Synopses & Reviews
D.H. Lawrence's renowned creativity is conspicuous in his letters. He wrote to aristocrats, fellow authors, painters, publishers, and others from the intelligentsia--but with equal concern to his sisters, a childhood friend suffering from tuberculosis, a post office clerk or an Italian servant-girl. Lawrence reveled in the act of communication, using a direct, unvarnished but invariably vivid style appropriate to each correspondent. In this book, over 330 of Lawrence's letters, carefully chosen from the authoritative seven-volume Cambridge Edition exemplify Lawrence's artistry and humanness. In his introductory essay James T. Boulton provides a rare critical assessment of Lawrence's epistolary achievement. There are annotations to the letters, a biographical list of correspondents, brief chronological and descriptive introductions to each section and a full general index. This selection will appeal to Lawrence aficionados and will make good companion reading to his works.
Review
"The greatest virtue of this volume is that it does present readers with an entertaining overview of the flexibility of Lawrence's talent and his mind. The Selected Letters succeeds in representing Lawrence's quirky brilliance, his always surprising common sense, and above all else the sheer beauty of his writing." Carol Siegel, English Literature in Transition 1880-1920
Review
"Lawrence is his letters, the most vivid and engaging self-portrait left by any English writer since Keats. Unlike Keats, Lawrence traveled the world knowing that his life would be short, and he captured the spirit of each place in unforgettable phrases." The Week, Brenda Maddox
Synopsis
'The Selected Letters succeeds admirably in representing Lawrence's quirky brilliance, his always surprising common sense, and above all else the sheer beauty of his writing.' English Literature in Transition, 1880-1920
Synopsis
'This invigorating collection ... is ... a monument to scholarship for which we should be grateful.' D. H. Lawrence Review
Synopsis
Lawrence is one of the best English letter-writers: this is a selection of over 330 from the Cambridge Edition. Ranging across his writing career, they were addressed to the intelligentsia SH but also to a local politician in his home town, a Post Office clerk and an Italian servant-girl. Lawrence's epistolary skills whether describing the natural world, presenting a comic scene, denouncing some folly, hypocrisy or injustice, conveying sympathy on the death of a friend, expressing love for his wife-to-be, are all here, and much more besides.
Table of Contents
Introduction; Biographical list of correspondents; Letters: 1. The formative years, 1885-1913; 2. The Rainbow and Women in Love, 1913-1916; 3. Cornwall and Italy, 1916-1921; 4. Eastwards to the new world, 1921-1924; 5. New Mexico, Mexico and Italy, 1924-1927; 6. Europe and Lady Chatterley's Lover, 1927-1928; 7. Decline and death, 1928-1930.