sure life is all wrong because it has become much too visual - we can neither hear nor feel nor understand, we can only see. I'm sure that is entirely wrong.” — 135 people liked it

“But better die than live mechanically a life that is a repetition of repetitions.” — 93 people liked it

More quotes…

title link	preview: Women in Love
avg rating	preview: Women in Love Goodreads rating: 3.61 (13461 ratings)
small image	preview: click here [close]
med image	preview: click here [close]
BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9784.Women_in_Love?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1328865268l/9784.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9784.Women_in_Love?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]Women in Love by D.H. Lawrence[/url]

Women in Love (Brangwen Family #2)

Friend Reviews

Community Reviews

Share This Book

Share This Book on Your Website