Lawrence

by Frank Kermode

Essays on the modern master.

Genres: Biography, Literary Criticism, Literature

156 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1973

About the author

Sir John Frank Kermode was a highly regarded British literary critic best known for his seminal critical work The Sense of an Ending: Studies in the Theory of Fiction, published in 1967 (revised 2003).

Reviews

[Ilia · Rating 4 out of 5]

A brisk but authoritative guide to D.H. Lawrence’s novels and philosophy. Kermode tries to be generous when sketching the latter, but it’s difficult not to conclude that Lawrence’s ideas belong in the dustbin of history. His achievement is in his fiction, where he allows his polemics and prophecies to be undercut and ridiculed by his characters.

The paperback itself, part of the Fontana Modern Masters series also edited by Kermode, is a little piece of publication history and a minor work of art.