Sons and Lovers, take 1

Well well, Sons and Lovers. This is one of those books that has been sitting on my to-read shelf for a long, long time, and not I can't quite remember why. Let me be honest: if it weren't for this project, I probably wouldn't ever have finished it. That said... Sons and Lovers is a story that is many things: history, family saga, autobiography, and a passionate tale of love between... mother and son.

Readability: Not too bad, really. The language isn't too difficult, except for when Mr. Morel opens his mouth. Good thing he's so irrelevant, because if he talked more I'm not sure I could have handled it. Example: "You'll be havin' th' roof in, one o' thse days.' An' I says, tha'd better stan' on a bit o' clunch, then, an' hold it up wi' thy 'ead. So 'e wor that mad, 'e cossed an' e' swore, an' t'other chaps they did laugh." Okay, so he's a miner, but the colloquial bits are hard to get through.

Enjoyability: I would give it 2 of 5 stars. I thought it was repetitive, somewhat boring, and I didn't really like any of the characters.
And seriously, every other minute Lawrence describes someone as 'and then he loved her,' and then 5 seconds later says 'and then he hated her.' The characters are all petty and cruel to eachother, even when they're in love. Redeeming qualities? I did really like the last few pages, when Paul is coming to terms with being alone in the world and is having to make the ultimate choice between life and death. The writing is just lovely, and it made me wish there had been a bit more of that earlier on.

Best quote:
"Where was he?--one tiny upright speck of flesh, less than an ear of wheat lost in the field. He could not bear it. On every side the immense dark silence seemed pressing him, so tiny a spark, into extinction, and yet, almost nothing, he could not be extinct. Night, in which everything was lost, went reaching out, beyond stars and sun. Stars and sun, a few bright grains, went spinning round for terror, and holding each other in embrace, there in a darkness that outpassed them all, and left them tiny and daunted. So much, and himself infinitesimal, at the core of nothingness, and yet not nothing."

Favorite/least favorite characters: This is going to sound sexist, but I basically hated all the male characters. Mr. Morel is an abusive alcoholic, William is a bully, Paul is a jerk and a self-centered baby. I wasn't super fond of any of the women, either - Mrs. Morel loves her children but is super clingy and cares more about herself then about them being happy. Clara intrigued me - a suffragette! But she too lets Paul treat her badly and then goes back to her jerk of a husband. Poor Miriam also allows Paul to treat her badly and is kind of pathetic. Annie is one person I wanted to hear more from - she is barely mentioned, except at the very end. I know this is sometimes considered a very modern model for it's time, but the gender roles are as entrenched here as anywhere.

Modern day equivalent of the Morel family: Arrested Development's the Bluths, of course. Mr. Morel is George Bluth, the figure head, but who actually doesn't have the most power in the family. Mrs. Morel is Lucille, the person who actually holds the power, and clings obsessively to her children. William is Michael, the eldest and most ambitious. William, for obvious reasons (no spoilers here though!), can't "keep the family together," and is actually quite an ass. Annie is Lindsey, Arthur is Job (rash, terrible decision maker, not bothered about much by the family), and of course Paul is Buster. The comparisons are endless - Paul is in love with his mother, refuses to commit to either of the age-appropriate women in his life because of his mother, etc. etc. The best example? Paul says "No, mother - I really don't love her. I talk to her, but I want to come home to you!" Okay, Paul, we know. If there was a 'Motherboy' dance in 1900, you would have been there.

Social impact: At the time Sons and Lovers first came out, it was one of the first books to look at the lives of the lower classes and I agree it does a good job showing us what their lives were like. It also examines sexuality much more openly than other literature of the time, although I'm not sure this is a strength - parts of this read like a bad romance novel.