Cette longue nouvelle écrite en 1926 met en scène un individu à la fois idéaliste et misanthrope qui acquiert à l'âge de 35 ans une île dans l'intention de la transformer et de créer un univers dont il sera le maître.Ses espoirs déçus, il s'installe sur une deuxième île plus petite et sombre peu à peu dans la plus totale indifférence avant de finir hanté par ses obsessions.

L'homme qui aimait les îles

Ursula and Gudrun Brangwen sat one morning in the window-bay of their father's house in Beldover, working and talking. Ursula was stitching a piece of brightly-coloured embroidery, and Gudrun was drawing upon a board which she held on her knee. They were mostly silent, talking as their thoughts strayed through their minds.

'Ursula, ' said Gudrun, 'don't you REALLY WANT to get married?' Ursula laid her embroidery in her lap and looked up. Her face was calm and considerate.

'I don't know, ' she replied. 'It depends how you mean.'

Gudrun was slightly taken aback. She watched her sister for some moments.

'Well, ' she said, ironically, 'it usually means one thing! But don't you think anyhow, you'd be-' she darkened slightly-'in a better position than you are in now.'

A shadow came over Ursula's face.

'I might, ' she said. 'But I'm not sure.'

Women in Love

Gertrude Morel lebt im der englischen Bergarbeiterdorf Bestwood. Sie kümmert sich intensiv um die Zukunft ihrer Kinder und unterstützt deren gesellschaftlichen Aufstieg. Nachdem ihr Sohn William seine Ausbildung abgeschlossen hat, bewirbt er sich erfolgreich in einer Anwaltskanzlei. Auch privat scheint sich bei ihm alles gut zu entwickeln: Er verlobt sich mit der attraktiven Lily. Doch anstatt sich zu freuen, reagiert seine Mutter eifersüchtig. 

In seinem Bestseller »Söhne und Liebhaber« von 1913 entwickelt D. H. Lawrence eine psychologische Studie der komplexen Beziehung zwischen Mutter und Sohn. »Söhne und Liebhaber« enthält zahlreiche autobiografische Elemente. Das Bergarbeiterdorf Bestwood aus dem Roman ähnelt in vielem dem Dorf Eastwood, in dem D. H. Lawrence aufwuchs.

Söhne und Liebhaber

Connie's unhappy marriage to Clifford Chatterley is one scarred by mutual frustration and alienation. Crippled from wartime action, Clifford is confined to a wheelchair, while Connie's solitary, sterile existence is contained within the narrow parameters of the Chatterley ancestral home, Wragby. She seizes her chance at happiness and freedom when she embarks on a passionate affair with the estate's gamekeeper, Mellors, discovering a world of sexual opportunity and pleasure she'd thought lost to her. The explosive passion of Connie and Mellors' relationship - and the searing candour with which it is described - marked a watershed in twentieth-century fiction, garnering Lady Chatterley's Lover a wide and enduring readership and lasting notoriety. The text is taken from the privately published Author's Unabridged Popular Edition of 1930, the last to be supervised in D. H. Lawrence's lifetime. It also includes his witty essay, My Skirmish with Jolly Roger, describing the pirating of this infamous novel. This Macmillan Collector's Library edition of Lady Chatterley's Lover features an afterword by editor and publisher, Anna South. Part of the Macmillan Collector's Library; a series of stunning, clothbound, pocket-sized classics with gold foiled edges and ribbon markers. These beautiful books make perfect gifts or a treat for any book lover.

Lady Chatterley's Lover

I stood watching the shadowy fish slide through the gloom of the millpond. They were grey, descendants of the silvery things that had darted away from the monks, in the young days when the valley was lusty. The whole place was gathered in the musing of old age. The thick-piled trees on the far shore were too dark and sober to dally with the sun; the weeds stood crowded and motionless. Not even a little wind flickered the willows of the islets. The water lay softly, intensely still. Only the thin stream falling through the millrace murmured to itself of the tumult of life which had once quickened the valley.

I was almost startled into the water from my perch on the alder roots by a voice saying:

"Well, what is there to look at?" My friend was a young farmer, stoutly built, brown-eyed, with a naturally fair skin burned dark and freckled in patches. He laughed, seeing me start, and looked down at me with lazy curiosity.

The White Peacock

Set during the First World War, "The Fox" is the story of Banford and March, two women who live and work together on a farm. Unmarried and in their late twenties, the two expect to remain spinsters and thus have settled into a routine life of farm-work. When a wily fox begins to make trouble on their farm, the pair set out to do away with it, but when March comes face-to-face with the fox, she finds she cannot harm it. HarperPerennial Classics brings great works of literature to life in digital format, upholding the highest standards in ebook production and celebrating reading in all its forms. Look for more titles in the HarperPerennial Classics collection to build your digital library.

The Fox - Short Story

"Odour of Chrysanthemums" is the story of Elizabeth, a young wife and mother waiting for her alcoholic husband, Walter, to return home from what she assumes is another night of drinking. This assumption, along with Elizabeth's pre-conceptions about her husband and their relationship are broken down when his body is brought home from the coal mine where he works. In "Odour of Chrysanthemums" author D. H. Lawrence explores the concept of human isolation and the nature of love and relationships. With the sudden death of her husband Elizabeth is forced to re-examine her opinions and beliefs, shedding light on a marriage she had given up on long before. HarperPerennial Classics brings great works of literature to life in digital format, upholding the highest standards in ebook production and celebrating reading in all its forms. Look for more titles in the HarperPerennial Classics collection to build your digital library.

Odour Of Chrysanthemums - Short Story

«Comment situer Les filles du pasteur dans l'oeuvre de Lawrence ? Ce n'est qu'une nouvelle, mais Lawrence est un maître reconnu de ce genre. Dans la célèbre étude de 1953, Lawrence romancier, le critique F. R. Leavis lui consacre un chapitre entier. Par sa construction, c'est presque un roman et on y trouve en raccourci les thèmes et les intuitions des oeuvres de la première période, avec cette profondeur d'observation qui nous force à reconnaître la vérité des personnages, alors même qu'ils se comportent à l'inverse des stéréotypes dont nous avons l'habitude.»Bernard Jean.

L'homme qui aimait les îles

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