D. H. Lawrence: Future Primitive

by Dolores LaChapelle, Professor of English Thomas J Lyon (Introduction)

The importance of the work of D. H. Lawrence in the field of ecology and environmental awareness has been largely overlooked. LaChapelle argues that Lawrence deserves to be ranked alongside Thoreau and Muir. Beginning with the effect of Lawrence's childhood near Sherwood Forest, LaChapelle explores the intense relationship Lawrence had with all of nature so that his senses were as fully developed as those of a primitive hunter.

223 pages, Hardcover

First published April 1, 1996

Reviews

[Andrew Shah · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was heads and shoulders worse than any books I can remember reading in the last decade. I forced myself to read it because the subject -- the connection between DH Lawrence and deep ecology is extremely interesting, and I don't know of any other books on the subject. I assume it was published for purely career reasons for an academic, but I was surprised at the pure level of incoherence. I could not find, at any point, any particular argument or line of thought the author was driving at or presenting. There was precious little description of what one would imagine are elementary issues such as -- what is deep ecology, and how did dh lawrence's vision compare and contrast with it? The bulk of the book is mostly biography of DH Lawrence, with an emphasis on his relationship with the land in the various places he was dwelling. If that is of interest to you, this book is not totally useless. But what exactly the biographical details of DH Lawrence's life have to do with his ideas is never picked up. Instead of any sustained attempt to sketch or summarize his philosophy, the reader is treated to several lengthy and bizarre discussions of alternative medicine and new age 'science.' No. Seriously. I would not have expected a book on the topic of DH Lawrence or philosophy to contain phrases such as "the fact that the full moon has been linked with tuberculosis deaths..." or "'Weather sensitive' people are depressed by the preponderance of positive ions in the atmosphere." I am left with extreme confusion about the author's mental faculties and how this book managed to get published. Above all, it is incoherent -- new topics zoom in an out of view, with no connection to what comes before or after. Half of the time, the subject is biography, half the time smaltzy anthropology, but it is never about D.H. Lawrence's philosophy. The one good thing about this book is that it is so uncommonly awful, and has a so-bad-it's-good-effect a la Plan 9 from Outer Space. Where else would I have learned that "Kalahari bushmen are able to locate a buried ostrich egg full of emergency water ... by depending on total body knowledge" ?