Although out of print this volume and its companion volune PHOENIX are among my favorite collections. They are very insightful in areas D.H.L. is not usually recognized for.

In this volume one of my favorites is HYMNS IN A MAN'S LIFE. It starts "Nothing is more difficult than to determine what a child takes in, and does not take in, of its environment and its teaching..." Later, "...Love is a great emotion, and power is power. But both love and power are based on wonder. Love without wonder is a sensational affair, and power without wonder is mere force and compulsion. The one uiniversal element in consciousness which is fundamental to life is the element of wonder."

And consider D.H.L.'s insight into scientific research when he says: "Even the real scientist works in the sense of wonder. The pity is, when he comes out of his laboratory he puts aside his wonder along with his apparatus, and tries to make it all perfactly didactic. Science in its true condition of wonder is as religious as any religion..." In my work as a scientist I find this to be very true. The little hints, the inspiration, the hunches, the dead ends...none of these is acknowledged as one tries to make the result of the investigation perfectly logical.

He goes on to talk about his religious childhood and how it carried over into his adult life. Hear his recollections: "...I liked our chapel, which was tall and full of light, and yet still; and colour-washed pale green and blue, with a bit of lotus pattern. And over the organ-loft, 'O worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness,' in big letters."

D,H.L. had a rich background in the Bible, and it entered many of his works. The book APOCALYPSE is devoted in its entirely to the analysis of the Book of Revelation. An essay in the initial PHOENIX is titled "On Being Religious". His religion developed beyond the usual Christian dogma, and he gives top billing to The Holy Spirit.

The last two essays in PHOENIX II are titled: "On Being a Man", and "On Human Destiny." very provocative titles.

I have touched on the element of religion because D.H.L. usually is not associated with "religious" thoughts. A vast variety of other subjects are treated in other essays, as well as the full text of his novel MR NOON.

This book is one of my treasures!

Here is Lawrence in his full glory, from sensing exquisite subliminal messages found in nature ("understanding the gestures with which the flowers open," as Hesse has put it), to expousing and expounding sublimely ridiculous theories of education and behavior.

It is a Lawrence I love.

Is he being tongue in cheek, or does he really believe firmly in everything that passes from his pen to paper? It is up to the reader to ponder and decide.

You just have to dip you toe anywhere into this book of mostly unpublished essays and you will find a statement to draw you up short, questioning it, savoring it. My favorite essay in this collection is "On Being Religious." Being religious, you say. How can Lawrence know anything about that, earthy as his reputation is? But he does. And it is provocative. And it drives you to deeper thinking within yourself. Lawrence says no sooner do we place God in what we consider to be a proper setting for Him, than He moves. And we must follow, courageously, humbly, and enthusiastically if we are to split the rock of our humanness and get a glimpse of the divine.

For a striking political view consider this excerpt from the essay "Democracy." "...Not people melted into a oneness: that is not the new Democracy. But people released into their single starry identity, each one distinct and incommutable." This "living self" of Lawrence's is the opposite of Whitman's "En-Masse" or "One Identity," an ideal which Lawrence has no use for, since it subverts and dilutes the self, our most important possession. Lawrence has a love/hate relationship with Whitman, admiring his daring and adventurous spirit, but observing that Whitman has pitched his tent on the slope that leads to Death rather than Life.

It is impossible to try to review the contents of this fascinating book. In the first place the subjects of the essays range far and wide from nature to travel, from literature to education, from book reviews to art, from philosophy to personalia. In the second place Lawrence does not often stay on the subject he uses as a title. His is an almost free-association mode of writing, and for this reason people who like carefully-crafted paragraphs, leading to inescapably correct conclusions will probably not like these writings. They may contain as much error as they contain truth.

But this reader can forgive Lawrence, nay, even thank him for his excesses, because his heart and his mind are whole, and healthy, and vitally stimulating.

Ms. Kushigians book is quite the contrary to todays paper. It reminds me of the Barny show. By the way, my mom, Elizabeth Kushigian, just farted again!

This is an excellent review of the most common problems found in the clinical practice of Critical Care. It helps with the initial assessment of the patient and formulates a systematic approach to the differential diagnosis and therapeutic plan. The bibliography is updated and it has detailed illustrations and diagrams. Certainly, recommended as reference for those persons involved in the management of Critical Care patients.

The Prussian Officer is one of the most moving and striking stories I have ever read. The imagery and emotion that the reader expiriences will not soon be forgotten.

Sagar states in the introduction of this selection of D.H. Lawrence's poetry, "We have come to think of his poetry as something of a by-product of, or relaxation from, other more strenuous and important work". There is no doubt it was to an extent, however, what is clear is that he took it just as seriously as his other artistic pursuits. Casual readers of Lawrence may be surprised to learn that he wrote around 1000 poems in his 45-years. His poetry runs in near-parallel themes to his novels - for example, "Sons and Lovers" character Miriam was inspired by the muse of "Love Poems", Lawrence's' then sweetheart Jessie Chambers. "Sons and Lovers" focused upon the cruelty of love - platonic, romantic, and parental. Lawrence's poems from his "Love Poems" collection, "Cruelty and Love" and "Snap-Dragon" capture the same theme, albeit far more personally.

In this collection we see Lawrence's poetic skills evolve - from young rebel to world-weary mystic. It's his ability to capture emotion so clearly and concisely which is Lawrence's greatest skill. What also shines through in his poetry is a sense of playfulness - take "The Mosquito" as a case example:

"It is your trump,
It is your hateful little trump,
You pointed fiend,
Which shakes my sudden blood to hatred of you:
It is your small, high, hateful bugle in my ear."

The poem is altogether hilarious, depicting Lawrence as a hunter of the tiny yet vicious bug, who evades his every attempt to squash it until he finally, after much effort, succeeds. Much more than this, however, it demonstrates Lawrence's uncanny ability to capture the essence of nature and its creatures, best evidenced in "Snake".

Lawrence's poems are all full of energy and spirit, technically adept, and yet not limited by form. Admittedly some of his work is too personal, leaving the reader alienated, but his successful poetry (mostly presented in this collection) transcends time and culture.

This is a lovely novel. Rich writing and a great story. The first chapter is a bit boring, but you'll be glad if you read on.

A retired businessman who's always liked Lawrence, I bought this book because I wanted to know all about his "visual imagination," and I was not disappointed. The book, though written by a scholar, is about as lucid as you can get. I especially liked the fresh way it linked how writers and painters "think" in similar ways. I now see novels like "The Rainbow" and "Women in Love" as more interesting. In my opinion you don't have to have a PhD to get a lot out of this book.

When I first began to read Lady Chatterley's Lover I thought it was going to be quite a chore. I'm used to flowery language and all that, but I just wasn't in the mood for what I anticipated to be a sex-charged love story. Much to my surprise I got MUCH more from this wonderful classic.

D.H. Lawrence makes some striking observations about the state of the social classes in post WWI England, as well as providing some good insights into tough individual decisions we make in regard to relationships. I had limited knowledge of the post-war subject beforehand, but I felt that I learned a great deal in the process of reading. At times the book seemed repetitive, as if Lawrence were beating me over the head with his message, sacrificing character and plot in the process, but after all was said and done I couldn't say that it was a bad book. It's a very insightful, multi-layered work and I'm very glad I read it. The fact that the book was widely banned from publication in its early days is just another tempting reason to read it although, by today's standards, what was so risqué then borders on the ridiculous for us now. As long as you remind yourself of the time period in which it was written you'll be just fine...the laughs and raised eyebrows in conjunction with more serious themes are a pleasant mix.

This novel is not the explicit sex book that you have been led to believe. instead it is a flawless masterpiece that tells the story of Charlotte, the sexually deprived wife of an invalid husband and her search for true love and sexual fulfillment. As a woman, I have no idea how Lawrence was able to delve into the female mind so thoroughly, but so he has done. This book is a compelling argument in favor of the belief that sexual attraction is certainly one of the most important aspects when we search for a mate-despite what snobbish types may say about how looks don't matter and good sex and attraction grows with time. Baloney! Charlotte's attraction to Mellors was immediate and we watch her life developing with breathless anticipation. Some may feel the ending is too cute and tidy, but knowing the characters as they are, you feel that it could not have ended any other way. A profound book, thoroughly readable, and shockingly modern for its time.

I did not read this book until ten years ago - age forty for those who count - and found it a brilliant work. It touched on every aspect of life in that era, using a difficult premise at the focus.

One reviewer called it 'sexist.' In that era, women were kept removed from the world, so men were the ones who made the initial contacts with reality and their sexuality. If Lawrence had written about that society in any other way, he would have been inaccurate. Lawrence shows the social conflict with both subtlety and brutality. Yet, Mellor IS a lover. There are sexual descriptions which are explicit, but within the coccoon of emotional bondings.

The way that Lawrence has essayed the class structure of England in that era is brave and accurate in all ways. He makes the posturing of the aristocracy both frivilous and full of assinine criteria at the same time he understands the willingness of those in power to offer their lives in the defense of the general welfare.

Lawrence notes again with unpleasant accuracy the detriments of an unchecked Industrial Revolution on the social structure of the time. He has Constance both witness these effects and suffer the olfactory damage.

This is a literary work which has an effect across the full spectrum of the possible. Finely drawn characters searching for a better way to survive their lives in a scenario that is rife with obstacles and unpleasantness. He has the touch of the finest artist working with the lightest gossamer and the blunt force of an ogre swinging a stone axe.

This was published in an abridged version because it was felt that the societal message it conveyed should be allowed to transit the draconian (by the less filtered standards of today) censorship of the era which DID focus on the sexual descriptions but could NOT stop the voice of social criticism any more than the same group could stop Dickens a few decades earlier.

Written in response to widespread condemnation of the sexuality and libertine lifestyles presented in his books, Apocalypse was the final attempt by D. H. Lawrence to make himself understood. The modern reader will probably detect a full throttle blitz against the puritanical deacons of the Church of England and his establishment tormentors. Launched from the most contentious and abstruse of the Bible's books, Revelations, Lawrence levels his antipathy at a rigid, superficially moral, life denying exposition of Christian thought. He argues that the confining nature of living the 'good' life in expectation of reward in Heaven cuts to the root of an immensely rich potential for experience and passion presented in the world. He continuously falls back on opaque codices-- of arcane civilizations that he states more fully explored the metaphysical realm. Lawrence divines a heroic age where apparent creation and destiny were seen as integral and complete. Robert Graves's 'The White Goddess' comprehensively analyzes the same mythological, magical architecture, but Lawrence uses it in a much more targeted and critical way.

Lawrence saw the aesthetic brilliance of Revelations as a bridge to a more mysterious, immediate, compelling theology. At the same time he condemns the apocalyptic churches who interpret the book as the evocation of Hell and Judgement, rather than in its potent poetic symbolism. He goes so far as to accuse John of Patmos of not presenting a revelation at all, but of appropriating a truer, more ancient historiography for eccliastical and political reasons. Not above placing his own eccentric opinions of government in this tract, he could be accused of mounting his own pulpit, if with literary distinction. His claim of an affirming devotion to the visible universe as the only 'true' route to the holy can be countered by reading some of the lively writings of Christian ascetics. This treatise, however, is not about them. It is aimed squarely at the convention seeking, socially regulating, sanctimonious attitudes that had censored and prosecuted him. Not surprisingly it did not raise his stock much among his critics, but it is an essential text in understanding the underlying motives behind his works.

Although Lawrence's writings are noted for more earthly activities, he shows a surprising knowledge of Biblical matters. In this book he analyzes the last book of the Bible-- Revelations-- and not too favorably at that. I cannot argue with his facts because I am not as familiar with them as as he is. What I find fascinating about this essay-book are his observations on democracy, and especially about life.

The last page or two contain one of his most remarkable and inspiring observations about the individual and his soul. Lawrence often argues that you cannot "save" you soul; you must "live" it. Near the end of this book he writes:

"What man most passionately want is his living wholeness and his living unison, not his own isolate salvation of his "soul." Man wants his physical fulfilment first and foremost, since now, once and once only, he is in the flesh and potent. For man, the vast marvel is to be alive. For man, as for flower and beast and bird, the supreme triumph is to be most vividly, most perfectly alive. Whatever the unborn and the dead may know, they cannot know the beauty, the marvel of being alive in the flesh. The dead may look after the afterwards. But the magnificent here and now of life in the flesh is ours, and ours alone, and ours only for a time. We ought to dance with rapture that we should be alive and in the flesh, and part of the living, incarnate cosmos....I am part of the great whole, and I can never escape. But I can deny my connections, break them, and become a fragment. Then I am wretched."

The most poignant phrase in this passage is "...and ours for a short time only." Lawrence lived a shorter time that most of us will, but in his lifetime his output was as perceptive and prodigious as any author who has ever written. Scattered throughout this book are irritating but illuminating thoughts like: "But a democracy is bound in the end to be obscene, for it is composed of myriad disunited fragments, each fragment assuming to itself a false wholeness, a false individuality. Modern democracy is made up of millions of frictional parts all asserting their own wholeness."

Some people have taken that statement as proof that Lawrence is against democracy. But I consider it a valid danger for democracy, one that is being played out in the press every day. To preserve democracy, the best of all possible forms of government, we have to analyze and try to correct its failings and weaknesses.

Puzzle your way through this book. I hope you will find it as rewarding as I did.

Attacks everything blindly and madly promoted by the dominant ideas of the dominant socio-economic classes and strongest institutionalized influences in the current civilization of inauthenticity and death.

The power of money must go, according to Lawrence, as the power of the sun must return--as it indeed has always been the power of life whether we recognize it or not. Also, the power of blood must be reasserted. As human beings we are connected to all things. However, this perspective is suppressed as it constitutes a threat to the status quo.

Lawrence here sees no salvation in either democracy or western monotheism; but solely in human beings connecting up once again to the universal forces of nature from which come life's vitality.