DH Lawrence Challenge 2010

DH Lawrence (1885-1930).

Controversial. Censored. Persecuted.

Misunderstood or just way ahead of his time?

I'm liking these literary challenges being posted around various blogs, because they get people reading, and perhaps reading things they would otherwise not get around to. As I found DH Lawrence omnibus book in a charity shop recently, and have been curious to host one myself, I decided that would be the subject. Not only because I enjoy his writing and his thoughts on society and people, but also, because I like the regional aspect of it: DH Lawrence was from Eastwood in Nottinghamshire, 20 minutes down the road! :)

I first read Lady Chatterley's Lover after a classmate let me borrow it, as she thought I might like it. I don't recall exactly what the discussion around it was, as it was in 2003, but one day, she brought it with her, and I started reading it, not quite knowing what to expect. I had heard of the title before, certainly, but had never actually read it. I found the book not just excellent in how it was written, but it felt really modern, even though it was written in the 1920s. The thoughts it contained intrigued me, and most of all, the book wasn't a load of smut, but actually a beautiful and passionate love story about two people who find each other and fall in love. Perhaps that's why it felt so timeless.


Challenge Details
The challenge will run from 1 July 2010 to 31 December 2010, but you can post reviews before this, if you're eager to get going! Read, watch or listen to anything DH Lawrence-related (original works, letters, literary criticism, etc.) during this time. You can re-read, re-watch and re-listen all you like. The goal is to have read/watched/listened to at least four items during the challenge's duration. How many you choose to do is up to you, but the more the merrier, right? :)

To participate, please sign up with your name/blog using the form below, and please leave a comment saying how many items you're aiming for (don't worry, you can change your mind as you go along):


Please link back to this post if you're using the image above, so that others who might be interested can participate as well. A link to where you can post your reviews will be up closer to the time... it's a while yet, after all! :)

Works by DH Lawrence
So, what's there to read? What has DH Lawrence written, aside from the infamous Lady Chatterley's Lover? I wasn't too sure of this myself, so I have shamelessly copied the following off Wikipedia, where you can also find a list of books about DH Lawrence, as well as a list of literary criticisms. The list below is not conclusive, but at least it's a starting point. If you find anything you'd like to recommend to others, please feel free to do so.

Novels

• The White Peacock (1911)
• The Trespasser (1912)
• Sons and Lovers (1913)
• The Rainbow (1915)
• Women in Love (1920)
• The Lost Girl (1920)
• Aaron's Rod (1922)
• Kangaroo (1923)
• The Boy in the Bush (1924)
• The Plumed Serpent (1926)
• Lady Chatterley's Lover (1928)
• The Escaped Cock (1929) (later re-published as The Man Who Died)
• The Virgin and the Gypsy (1930)

Short stories

• The Odour of Chrysanthemums (1914)
• The Prussian Officer and Other Stories (1914)
• England, My England and Other Stories (1922)
• The Horse Dealer's Daughter (1922)
• The Fox, The Captain's Doll, The Ladybird (1923)
• St Mawr and other stories (1925)
• The Woman who Rode Away and other stories (1928)
• The Rocking-Horse Winner (1926)
• The Virgin and the Gipsy and Other Stories (1930)
• Love Among the Haystacks and other stories (1930)
• Collected Stories (1994) - Everyman's Library, a comprehensive one volume edition that prints all sixty two of Lawrence's shorter fictions in chronological sequence

Poetry

• Love Poems and others (1913)
• Amores (1916)
• Look! We have come through! (1917)
• New Poems (1918)
• Bay: a book of poems (1919)
• Tortoises (1921)
• Birds, Beasts and Flowers (1923)
• The Collected Poems of D H Lawrence (1928)
• Pansies (1929)
• Nettles (1930)
• Last Poems (1932)
• Fire and other poems (1940)
• The Complete Poems of D H Lawrence (1964)
• The White Horse (1964)
• D. H. Lawrence: Selected Poems (1972)

Plays

• The Daughter-in-Law (1912)
• The Widowing of Mrs Holroyd (1914)
• Touch and Go (1920)
• David (1926)
• The Fight for Barbara (1933)
• A Collier's Friday Night (1934)
• The Married Man (1940)
• The Merry-go-round (1941)
• The Complete Plays of D H Lawrence (1965)
• The Plays

Non-fiction

• Study of Thomas Hardy and other essays (1914)
• Movements in European History (1921)
• Psychoanalysis and the Unconscious and Fantasia of the Unconscious (1921/1922)
• Studies in Classic American Literature (1923)
• Reflections on the Death of a Porcupine and other essays (1925)
• A Propos of Lady Chatterley's Lover (1929) - Lawrence wrote this pamphlet to explain his most notorious novel
• Apocalypse and the writings on Revelation (1931)
• Phoenix: The Posthumous Papers of D. H. Lawrence (1936)
• Phoenix II: Uncollected, Unpublished and Other Prose Works by D. H. Lawrence (1968)
• Introductions and Reviews
• Late Essays and Articles
• Selected Letters, Oneworld Classics, 2008

Travel books

• Twilight in Italy and Other Essays (1916)
• Sea and Sardinia (1921)
• Mornings in Mexico (1927)
• Sketches of Etruscan Places and other Italian essays (1932)

Works translated by Lawrence

• Lev Isaakovich Shestov All Things are Possible (1920)
• Ivan Alekseyevich Bunin The Gentleman from San Francisco (1922), tr. with S. S. Koteliansky
• Giovanni Verga Mastro-Don Gesualdo (1923)
• Giovanni Verga Little Novels of Sicily (1925)
• Giovanni Verga Cavalleria Rusticana and other stories (1928)
• Antonio Francesco Grazzini The Story of Doctor Manente (1929)

Manuscripts and early drafts of published novels and other works

• Paul Morel (1911-12), an early manuscript version of Sons and Lovers
• The First Women in Love (1916-17)
• Mr Noon (1920?) - Parts I and II
• The Symbolic Meaning: The Uncollected Versions of Studies in Classic American Literature
• Quetzalcoatl (1925), Early draft of The Plumed Serpent
• The First and Second Lady Chatterley novels - These two books, The First Lady Chatterley and John Thomas and Lady Jane were earlier drafts of Lawrence's last novel

Letters

• The Letters of D. H. Lawrence, Volume I, September 1901 - May 1913
• The Letters of D. H. Lawrence, Volume II, June 1913 - October 1916
• The Letters of D. H. Lawrence, Volume III, October 1916 - June 1921
• The Letters of D. H. Lawrence, Volume IV, June 1921 - March 1924
• The Letters of D. H. Lawrence, Volume V, March 1924 - March 1927
• The Letters of D. H. Lawrence, Volume VI, March 1927 - November 1928
• The Letters of D. H. Lawrence, Volume VII, November 1928 - February 1930
• The Letters of D. H. Lawrence, with index, Volume VIII
• The Selected Letters of D H Lawrence

Books on film
(shamlessly copied off IMDb)

1. Lady Chatterley (2006) (novel)
   ... aka Lady Chatterley et l'homme des bois (France: TV title)
2. Sons & Lovers (2003) (TV) (novel)
3. Odour of Chrysantemums (2002) (short story)
   
4. Ang kabit ni Mrs. Montero (1999) (novel "Lady Chatterley's Lover")
5. The Rocking Horse Winner (1997) (story)
6. "Performance" (1 episode, 1995)
       - The Widowing of Mrs. Holroyd (1995) TV episode (play)
7. La fidèle infidèle (1995) (TV) (short story "Deux oiseaux bleus")
8. "Lady Chatterley" (4 episodes, 1993) 
9. Pozemsky nepokoj (1993) (story)
   ... aka Earthly Disturbance (International: English title)
   
10. The Rainbow (1989) (adapted from the novel by)
11. "The Rainbow" (1 episode, 1988)
        - Ghosts (1988) TV episode (novel)
12. Kangaroo (1987) (novel)
13. Young Lady Chatterley II (1985) (novel "Lady Chatterley's Lover")
14. Samson and Delilah (1985) (novella)
15. "Boy in the Bush" (1984) TV mini-series (novel)
16. The Captain's Doll (1983) (TV) (short story)
17. The Rocking Horse Winner (1983) (novella)
18. The Horse Dealer's Daughter (1983) (story)
19. The Trespasser (1981) (TV) (novel)
20. Lady Chatterley's Lover (1981) (novel)
    ... aka L'amant de lady Chatterley (France)
    ... aka Lady Chatterley's Liebhaber (West Germany)
21. "Sons and Lovers" (1981) TV mini-series (novel)
    ... aka Masterpiece Theatre: Sons and Lovers (USA)
    
22. Young Lady Chatterley (1977) (novel "Lady Chatterley's Lover")
    ... aka Naked Young Lady (USA: reissue title)
23. "Scene" (1 episode, 1976)
        - A Collier's Friday Night: Part 1 (1976) TV episode (book)
24. "Ten from the Twenties" (1 episode, 1975)
        - Fanny and Annie (1975) TV episode (short story)
25. De schoondochter (1974) (TV) (writer)
    ... aka The Daughter-in-Law (International: English title)
26. The Widowing of Mrs. Holroyd (1974/I) (TV) (play)
27. Weduwe Holroyd (1974) (TV) (writer)
    ... aka The Widowing of Mrs. Holroyd (International: English title)
28. Petak vece (1972) (TV) (novel)
29. The Virgin and the Gypsy (1970) (novel) (uncredited)
    ... aka D.H. Lawrence's The Virgin and the Gypsy (UK: complete title)
30. Udovistvo gospodje Holrojd (1970) (TV) (writer)
    
31. Women in Love (1969) (novel)
32. Snaha (1969) (TV) (novel)
33. "The Jazz Age" (1 episode, 1968)
        - The Princess (1968) TV episode (short story)
34. The Fox (1967) (story)
    ... aka D.H. Lawrence's The Fox (USA: complete title)
35. "ITV Playhouse" (3 episodes, 1967)
        - The Stories of D.H. Lawrence: None of That (1967) TV episode (novel)
        - The Stories of D.H. Lawrence: The Thorn in the Flesh (1967) TV episode (novel)
        - The Stories of D.H. Lawrence: The Prussian Officer (1967) TV episode (novel)
36. "ITV Play of the Week" (2 episodes, 1966-1967)
    ... aka Play of the Week (UK: short title)
        - Stories of D.H Lawrence #9: Strike Pay (1967) TV episode (story)
        - Stories of D.H. Lawrence #6: The Blind Man (1966) TV episode (story)
37. Sons and Lovers (1960) (novel)
    ... aka D.H. Lawrence's Sons and Lovers (Australia)
    
38. L'amant de lady Chatterley (1955) (novel "Lady Chatterley's Lover")
    ... aka Lady Chatterley's Lover (USA)
39. "Lilli Palmer Theatre" (1 episode)
    ... aka Theatre Royal (UK)
        - The Stocking (????) TV episode (short story)
    
40. The Rocking Horse Winner (1949) (story)
41. "The Philco Television Playhouse" (1 episode, 1949)
    ... aka Arena Theatre (USA: new title)
    ... aka Repertory Theatre (USA: new title)
    ... aka The Philco-Goodyear Television Playhouse (USA: new title)
        - You Touched Me! (1949) TV episode (story)