England, My England and Other Stories (I)

D. H. LawrenceJun 2024

Rating 4.0

Word count: 22K words
Chapters: 3

Summary

This is a selection of Lawrence's short stories and novellas in English, suitable for English lovers.

It includes Odour of Chrysanthemums, Love among the Haystacks, The Prussian Officer, England, My England, You Touched Me, The Princess, Sun, The Man Who Loved Islands, A Dream of Life, and other works.

In the story England, My England, Lawrence tells the story of a couple's emotional relationship.

It describes how a pure and beautiful marriage becomes alienated in real life, how serene days become unbearable under worldly pressure, how the flower of love withers unknowingly, how communication between the sexes becomes extremely difficult, and how the desire to live is replaced by the temptation of death.

On the surface it is a poignant love story, but its meaning far exceeds the surface of its plot; its narrative seems to have its own powerful vitality, evoking deep sensory resonance in the reader, a resonance whose amplitude is perhaps infinite. Lawrence's illusionistic realistic technique reaches a new height here.

Editor's review

This English-language collection of short stories and novellas includes several representative works by Lawrence, from Odour of Chrysanthemums to The Prussian Officer and the title piece England, My England, spanning mining life, military relations, and marital emotion. Lawrence's narrative does not rely on plot but on finely capturing characters' senses and inner fluctuations; the marriages he depicts often gradually become alienated under worldly pressure, and love withers unknowingly. This approach gives readers a deep resonance while reading. The English original preserves Lawrence's distinctive rhythm and word choices, making it both a literary pleasure and language training for English learners. It is suitable for careful reading story by story in quiet, uninterrupted time, pausing briefly after each piece to savor its atmosphere and the subtle shifts in character relationships, rather than seeking to read quickly through.

Who it's for

A good fit for

English lovers with some foundation who hope to improve their literary reading ability
Readers interested in modern British literature and Lawrence's works
Readers who enjoy short stories and novellas with delicate psychological description and a strong atmosphere
College students who need English original texts for intensive reading practice

Not a good fit for

Beginners with limited English vocabulary who find reading original novels difficult
Readers who prefer strong plot and fast-paced narrative
Readers uninterested in themes of marriage and relations between the sexes

Reading tips

Start with the shorter Odour of Chrysanthemums to build language sense, then move on to the title piece
After each story, summarize the character relationships and emotional turns in a few sentences to check comprehension
Guess unfamiliar words from context first, and look them up together after finishing the whole piece
Read aloud or with audio to feel the rhythm of Lawrence's language

版权信息
England, My England
Tickets, Please

FAQ

Can I read this English edition if my English is average?

This book is in the original English. Lawrence's sentences tend to be long and his psychological descriptions dense, so it is recommended that readers have at least CET-4 level reading ability before attempting it. If your foundation is weaker, you can start with one of the shorter pieces and work through it paragraph by paragraph with a dictionary; do not feel you must understand every detail at once.

Is this collection suitable for reading straight through from beginning to end?

Each piece stands alone, so reading in order is not required. You can choose freely by length or subject interest: read the shorter stories first to build confidence, then take on longer, more complex pieces, and the reading experience will be smoother.

What literary gains can I get from reading this book?

You can focus on experiencing Lawrence's narrative skill in the short story and novella forms, especially his handling of sensory detail and inner tension in characters. Several works revolve around marriage, desire, and worldly pressure; reading them together helps you understand his recurring themes and methods.

This site is an index: you start “Search all sources” in your browser, and the entries it lists all point to third-party sites; please judge their availability yourself.

About the author

D. H. Lawrence Author · British · 1885–1930

D. H. Lawrence (1885–1930) was an English novelist, poet, and essayist, and one of the most important and controversial writers in twentieth-century English literature. Born into a mining family in Nottinghamshire, he is best known for novels such as Sons and Lovers, The Rainbow, Women in Love, and Lady Chatterley's Lover. His work explores human nature and relations between the sexes amid modern industrial civilization, and several of his books were banned for their candid descriptions. This site holds nine of his works, mostly English-language story collections, including The Prussian Officer and Other Stories, The Woman Who Rode Away and Other Stories, and England, My England and Other Stories, each in several volumes, as well as a Chinese translation of Women in Love. These works display his delicate psychological portrayal, his attention to conflicts of class and desire, and a restrained, symbolic narrative style.