Kangaroo [Paperback]

D. H. Lawrence (Contributor)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 12, 2003

Writer Richard Somers and his wife Harriet leave exhausted post-war Europe in the hope of rebuilding their marriage in a new and freer world. In Australia, in an idyllic cottage by the sea, they believe they have finally realised their dream - until they meet and become involved with Kangaroo, the influential and charismatic leader of a secret fascist army called the Diggers. Much of the writing in this novel is based on Lawrence's experiences in Australia. One of Lawrence's great novels. A beautiful blend of political outburst and Australian life and landscape. Chapter 10, The Nightmare, describes his war-time confrontations with authority in Cornwall and his humiliating examination for service. The novel's protagonist, like Lawrence, was rejected as "unfit". Kangaroo is one of the best travel books ever written, with "unforgettable vivid and accurate pictures of the Australian continent, in which no other English writer has approached Lawrence." - The Bookseller "..a portrait of D. H. Lawrence and Frieda during their stay in Australia, a segment of his life and work without which the whole man cannot be seen in full proportion." - The Bookseller

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Presented in high editorial style." Frank Kermode, London Review of Books --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Book Description

A critical edition of Kangaroo, D. H. Lawrence's eighth novel, set in Australia. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 428 pages
• Publisher: Fredonia Books (NL) (March 12, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1410101754
• ISBN-13: 978-1410101754
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #531,967 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars wonderful perceptive and complex insight into Australia, April 23, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Kangaroo (Penguin Twentieth-Century Classics) (Paperback)

Tnis was the book that made me realize just how clever Lawrence was. His spiritual and analytical insight into the nature of a bastardized and inconquerable continent is just breathtaking, and it truly is a work of a supremely sensitive and perceptive individual.

Lawrence explores such depths that there are sometimes sinister truths and realizations that erupts from Lawrences mind, in the guise of the main character. This is a haunting and sad book, that pulls your mind completely into the wonder of Lawrences intellectual capacity and genius for seeing the imperciptible, where so many fail to. I love you Lorenzo, thank goodness for your genius.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Difficult introduction, January 10, 2002

By 

Andrew Miller (Dublin Ireland) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Kangaroo (Paperback)

I have just finished reading this book and to be honest I found it quite tough going. Recommended to me by an academic of Lawrence's work, he had to concede afterwards that perhaps it wasn't the ideal introduction to a new reader. What this story lacks mostly is a good old fashioned yarn, but instead seems to be a vehicle for the author to convey many of his thoughts on relationships between men and men, men and women and politics in general.

I can't be too specific on the authors ideas as I freely admit that much of this went "in one ear and out the other" as I frequently found after reading certain paragraphs I was left thinking "I have no idea what he was just talking about". Concentration therefore was fundamental to enjoying this book, and on the few occasions when I was truely focussed and emmersed, some of the ideas were interesting and rewarding.

This is a semi autobiographical account of Lawrence's own experiences in Australia, but strangly I found the most interesting part of the book was the "Nightmare" chapter, dedicated to the character's account of being in England during World War One. This too, mirrors the authors own experiences during this turbulent time.

Maybe I should go for the better known novels next time...

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars D. H. Lawrence scholar satisfied, June 29, 2009

By 

D. H. Lawrence maven - See all my reviews

This review is from: Kangaroo (The Cambridge Edition of the Works of D. H. Lawrence) (Paperback)

Book was as advertised and arrived promptly. I only wish it had been a bit cheaper.