The Prussian Officer and Other Stories

by D.H. Lawrence

His first published collection, these twelve stories were written between 1907 and 1914, during a crucial period of development for Lawrence from which he emerged a leading figure of the modernist movement. Reaching new levels of feeling and experience, these stories range from the tale of a Prussian officer who drives his orderly towards a bloody reckoning, to the strangely exotic elements of "A Fragment of Stained Glass", and the divisions within society and conflicts of the heart that form the central themes of "Daughters of a Vicar". Interweaving individual lives, their happiness, failures and defeats, with the profound forces of nature, Lawrence has created stories of remarkable power and sensitivity. This Penguin edition reproduces the newly established Cambridge text, which is based on Lawrence's manuscripts, typescripts and corrected proofs.

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction, Classics, 20th Century, English Literature, Literature, British Literature

360 pages, Hardcover

Published September 30, 1983

About the author

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 relating to emotional health and vitality, spontaneity, human sexuality and instinct.

Lawrence's opinions earned him many enemies and he endured official persecution, censorship, and misrepresentation of his creative work throughout the second half of his life, much of which he spent in a voluntary exile he called his "savage pilgrimage." At the time of his death, his public reputation was that of a pornographer who had wasted his considerable talents. E. M. Forster, in an obituary notice, challenged this widely held view, describing him as "the greatest imaginative novelist of our generation." Later, the influential Cambridge critic F. R. Leavis championed both his artistic integrity and his moral seriousness, placing much of Lawrence's fiction within the canonical "great tradition" of the English novel. He is now generally valued as a visionary thinker and a significant representative of modernism in English literature.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D.H._Law...

Reviews

[Zanna · Rating 2 out of 5]

I seem to have a problem with Lawrence. Since hearing about his wife-beating and general abusiveness in Katherine Mansfield's journals I have an unsympathetic attitude to him and can't help but judge his work less kindly (please DO feel free to FLAG this review)

In the past I've loved some of Lawrence's poetry; he has an ability to poke and pick at some sneaking feeling until it spills an essence that sounds like poured bullion: verbal treasure. And his skilful identification of emotion with landscape can be deliciously evocative. As Mansfield says, he lives; he has force, fire, fearlessness. He has a consciousness of flesh, of being in the body, that is sometimes unpleasant and invasive. His style is very penetrating and very quickly I start to wish he would get out.

Beyond this stylistic objection, I'm philosophically hostile to Lawrence's literary inclination to essentialism. He aims to show how each person or action is part of a Universal in which everything has its place. I feel quite hospitable to a related kind of philosophy in, say, Alice Walker, where although I sense she believes we are in some way all facets of a cosmic spiritual whole, there is no pretension to omniscience and no individual identity is dissolved. Lawrence seems to see essential principles working efficiently or imperfectly in people, so that the humans are only shadows cast by something more real. The world he paints feels closed, like Plato's cave. There is no possibility outside of the author's authority. This is a tautology, and to reveal it is very modern, and perhaps this is part of what people admire so much in Lawrence, but I find it demoralising. Perhaps I am a cultural reactionary after all...

[Marc Lamot · Rating 2 out of 5]

Short novelettes with a very naturalistic atmosphere. Clearly early work of Lawrence.

[Siv30 · Rating 3 out of 5]

לסקירה מפורטת בעברית ואנגלית, קישור לבלוג שלי -

https://sivi-the-avid-reader.com/הקצי...

[Aniek Verheul · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am just so glad to have finished this. I usually like short stories but unfortunately I didn’t have a good time reading this at all. There’s just something about Lawrence’s writing that really bothers me. It’s difficult to put a finger on exactly what that is, but one thing I did notice is that I found his use of adjectives rather annoying and for some reason I couldn’t move past that. That doesn’t mean these were all terrible - I actually didn’t mind “Odour of Chrysanthemums” and I liked “ The Shadow in the Rose Garden.” The others, I just didn’t care for.

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Early writings, interesting but inferior to his best. Recommended for the reader interested in the development of a fine writer or the emergence of Lawrence's style; don't miss the introduction by Brian Finney, which gives this book rating its forth star.

[Robin Paull · Rating 5 out of 5]

Only someone with a little cruelty in them could write so vividly about cruelty. It made me shudder. I loved it.

[Jeremy Neal · Rating 5 out of 5]

Superb, each is like a shining jewel of literary revelation. Some say that aside from the major works, Lawrence is 'difficult', but I think what's more true is that Lawrence just isn't fashionable these days, and in the major works you simply cannot deny his genius, even if you wanted to, and were ignorant enough to try. This collection is fantastic; it cuts to the heart of what Lawrence is all about and each is a delight - some more so than others of course, and the template is in here for the Brangwen sisters of the Rainbow and Women in Love, so if you enjoyed those masterpieces then there is something here for you. Cannot rate this highly enough.

[Joshua Rhys · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the best short story collections I have been privileged enough to read. Only a couple of stories fall below the masterful level of the rest. The psychological sprawl of some of his longer novels is cut down, making this an ideal starting point for a curious reader. This volume proves that Lawrence doesn't always need an abundance of space to create his particular effect - he knows how to economise with a story too.

[Shivani A Pillai · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this beautiful amalgam of passion, struggle, death, longing and wonder, we find the mastery of D.H.Lawrence over Life and living blaze out in resplendent glory. Each story in this collection is a masterpiece, a tribute to the convoluted imperfection of human emotions and desires.
As usual, D.H. Lawrence can never disappoint.

[Ukelena · Rating 3 out of 5]

No sé si lo ha escrito D.H Lawrence o Freud

[leire · Rating 4 out of 5]

mi top 3: el oficial prusiano, la hija del tratante de caballos y una vez

[Maeve Sharrock · Rating 3 out of 5]

‘into the mind of german militarism…’ that was on the blurb and i think a very accurate description of the book, the psychological element on Lawrences writing was very insightfully/accurately/created empathy. I really liked it the characters were very real. Im not usually the biggest fan of short stories but this really drew me in.

[Hester · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lawrence is a restless soul , as would anyone be with a slow burner of a terminal illness . He writes without fear of class , of sex, or repression always asking bigger questions but never crushing the story or characters under their weight . Here he is emerging from his chrysalis and just beginning to soar .

[Galowa · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is astounding to read Lawrence's works in the reverse order of that in which they were written.

Every single story in this lovely, powerful collection carries some seed which later blossoms into an elemental part of Lady Chatterley's Lover - names, settings, vignettes! Here we see Lawrence using short stories almost as notebooks for what will in future become his novels, which is hardly to say his stories themselves are merely poor relations of his novels. Quite the opposite is true. These stories are seminal. We see him using each story as a means of capturing, clarifying, and crystalizing the essence of singular aspects of his collected memories of experience from his own life - lived or observed, or some amalgamation of the two - a blending of personal experience and observation into a magical expression of a higher, universal truth about what it means, how it feels, to be human; a struggle to which any person can relate.

I love Lawrence's fiction writing because it is so TRUE - so full of recognizable human truth that we know it to be true, to be real - with only names and a few factual details changed to protect the 'identifiable'; (for in Lawrence's universe few, if any, are truly 'innocent'...) To a large extent each of us is the author of our own story, are we not? And so, ultimately, we are what makes us - experience and reaction.

Lawrence's observations are poignant, and on target. As always, his writing is exquisite - simple yet piercing, technically impeccable, and fully, excruciatingly alive.

[Georgia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lawrence just has a way, doesn't he? So many of these are deeply autobiographical, but there's so much within these pages that I don't think he can have lived it all - a good proportion of this collection must be invented, and it's that which I think shows just how powerful an author he is. He doesn't just report, he creates, and down to the smallest flicker of emotion, the emptiest space behind an action. It's brilliant, and he's one of my favourites. Just don't expect to finish any of these stories feeling light-hearted.

[Randy Hendrickson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Having read this directly after finishing 'Sons And Lovers', I cannot but view it as an extended remix on many of those themes, with particular emphasis on the sordid lives of working class colliers. Some of these are pretty rough, but there are a few standouts. I particularly like the completely fleshed out and polished short 'The Shades of Spring'. Otherwise, many of these seem to be the the very sketches and experiments that birthed 'Sons and Lovers'.

[Brian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some gruelling, violent stories, not to be missed, but I still feel his short-story telling abilities were to develop further in later volumes. The ones that I appreciated most here had more to do with personal situations and tragedies - "The White Stocking" or ''Odour of Chrysanthemums'' , for example.

[Jeremy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Was this what it all meant — utter, intact separateness, obscured by heat of living?

Odour of Chrysanthemums, good place to start with Lawrence's prose, along with White Stocking, Shades of Spring, Thorn in the Flesh.

[X · Rating 2 out of 5]

Eh. The death scene in the first story goes on WAY too long. And overall this book gives me the vibe of being written by an ancient proto-MGTOW guy who thinks his wife doesn’t understand him but will appreciate him when he dies.

[Gabrielle · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like Lawrence's writing style, but (like most Modernists I've read so far) his subjects are predominantly too pessimistic for me.

[Margo Montes de Oca · Rating 3 out of 5]

prefer his poetry a million per cent... i think mansfield gave him shit once for being too phallic and he deserves it

[Michael Kerjman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Saturated with sexualised emotions, his stories hardly cover a very grey reality surrounding the characters.
His attitude towards clergy is explisitly exhibited with a story "Daughters of Vicar", but was such vicar an exempt among other "our betters"?

Perhaps, a legacy of the writer is immortal because developments of contraceptics and progress of techniques changed human virtues he described a little if at all.

[William Dove · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bleak and very sad.

[Michael Vawser]

Reprint 1980

[Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice collection of D H Lawrence’s work.

[Ciang Loh · Rating 4 out of 5]

The description of nature beauty was enthralling , I could literally smell and sense from the writing.

However most of the story is quite dark (the Prussian officer) and some very depressing (eg The sick collier). It is my belief the interpersonal and self isolation of various protagonists are equally real in today modern world.

Though the class system and segregation of early last century were days of the past , don’t we have our unspoken and invisible class system that segregate from our modern fellow men ? The worker status definitely up a few notches compared to one century ago, I supposed could be seen as progress in social development.

Some may like Lawrence style of letting readers decide the endings , as for me some of the stories ended too abruptly, not that I do not have my preferred endings but I would like to know what is Lawrence ending , knowing the short stories was based on his life experience.

[Abby · Rating 4 out of 5]

This collection of short stories was my first foray into DHL territory, under the guidance of uni, and I actually really enjoyed it. I wasn't sure what to expect as opinion on DHL seems rather polarised into a love/hate type dilemma but, I came away pleasantly surprised by this book. The short story style was a great introduction into DHL as these stories worked alone and as part of the collection.
I am a fan of books that examine sexuality and gender issues and these stories certainly did not disappoint. DHL was ahead of his time: he discusses homosexuality, violence (S&M behaviours) and the various forms that love takes and how it affects not only individuals but their relationships and perceptions on life. It is a fascinating examination of human interaction at is its most basic but complex level.

[Cyndi · Rating 3 out of 5]

As someone who normally reads crime/thriller/fantasy novels, this was a bit of a departure for me. I remember reading a few of these back in high school and wanted to go back to them to see what I thought of them now.

While I have an appreciation for what DH Lawrence was trying to do at the time with these short stories, overall I found them to be not my style. Lawrence is very skilled at giving his characters depth in a very short number of words, but I like plots with a lot of complexity. These short stories capture just a short moment in time - enough to delve deeply into the turmoil a character may be experiencing, but lacking the kind of plot I usually enjoy. Would recommend for those who enjoy complex and flawed characters without the plot element.

[Seema Dubey · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book was 1st published on 26.11.1914, more than a century back containing following stories:
1. The Prussian Officer,
2. The Thorn in the Flesh,
3. Daughters of the Vicar,
4. A Fragment of Stained Glass,
5. The Shades of Spring,
6. Second Best,
7. The Shadow in the Rose Garden,
8. Goose Fair,
9. The White Stocking,
10. A Sick Collier,
11. The Christening,
12. Odour of Chrysanthemums"

Slice of Life stories. Lawrence uses words judiciously, his writing is crisp, descriptive and the imagery it evokes is enviable. Each story has an aspect of "relationship", the challenges, compromises, joys...

#ThePrussianOfficerAndOtherStories #DHLawrence

[Bee · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a great intro to DH Lawrence's work. I really enjoyed some of the stories, my favourites been 'Daughters of the Vicar', 'The Shadow in the Rose Garden' and 'Odour of Chrysanthemums', which were all to me 5 star stories. However, the collection as a whole I would rate 3 stars, simply as some of the stories I didn't like, and had to push through to finish them.