THE LIFE OF D.H. LAWRENCE

by Keith M. Sagar ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 1, 1980

Two hundred-and-some photographs not only complement Sagar's new biography of Lawrence, they substantiante it. The image most haunting of all here is of Lawrence's face once he'd come to Taos: the boyish sweep of hair across the brow, the large nose, the spadey beard--it all turns suddenly needle-like, sharp cheekbones of TB, a face that looks used-up. And we know the users-up: Frieda. the Murrys, Mabel Dodge Luhan, and Lawrence's avidness for daily complication, itself. Yet, beside the photos, Sagar has little new or different to offer, certainly nothing on the level of Paul Delany's recent D.H. Lawrence's Nightmare (1978). His zeal to credit his source material leads to the book being organized, visually, into so many separated paragraphs that it's like reading a blocky, retrospective curriculum vitae. And according to whether Sagar likes or doesn't like the principals, the cast of characters get short shrift: Frieda seems no more important than Carresse Crosby. A shapeless book, then, a ticker-tape biography, enlivened, even legitimized only by its copious illustrations.

Pub Date: April 1, 1980

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Pantheon

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 1980

Categories: NONFICTION