The Prussian Officer and Other Stories (2) (English Edition)

D. H. LawrenceAug 2024

Rating 4.2
Word count
30K words
Chapters
18

Tags

Foreign Literature Homosexual DesireDesire and RepressionHuman NaturePsychological ConfrontationPsychological InsightPower OppressionShort StoriesEnglish OriginalGerman SettingWartime

Summary

This collection is another classic by D. H. Lawrence, author of Lady Chatterley's Lover. It is published in English and suited to English-language enthusiasts. The title story, The Prussian Officer, is set in wartime barracks life, yet it shows none of the ferocity of two armies locked in bloody combat, none of the smoke and gore of military life; instead it depicts a tense psychological standoff between a Prussian officer and his orderly. This strange psychological story portrays a concealed homosexual love, and more strikingly, the two men are a sadomasochistic pair. When Lawrence finished the story and sent it to the director Garnett, he told him it was a short story that surpassed his previous work. In this work, readers can see Lawrence's signature meticulous psychological description and analysis, his sympathy for lower-ranking soldiers, and his earnest, sincere pursuit of the true meaning of life.

Editor's review

As the second volume of the English edition of Lawrence's short-story collection, this book continues the selections of the first volume and concentrates on displaying the author's skill in handling power relations and undercurrents of desire in military-themed writing. "The Prussian Officer" has almost no battlefield smoke, yet sustains narrative tension through the tense psychological confrontation between an officer and his orderly, writing hierarchical obedience, bodily discipline, and hidden emotions in layer upon layer—a fitting entry point for understanding Lawrence's craft in psychological description. The English original preserves his syntactic rhythm and subtle shifts in narrative perspective, and is suitable for continuing after finishing the first volume, as well as for close reading of short stories while observing how the author uses everyday actions and details of setting in place of direct lyricism. Readers are advised not to rush after the plot but to attend to every subtle shift in the relationship between the two men, and to how the narrator's sympathy for the situation of lower-ranking soldiers permeates the cool description.

Who it's for

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Reading tips

  1. Read the first volume before this one and keep the selection order to grasp the overall rhythm of Lawrence's short stories.
  2. After each story, pause and review the key actions in the interactions between the officer and the orderly to trace the lines of psychological change.
  3. In long sentences, first mark the subject and narrative perspective, then read the whole paragraph, avoiding word-by-word translation that breaks the feel for the language.
  4. Keep brief notes recording the correspondence between descriptions of setting and the characters' psychology for later comparison.

Contents

  1. 版权信息
  2. Daughters of the Vicar
  3. I
  4. II
  5. III
  6. IV
  7. V
  8. VI
  9. VII
  10. VIII
  11. IX
  12. X
  13. XI
  14. XII
  15. XIII
  16. XIV
  17. XV
  18. A Fragment of Stained Glass

FAQ

Can I read this second volume directly without having read the first? It can be read independently, but this volume and the first belong to the same English-language short-story collection, and there is a continuity in selection and arrangement. To grasp the overall shape of Lawrence's short stories fully, it is better to start with the first volume; if you only want to focus on pieces such as "The Prussian Officer," reading this volume directly will not hinder your understanding of individual stories.
Is this book mainly about battle scenes? No. In "The Prussian Officer," for example, although the setting is a military camp, the focus is not on fighting between armies or smoke and blood, but on the tense psychological confrontation between the officer and his orderly, and on hidden emotions and power relations. Readers expecting battlefield description may find it does not meet their expectations.
How difficult is the English, and what level of reader is it suitable for? It is strongly literary English original writing, with somewhat complex syntax and delicate narration and psychological description; it suits readers with upper-intermediate to advanced English reading ability who are willing to read slowly and closely. Those with a weaker foundation are advised to use annotations or a Chinese translation as support; it should not be used as an introductory reader.

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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.