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The Princess and Other Stories
1978, Paperback, 248 pages
- GenresShort StoriesFiction
256 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1971
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About the author
D.H. Lawrence
2,084 books4,176 followersDavid Herbert Richards Lawrence was an English writer of the 20th century, whose prolific and diverse output included novels, short stories, poems, plays, essays, travel books, paintings, translations, literary criticism, and personal letters. His collected works represent an extended reflection upon the dehumanizing effects of modernity and industrialisation. In them, Lawrence confronts issues relating to emotional health and vitality, spontaneity, human sexuality and instinct.
Lawrence's opinions earned him many enemies and he endured official persecution, censorship, and misrepresentation of his creative work throughout the second half of his life, much of which he spent in a voluntary exile he called his "savage pilgrimage." At the time of his death, his public reputation was that of a pornographer who had wasted his considerable talents. E. M. Forster, in an obituary notice, challenged this widely held view, describing him as "the greatest imaginative novelist of our generation." Later, the influential Cambridge critic F. R. Leavis championed both his artistic integrity and his moral seriousness, placing much of Lawrence's fiction within the canonical "great tradition" of the English novel. He is now generally valued as a visionary thinker and a significant representative of modernism in English literature.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D.H._Law...
Lawrence's opinions earned him many enemies and he endured official persecution, censorship, and misrepresentation of his creative work throughout the second half of his life, much of which he spent in a voluntary exile he called his "savage pilgrimage." At the time of his death, his public reputation was that of a pornographer who had wasted his considerable talents. E. M. Forster, in an obituary notice, challenged this widely held view, describing him as "the greatest imaginative novelist of our generation." Later, the influential Cambridge critic F. R. Leavis championed both his artistic integrity and his moral seriousness, placing much of Lawrence's fiction within the canonical "great tradition" of the English novel. He is now generally valued as a visionary thinker and a significant representative of modernism in English literature.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D.H._Law...
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
dnf
January 29, 2025dnf @ pg 104
almost unreadable. I gave my best but Lawrence did not.
almost unreadable. I gave my best but Lawrence did not.
January 11, 2018
I picked up this slim, little known collection of Lawrence's brilliance for 50 cents in a thrift shop in Santa Fe. How fitting that the first story is set in New Mexico, whose stunning landscape I had just traversed myself - though by car rather than train! While I am not much of a short story aficionado, I particularly enjoyed the Princess and the final story about the intricate relationship between a mother and daughter.
May 28, 2008
these are really, really good, though many are unfinished or unfinished-seeming. for the same reason i loved david hockney's paintings after he moved to california, i appreciate the perspective of the american west by a citizen of dreary olde england.
December 16, 2024
Later uncollected stories. As the blurb says many of these become like fables. Most of the fables are quite different to other Lawrence stories, but are mostly fine. Some of the other stories are either mean-spirited attacks or just a bit boring.
The best two were 'The Flying Fish' and 'The Undying Man'. 'The Flying Fish' takes concepts found in 'St. Mawr' but brings almost a high-fantasy element with the Day character. He has a family prophecy where there is a Greater Day (more mythical realm - like the primitive past that Lawrence is looking for) and a lesser day (the modern world). It isn't finished and diminishes by the end, but it would make a good fantasy book if that were exaggerated. Reminds me a bit of 'Dune'. 'The Undying Man' is unfinished but is fascinating despite being somewhat silly in premise. Reminds me of an Alasdair Gray story.
'Mercury' is a quite interesting tale about the return of the old god Mercury on a well-painted German mountain. A Rip-van-Winkle-esque tale is in 'A Dream of Life' where a man awakes to a utopic if alien future. 'Sun' is about a sunbathing wife but is really about the importance of the body. Similar themes are in 'Lady Chatterley's Lover'. Pan makes an appearance in 'The Overtone'. The latter story is much better than another Pan story 'The Last Laugh'. Quite a few of the stories here do seem to have similarities to 'St. Mawr'.
One of those is 'Mother and Daughter' who are similar to the women in 'St. Mawr'. Unfortunately that story is forgettable except the funny face sitting part. Don't think it meant what it does now. Another unremarkable story is 'The Blue Moccasins', where the titular item features in a play to the great anger of the wife. Another features a hermit in 'The Man Who Was Through With The World'. Not so good are 'The Wilful Woman' and 'The Princess', both attacks on his friends.
This book is an interesting mixture of usually uncharacteristic types of stories from Lawrence with more typical stories, and some that surround St Mawr in theme. If you liked that novel this is worth a read. If you want to see some more unusual offerings from Lawrence this would also be worth reading. My favourites seemed to be the more fantastical ones. Also, the introduction to this is great.
The best two were 'The Flying Fish' and 'The Undying Man'. 'The Flying Fish' takes concepts found in 'St. Mawr' but brings almost a high-fantasy element with the Day character. He has a family prophecy where there is a Greater Day (more mythical realm - like the primitive past that Lawrence is looking for) and a lesser day (the modern world). It isn't finished and diminishes by the end, but it would make a good fantasy book if that were exaggerated. Reminds me a bit of 'Dune'. 'The Undying Man' is unfinished but is fascinating despite being somewhat silly in premise. Reminds me of an Alasdair Gray story.
'Mercury' is a quite interesting tale about the return of the old god Mercury on a well-painted German mountain. A Rip-van-Winkle-esque tale is in 'A Dream of Life' where a man awakes to a utopic if alien future. 'Sun' is about a sunbathing wife but is really about the importance of the body. Similar themes are in 'Lady Chatterley's Lover'. Pan makes an appearance in 'The Overtone'. The latter story is much better than another Pan story 'The Last Laugh'. Quite a few of the stories here do seem to have similarities to 'St. Mawr'.
One of those is 'Mother and Daughter' who are similar to the women in 'St. Mawr'. Unfortunately that story is forgettable except the funny face sitting part. Don't think it meant what it does now. Another unremarkable story is 'The Blue Moccasins', where the titular item features in a play to the great anger of the wife. Another features a hermit in 'The Man Who Was Through With The World'. Not so good are 'The Wilful Woman' and 'The Princess', both attacks on his friends.
This book is an interesting mixture of usually uncharacteristic types of stories from Lawrence with more typical stories, and some that surround St Mawr in theme. If you liked that novel this is worth a read. If you want to see some more unusual offerings from Lawrence this would also be worth reading. My favourites seemed to be the more fantastical ones. Also, the introduction to this is great.
August 1, 2023
I saw this small volume in a second-hand bookshop and brought it home. It's been many years since I had read his more famous novels, and felt like another taste of Lawrence.
He didn't disappoint! I'd forgotten what a dynamic wordsmith he was, he writes with such energy! "E. M. Forster, in an obituary notice, describing him as "the greatest imaginative novelist of our generation."
My favourite short story is "Sun". Full of symbolism, it comes across to me as fantasy and myth, somehow not real but conveys the revitalized Juliet by the Sun god.
He didn't disappoint! I'd forgotten what a dynamic wordsmith he was, he writes with such energy! "E. M. Forster, in an obituary notice, describing him as "the greatest imaginative novelist of our generation."
My favourite short story is "Sun". Full of symbolism, it comes across to me as fantasy and myth, somehow not real but conveys the revitalized Juliet by the Sun god.
December 17, 2025
Flying Fish, Mercury, Sun, and The Princess were my favourites. A passionate but sometimes watery set of fabulistic stories. A lot was left to be desired due to how unfinished some of them were and seemed to be. Wanted to find out more about the Undying Man, for example, and the train passenger in the first story. Nevertheless, an enjoyable intro to D.H Lawrence, and I will be sure to check out his some of his full length novels.
3⭐️
3⭐️
September 22, 2023
my first english based book, always went back to read this book everytime I'm in a reading slump
April 21, 2017
I enjoyed all of these stories for the most part. EXCEPT. There were 5 stories in the book which were left unfinished which is the most infuriating thing to find out when the story abruptly stops!! Aaaargh. I mean I'm glad they were published and available for us to read but I just want to know how it ends *tears*
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews