Sons and Lovers
- 491
- Pages
- about 9 h
- Reading time
- Film 1960 +1
- On screen
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Our view
“Sons and Lovers” is an intense, lyrical novel about Paul Morel, torn between a possessive mother and two very different women. Lawrence lingers over nature and inner states in passages that some readers find beautiful and others overwrought. Some readers also find the story thin on plot and repetitive, or struggle to understand Miriam and Paul’s bond with his mother.
The view of the BookRank editors, written from readers’ ratings and comments. It does not affect the score or the book’s place in a ranking.
About the book
Sons and Lovers is a 1913 novel by the English writer D. H. Lawrence. It traces emotional conflicts through the protagonist, Paul Morel, and his suffocating relationships with a demanding mother and two very different lovers, which exert complex influences on the development of his manhood. The novel was originally published by Gerald Duckworth and Company Ltd., London, and Mitchell Kennerley Publishers, New York. While the novel initially received a mediocre reception, along with allegations of obscenity, it is today considered a masterpiece by many critics and is often regarded as Lawrence's finest achievement. It goes into detail about Lawrence's life and his phases. His first phase was in 1910 when he lost his mother, to whom he was particularly attached. He met Frieda Richthofen during that time. Also, he began conceiving his other two novels, The Rainbow and Women in Love, which had more sexual emphasis and maturity.
On screen
This book has been adapted for the screen 2 times — from 1960 to 1981.
Adaptation data: Wikidata · On screen →
Where the score comes from
The sources average 7.2 across 73 ratings — not yet many, so the reader vote carries 33% of the weight and the rest pulls toward the Classics average of 7.7. That is how 7.6 comes out.
| Source | Average | Ratings | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| Open Library | 9.0 | 10 | 14% |
| Hardcover | 6.9 | 63 | 86% |
Frequently asked
How long is Sons and Lovers?
It has 491 pages — longer than 88% of the ranked books in Classics.
In this book
Themes this book shares with others — each leads to the best books on it.
If you liked this
The same shelf — Classics — and a score of 7.6, the closest to this book.
