Kangaroo (The Cambridge Edition of the Works of D. H. Lawrence) (Paperback)

by D. H. Lawrence (Author), Bruce Steele (Editor) "The base-text for this edition is DHL's manuscript (MS) written at Thirroul, New South Wales in June-July 1922..." (more)
Key Phrases: ribbon copy, textual apparatus, middle harbour, William James, Richard Lovatt, John Thomas (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review
"Presented in high editorial style." Frank Kermode, London Review of Books

Product Description
Written in 1922, the novel Kangaroo depicts Australia in a vivid and sympathetic manner, while fusing lightly disguised autobiography with an exploration of political ideas at an intensely personal level. The text is based on a collation of the manuscript, typescripts and first editions, as recorded in the apparatus. The Introduction gives background of composition and publication and a summary of contemporary reviews. Explanatory notes, with a geographical appendix, elucidate the local, political and literary allusions.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 552 pages
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press (April 11, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0521007119
• ISBN-13: 978-0521007115
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,744,965 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 9 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.

2 of 3 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...

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

By	D. H. Lawrence maven - See all my reviews

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