http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p...OldAdamCD2.jpg
Our new story is:
The Old Adam
You can find the full-online text to story here:
Collected Short Stories (A Project Gutenberg of Australia compliation)
http://gutenberg.net.au/pages/lawrence.html
This story can be found in the first volume of the
“Collected Short Stories of D.H.Lawrence”
One can purchase the audio CD or Download:
http://www.amazon.com/Old-Adam-D-H-L.../dp/B000Y91ZDS
For download, look here:
http://www.amazon.com/The-Old-Adam/d...music_cd_album
Note: download costs only $1.98 from Amazon;
you can sample the narration before buying.
Here is some information and background on the story:
This story was begun in 1911 and yet the publication date is 1934, four years after Lawrence’s death. Note: ‘Witch a la Mode’ was also published that year, but written (conceived of) during this same (earlier) period.
In 1911 these events were documented in Lawrence’s life. Italics are Lawrence own words in his diary entries or letters to friends, family, associates, etc.
From: D.H.Lawrence, A calender of his works, by Sagar
Quote:
SUMMARY …and, in the sick year after [the death of his mother], the collapse of me of Miriam [Jessie Chambers], of Helen [Corke], and of the other woman, the woman of ‘Kisses in the Train” and ‘Hands of the Betrothed’ Louie Burrows]. Then, in that year, for me, everything collapsed, save the mystery of death, and the haunting of death in life. I was twenty-five, and from the death of my mother, the world began to dissolve around me, beautiful, iridescent, but passing away substanceless. Till I almost dissolved away myself, and was very ill.
Quote:
Lawrence continued to work on Paul Moral. He wrote the first versions of the stories, ultimately known as ‘The Witch a la Mode’, ‘The Old Adam’, ‘Daughters of the Vicar’, ‘Second Best’, ‘Shades of Spring’ and rewrote most of his earlier stories.
Interesting to note, is the fact that we have discussed two of these stories, soon to be a third. I also am considering the remaining two, for later dates. I know that ‘Daughters of the Vicar’ is a very noteworthy Lawrence story, but it is much longer than we have encountered, so far. However, when we all have the time, I think that fine story would be well worth discussing.
Another interesting thing I noticed when browsing through the timeline book, is that at this time, Lawrence was doing a lot of painting. I found this direct reference to the painting I posted above, ‘Idyll’, by Greiffenhagen:
Quote:
27 MARCH To Ada Clarke: I’ve painted you a little Idyll, about 14 by 7. Do you remember? I began to draw it the night mother died, and I said I should never finish it. Now I’ve done a big one for Louie, and a little one for you.
29 MARCH I began a new sketch, but have spoiled it through not being in the painting humour. Strange, when I can write I can’t paint, and vice versa.
14 JUNE I’ve worked quite hard: begun a picture, long promised, for Mac., and written a short story, 32 pages long, in two nights. Smart work, eh? …By the way, I’ve got a ‘Swan’ number of the Studio. Rather a nice tiger.
Lawrence saw Louie Burrows at Whiteuntide and apparently showed her his story ‘The Old Adam’ (Why mustn’t I write Old Adams?). But the only surviving holograph MS of the ‘The Old Adam’ is only 27 pp. Possibly the 32 –pp. MS was the first draft of ‘Two Marriages’.
1 SEPT: In the account for this day, apparently, Lawrence’s publisher Harrison accepted one of two stories Lawrence send to him – ‘Second Best’ and he returned ‘The Old Adam’. Then Lawrence forwarded the story to his other publisher, Garnett, “describing it as ‘wicked’ but ‘clever’. It was assumed he was referring to ‘ The Old Adam’.
Now oddly enough, this story must have gone through several re-writes or revisions and wasn’t published, until after Lawrence’s death in 1934; Lawrence died in March of 1930 at the age of 44.
Michael Black briefly comments on the story here:
Quote:
Readers of the earlier stories also become aware of this tendency to be attracted towards a rival, who is threadening because he also wants, or has won, the chosen girl, and yet is somehow very winning as a male: indeed he is seen as through a girl’s eyes. An extreme variant of the motif is seen in ‘The Old Adam’, where the hero, Edward Severn, is like Lawrence living in Croydon with the Jones family, who gave him lodging. Severn is briefly attracted by the landlady – there is a moment of wordless magnetism activated by a thunderstorm.
That is all I am going to say about the story for now; I thought this would be enough to pique all of your interest. So have fun reading it; or listening to the audiofile, if you have the inclination to download it. I am hoping to myself. I think this story is interesting, in that the setting and the atmosphere it evokes is a bit different, taking place during a lightening and thunderstorm.
Have fun reading or listening to the audiofile!
