Quote by Virgil,
Sorry, Virg, didn't mean to misquote you. I thought it was a 'good' story, too.Quote:
Well, I didn't say it was bad or disappointing. It was a good story.
Quote by Quark
Yep, Quark, you are right; at least I was trying to sneak in a mini-vacation. I have still been on this computer nearly everyday, but last night, I came home from eating out and wanted to watch a DVD and so I did not even turn the computer on....that is a first for me! I should just make myself turn it off every night at a certain time; I have been getting ridiculous lately, staying up much too late. Actually, don't worry, Quark, the part about 'falling into oblivion' was just a joke, but this way I did get all your attention and the thread back onto the first page again. Hahaha - the incest thread is still leading at the top - actually kind of pathetic, I think.:(Quote:
Originally Posted by Quark
I read the story a number of times and everytime I read it I actually enjoyed it more so. I thought it was sort of a fun story - kind of black humor! Of course, at the time it was written, this humor was at the expense of others. Yes, I still do think the two blue dresses were significant and especially that L mentions the difference in the quality. I did not think this was clumsy writing. The more I read excerpts from this timeline book I have about L and thinks he mentions about the short stories, I realise just how meticulous he was about them and would often rewrite the story or parts, especially the endings, several times over. This is what makes me think it was not mistake of contriving to make the two dresses blue and contrasting. My only thought was why the secretary chose that particular dress and yet maybe she did not have others that were suited for the occasion. I will have to beam myself up to Lawrence and see if he can answer that for me today.;)Quote:
I enjoyed the dialogue, too. I also liked how the thoughts of the wife were written and how Lawrence developed the sense of distance between husband and wife. Other parts of the story disappointed me, though. The characters weren't as nuanced as some of the other characters we've seen, and the story-telling was a little clumsy at times--like Lawrence using the blue dresses to draw a parallel. I'm sure this will provoke more ire from you, but there were some problems with the story. Not everything in a Lawrence story is perfect. Overall, it was still pretty good. Like Virgil hinted, it wasn't the best story we've read, but it certainly wasn't the worst. Somewhere in the middle is where it falls in my estimation.
Well, two anthologies I know of are "The Prussian Officer and Other Short Stories', "England My England and Other Short Stories" - I own the second one, which I am looking at now. We discussed two of the stories in that one, and some others are strong possibilites. I read a few recently, I would consider discussing. There is only 10 stories in that edition. I counted all the stories in the "Complete Short Stories" (Vol 1,2,3) last night and came up with about 43. This does not include the longer shorts stories such as Love Among the Haystacks/St. Mawr/The Man Who Died. I read about 17 stories this year, a few others when younger. I seriously think I own the other edition I mentioned first (in this post), but I can't seem to locate it right now. I think it is online, or on this site. Some of the stories may be repeated in that book, too and many we already read. I will check the listing.Quote:
Recently I got the list of Lawrence anthologies that my book story can order. I'll have to email the list of what they have so you can help me make a decision.
Ok, bottomline - best thing is to PM me and send me the anthology list from your bookstore. If you have my regular email address send there, because my box is filling up, at too fast a pace; it hit 100% the past two days and I had to go and delete quickly.
Something to add now - just checked "The Prussian Officer and Other Stories" on here and there are 12 short stories and we have discussed 5 of those in this thread. The others are possibilities, but that only leaves 7, although some are longer ones like 'The Daughters of the Vicar' which we probably will eventually discuss, since it is one of his major and most popular stories. I have read some commentary on that one, but it is quite a bit longer, and I can't see doing that one, for awhile now. I'm too busy.
I compared the two collections, to see if any stories were repeated, and they were not, but that would only be half of the Lawrence short stories - 22 of the 43 or so he wrote. This is just why I ended up buying all three volumes of the "Complete Short Stories", which I had to buy used. Maybe your bookstore can order them now. They may have come back in print.
