
Originally Posted by
Janine
Hi Pensive, Most certainly Lawrence did write books that were banned, and many publishers would not touch them. He had to have "Lady Chatterly's Lover" published independently and pay for it himself, then he sold the books independently, as well. Many were actually confiscated. He painted later in his life and had a show and many of the paintings were confiscated, also, which made Lawrence raving mad. Lawrence was quite the 'scandal' of the day and an outrage to the stuffy London society people.
Referring to your mother's time, note that my own time was the 1950's, 1960's 1970's, 80's..... I think I first read Lawrence when I was about 28, so that would place it in the late 70's. Lawrence wrote his books much earlier than all these dates. He started in the early part of the century. It was a much different time back then and his books were quite "racey" for that time; now people would probably say, "What was all the fuss about?" It is the same with many authors, especially Joyce. Lawrence and Joyce broke new ground, but both became self-impossed exiles from the British Isles.
Also, locality makes a big difference. Many of L's novels were first published in the US, so that he became better accepted there. American's accepted his novels more readily than the English. In Europe, he also was accepted, but his own England is where the banning took place. He was bitter about that, among other incidents and felt deep rejection for years about his homeland.
I think if you read either L's biography in Wikipedida, or on this site it will mention all the problems Lawrence had with books getting published. I think that "The Rainbow" also was pulled from shelves originally. I read 3 biographies and England gave Lawrence so much trouble. I will have to look up specific things and get back to you. Presently the 3 biops are like a big soup swimming around in my head. Hard to be specific without reviewing what I have read the last few years.
So Pensive, does this entice you to read Lawrence?