The Blind Man

by D.H. Lawrence

'The Blind Man' is a delicate study of a loving relationship blighted by the man's blindness and disfigurement in the first world war. The arrival of an old friend of the woman brings into the open feelings and fears previously suppressed.

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction, Classics, Classic Literature

42 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 23, 1915

About the author

David 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...

Reviews

[Tridev Devnath · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a brilliant take on " scars of war " theme.
Lawrence touched the point which is less desirable to many reader...."
.post trauma depression "
The final scene in the stable kind of broke me..how brilliant it was !!

[D. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I went from crying to being extremely uncomfortable and finished with a slight trace of terror. I don’t know what that was but I felt it, my high level of empathy will one day kill me, I swear.

[Nour el houda Chehat · Rating 3 out of 5]

The blind Man is a short story which took place in the aftermath of the first world war. It p portrays the psychological impact of the war on the life of a veteran ,Maurice, who came back from the battleground blind . Maurice learned how to adjust his weakness with his environment , but he alienates himself and his wife, Isabel, from the society as he doesn't feel well receiving their acquaintances. Subsequently , the couple received a friend named Bertie Reid who is indeed a person who escapes intimacy as much as he can . However, Bertie and Maurice exchange some touches which break Bertie's "mollusc " . Consequently, Maurice discovers again the depth of human relationships .

[Cami · Rating 5 out of 5]

No sé cómo no había leído nada de Lawrence antes. Este cuento está muy bien logrado. En muy pocas páginas te mete en una historia, en un triángulo no amoroso, pero de intimidad de un matrimonio y un amigo de la mujer. ¿Qué pasa con un hombre que se ha quedado ciego? ¿Cómo se siente en esa situación? ¿Y su esposa? Ella, que le tiene miedo a la oscuridad, mientras él vive permanentemente en la más absoluta oscuridad.

[Alamelu Janaki · Rating 3 out of 5]

“she had her husband on her hands, a terrible joy to her , and a terrifying burden”

Maurice Pervin and Isabel Pervin are coming to terms with their lives since Maurice blindness and disfigurement during a war and Isabel is second time pregnant, followed by a miscarriage. There is joy and contentment in the monotony of their life except for the pangs of depression which Maurice faces due to post world war ennui.
Bertie Reid, a man of letters, a friend and cousin of Isabel visits them. Maurice feels insecure about Bertie’s presence as he is aware of the fondness between the other two, he begins to feel inferior thus detesting him absolutely, but strangely a new perspective unfurls, Maurice chooses to enjoy his company.

“He had one desire—to escape from this intimacy, this friendship, which had been thrust upon him."

This short story captures the fascinating mundaneness among a couple and it captures the aspects of uncertainty and the fragile feeling of joy.

[Liz · Rating 3 out of 5]

This story is so British, I could never imagine this little vignette being played out by Americans. WWI, 'the war to end all wars' took an enormous toll on a whole generation. We get to see a snippet of this in the interaction of husband and wife, Maurice and Isabel, and their friend Bertie.
This story is unsettling. It is a story of quiet resilience, and a story of comprehension.
Audible edition.

[Boaz Rees · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a tense and chilling short story, packed with emotion and depth. I had to read it for my English course but it has intrigued me into wanting to read more Lawrence.

A great example of a short story. It is tense and allows your mind to give way to imagining a whole range of things as you are reading it. The ending is beautifully horrifying.

[Lia · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not a fan of Lawrence.

[Star Gater · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just okay. The story is like a piece of art, everyone has an opinion. I'm more of a like it or not.

This was okay. I listened to it twice. Once was really enough.

[Asher Burns · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really liked it, actually

[ExeDavid · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars

[Vaishali · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not really sure I would term this a story, as I could identify no plot. An astute character examination of three people, however, and their interplay.

[Rocío · Rating 3 out of 5]

Te quiero mucho Bertie.

[Blanca · Rating 3 out of 5]

read this for uni and men are evil fr

[Ryan · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.75 // 00s25

[Paz · Rating 5 out of 5]

masterpiece

[Paris . · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this very romantic

[Paris · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought this was so beautiful and weirdly romantic and strangely perverse, slightly horrific. Its so beautiful I want to marry this story, place myself in it.

[Sanjay Chandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

A story about a young couple, the husband blinded in war a year, the wife pregnant; then a cousin & friend of the wife; and how the husband makes friend with the other man, and the other man is afraid

[Zany · Rating 3 out of 5]

Assigned reading. I could take it or leave it. At least it was better than "The Shack".