Women in Love

By: D. H. Lawrence

Narrated by: Paul Slack

Length: 20 hrs and 47 mins

Publisher's Summary

Considered the most widely read novel of the 20th century, D. H. Lawrence's fiery fifth book continues the loves and lives of The Rainbow's Brangwen sisters, Gudrun and Ursula. Gerald Crich, son of a wealthy colliery owner, captures the heart of Gudrun, while Ursula becomes enamored with Rupert Birkin, a school inspector - their complex relationship likely modelled on that between Lawrence, his wife Frieda, and John Middleton Murry and Katherine Mansfield. Things are far from harmonious, and the discord and conflict leads to many heated and elaborate philosophical discussions about modern society and the nature of love, while tragedy looms large. Lawrence held this to be his best book, and F. R. Leavis regarded it to be his most profound and rewarding.

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Public Domain (P)2017 Naxos AudioBooks

Performance made the book easier to understand

What made the experience of listening to Women in Love the most enjoyable?

The book is long and the language gets little difficult at times but listening to it made it easier and not give up on the book. It was worth it to finish this book.

What other book might you compare Women in Love to and why?

Perhaps Anna Karenina. Lawrence really explores what makes one form a relationship and what causes it to break up.

What does Paul Slack bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

He was very good enhancing the experience though some of what he read was not in the book I was reading while listening so not sure if there was a revised edition of this book.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

Love is work

Any additional comments?

Reading and listening makes the classic like this come alive.

Sometime Lawrence can be loquacious

Yup, Lawrence can be overly verbose and voluble - sometime to the point of frustration - but he does capture emotion and relationships well. It was a great listen and the voice actor gave a brilliant performance. Well worth the credit and time.

Women In Love? I struggled!

I did not enjoy the reading. Had I not been studying this book, I would not have continued & I love, D H Lawrence!

Difficult to finish

Although this book has a wide range of intense reflections on life - from interpersonal relationships and love to the meaning of life and societal structures such as marriage - I wouldn't call it an 'enjoyable' book. The story develops in fits and starts, and Lawrence's descriptions are repetitive, and overly verbose. There are so many philosophical ideas constantly being explored that it doesn't really fit together in a coherent whole, and the plot feels stunted and poorly executed, with sudden jumps and gaps, and other sections where there is hour after hour of minute detail. Despite this, the depth of the characters is satisfying, with their complexity and subtleties being explored in great detail. The narration is very engaging. However overall I would not recommend.