Flame into Being: The Life and Work of D.H. Lawrence

by Anthony Burgess

Used Book

Genres: Biography, Nonfiction

211 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1985

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Seriocomic novels of noted British writer and critic Anthony Burgess, pen name of John Burgess Wilson, include the futuristic classic A Clockwork Orange (1962).

He composed also a librettos, poems, plays, screens, and essays and traveled, broadcast, translated, linguist and educationalist. He lived for long periods in southeastern Asia, the United States of America, and Europe along Mediterranean Sea as well as England. His fiction embraces the Malayan trilogy ( The Long Day Wanes ) on the dying days of empire in the east. The Enderby quartet concerns a poet and his muse. Nothing like the Sun re-creates love life of William Shakespeare. He explores the nature of evil with Earthly Powers , a panoramic saga of the 20th century. He published studies of James Joyce, Ernest Miller Hemingway, Shakespeare, and David Herbert Lawrence. He produced the treatises Language Made Plain and A Mouthful of Air . His journalism proliferated in several languages. He translated and adapted Cyrano de Bergerac , Oedipus the King , and Carmen for the stage. He scripted Jesus of Nazareth and Moses the Lawgiver for the screen. He invented the prehistoric language, spoken in Quest for Fire . He composed the Sinfoni Melayu , the Symphony (No. 3) in C , and the opera Blooms of Dublin .

Reviews

[Zeppo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Out of sheer rage I am writing my review of this book about D.H. Lawrence!

Interesting the parallels between Lawrence/Burgess - both ex school teachers who spent a lot of time abroad.

I never really saw 'Women in Love' as this amazing classic but I did gravitate towards that book as with Sons and Lovers where I really responded to the various types of women as I had my own mommy's boy issues.

I don't know why I find myself so obsessed with DH Lawrence actually but for some reason I am. Maybe it's the life he lived in other countries and the way he defiantly wrote in all circumstances. Plus the adventurousness.

I feel some almost jealousy about this type of literary life. And dying in his early 40s!

I like the idea of not really caring about form or structure and just bashing out essays and stories and novels and poems. Not being too MENTAL about it as DH would see. Be a good little animal and live with the BLOOD ...anti-science! I get it. I think I get it.

While DH Lawrence probably had too much of himself in him (for obvious reasons for we cannot escape who we are)I think plenty could do with a little more DH in them! And by that I mean energy/passion/enthusiasm/adventurousness/industriousness

And everytime I read a biography of DH I am reminded of that.

Here is to many more :)

[Anna · Rating 1 out of 5]

Tedious. Burgess spends so much time retelling the content of each of Lawrence's novels. When he does go on describing Lawrence's life and personality - it is readable for a short while before Burgess plunges into another rant.. I felt the book presumes you already know DH Lawrence's life as well as all of his literary contemporaries.. I can't recommend it if one is looking to be introduced to DH Lawrence..

[Ed Teja · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some interesting insights into one writer, made by another. Not so much a biography as a story of the literary journey of the man.

[Burkhard Schirdewahn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ich vermute, daß ich nicht der einzige sehr junge Mann gewesen bin, der von ›Lady Chatterley‹ enttäuscht wurde: zu plakativ die Reklame für dieses lange indizierte ›erotische Meisterwerk‹, das erst 1961 offiziell erscheinen durfte, im Vergleich zur dort gemachten Beute: meiner mittlerweile verblassten Erinnerung nach gab es dort ein, zwei Stellen, die das Attribut ›erotisch‹ verdienten. Wie viel ergiebiger war dagegen Henry Miller: bei ihm gab es praktisch nur ›Stellen‹, und Paris war auch ein ungleich spannenderer Schauplatz als die englische Provinz.
Wie schön, daß nun dieser Zufallsfund aus dem Antiquariat wieder den Blick auf Lawrence lenkt & die hormongesteuerte Wahrnehmungsstörung eines Siebzehnjährigen in ein anderes Licht rückt. Burgess’ biographischer Essay hält die perfekte Balance zwischen Werk-Analyse und Lebensbildnis; er ist sehr gut geschrieben und übersetzt, und trotz der profunden Gelehrsamkeit des Autors von gänzlich uneitler Haltung. Integriert in diese Werk- & Lebensbetrachtung ist auch eine kleine Geschichte des englischen Geisteslebens und seiner intellektuellen Zirkel von der Jahrhundertwende bis zum Vorabend des Zweiten Weltkriegs. Er macht gleichermaßen Lust, den Portraitierten (neu) zu entdecken, als auch den Autor selbst, dessen ›Clockwork Orange‹ die bisher einzige Lektüre war.

[Shefi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Highly readable, an admirable and admiring (but not uncritical) book that combines analysis of Lawrence's writing (poetry, novels, travel, letters, etc) with biographical details. I haven't read anything by Lawrence, except for a couple of memorable poems, but this book helped me understand Lawrence's place in the pantheon of great (but not flawless) writers.

I recommend for both the amateur enthusiast, the Lawrence fan, the what's-all-the-fuss-about-this-writer sceptic as well as the scholar. Really brought Lawrence to life for me as well as explaining his psychology and what he was trying to do.

[Bohdan Pechenyak · Rating 5 out of 5]

One excellent writer provides an insightful biography of another genius, delving into the multiple intricate ways that Lawrence’s work and life intertwine and interpenetrate. Both critical and admiring, this account shines a warm, sympathetic light on the shooting literary star that was D.H.Lawrence.

[Steve Clark]

Edition: 1st