The Rainbow

Name: The Rainbow
ISBN: 9787542648877

D. H. LawrenceShanghai Joint Publishing Company2014

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Word count: 439 words
Chapters: 17
Series: The Rainbow is the longest novel by the English writer D. H. Lawrence, first published in 1915 and suppressed after being condemned as obscene; only later did it gain wide recognition. Set in the mining districts and countryside of Lawrence's native Nottinghamshire, the novel uses a family chronicle to tell the loves, marriages, and spiritual journeys of three generations of the Brangwen family of yeoman farmers: the first generation, Tom Brangwen, marries Lydia, a descendant of Polish nobility, and their marriage moves from conflict to harmony; the second generation, Anna and Will, fall into endless strife after their honeymoon, Will taking refuge in woodcarving and sculpture while Anna finds spiritual release in bearing and raising children; the third generation, Ursula, unwilling to accept a closed rural life, goes out to study, to love, and to suffer setbacks, seeking an ideal life in rebellion until at last she sees in the distance a rainbow arching across the sky. The work places personal emotional entanglements against the larger background of England's transformation from an agricultural to an industrial society: mines, railways, and machines intrude step by step into the pastoral world, reshaping the relationships between people and the land, and between men and women. With intense poetry, abundant symbolism, and psychological description, Lawrence explores the relationship between the sexes, at once antagonistic and longing for each other, and uses the rainbow as a metaphor for a new order and for the hope of life—it appears too early, yet it heralds a world not yet come. This book is one volume in the World Classics Translation Library: Lawrence Collection, translated by Heima and Shi Lei, with a translator's preface, and is one of the more widely circulated Chinese translations of Lawrence.
ISBN: 9787542648877

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Summary

The Rainbow is the longest novel by the English writer D. H. Lawrence. First published in 1915, it was banned and destroyed on charges of obscenity, and only later won widespread recognition. Set against the mining districts and countryside of Lawrence's native Nottinghamshire, the novel uses family history to trace the loves, marriages, and spiritual journeys of three generations of the Brangwen family, yeoman farmers: the first generation, Tom Brangwen, marries Lydia, a descendant of Polish nobility, and their marriage moves from conflict to harmony; the second generation, Anna and Will, fall into endless strife after their honeymoon, Will taking refuge in woodcarving and sculpture while Anna finds spiritual release in bearing and raising children; the third generation, Ursula, refusing to accept the narrow confines of country life, goes away to study, falls in love, suffers disappointment, and in rebellion pursues an ideal life, until at last she sees in the distance a rainbow arching across the sky. The work places personal emotional entanglements within the larger context of England's transformation from an agricultural to an industrial society: mines, railways, and machines encroach step by step upon the pastoral world, reshaping the relationships between people and the land and between men and women. With intense lyricism, abundant symbolism, and psychological depth, Lawrence explores the relationship between the sexes, at once antagonistic and mutually yearning, and uses the rainbow as a metaphor for a new order and the hope of life—it appears too early, yet heralds a world not yet come. This book is one of the volumes in the World Classics Translated Library: Lawrence Collection, translated by Hei Ma and Shi Lei, with a translator's preface, and is one of the more widely circulated Chinese translations of Lawrence.

Editor's review

如果只读一部劳伦斯，《虹》常常是与《恋爱中的女人》并列的选择；而后者的许多线索，正是从《虹》里生长出来的。这本书表面写一家三代的婚姻，内里却是一部“心灵史”：汤姆与丽蒂雅在陌生中摸索靠近，安娜与威尔在相爱之后彼此耗尽，厄秀拉则走出农庄，去学校、去教堂、去爱一个人，又一次次被现实撞回来。劳伦斯把每一段关系都写得既具体又带有象征意味，月亮、教堂、马群、洪水与那道虹，反复出现，把日常的婚恋推到关于生命完整性的追问上。这一版由劳伦斯研究者和译者黑马与石磊合作完成，译文尽量保留原作浓烈的抒情节奏与议论性长句，卷首有译本序，可为初读者交代时代背景与劳伦斯的争议所在。需要提醒的是，劳伦斯对两性心理的直白书写在出版之初曾引起轩然大波，今天读来仍不算“轻阅读”：它需要耐心，也需要读者接受作者时不时跳出来大发议论的写法。一旦进入，那座被矿井包围的沼泽农庄会久久留在记忆里。

Who it's for

A good fit for

喜欢英国文学、想系统阅读劳伦斯的读者
对家族史式长篇小说和现代主义叙事感兴趣的读者
关心工业化与乡村变迁题材的读者
愿意慢慢读、能接受大量心理描写与议论的大学生及以上读者

Not a good fit for

习惯快节奏强情节、追求轻松阅读的读者
对书中直白的性心理描写可能感到不适的读者
刚开始接触外国长篇名著、需要导读辅助的初读者

Reading tips

先读卷首译本序，了解1915年《虹》被禁毁的经过，再进入正文会更从容。
按三代人分段阅读，读完每一代做简单梳理，留意人物关系如何一代代推进。
把“虹”、月亮、教堂、洪水等反复出现的意象随手记下，它们构成全书的意义网络。
建议与姐妹篇《恋爱中的女人》对读，可看清厄秀拉这一人物后来的走向。

About the publisher

Shanghai Joint Publishing Company China · Founded in 1986

Shanghai Joint Publishing Company focuses on humanities and social science publishing and has developed a distinctive profile in the collation and translation of classical literature and world classics. Its 258 titles in the database cover classical literature, world classics, foreign literature, literary appreciation, general biography, and modern poetry. Representative publications include the Annotated Dream of the Red Chamber by Zhiyanzhai series, as well as collected and selected works by classic authors such as Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, and Shakespeare. Its authors and translators include Cao Xueqin, Zhiyanzhai, Dostoevsky, Leo Tolstoy, Zang Zhonglun, Zeng Siyi, Xu Zhenya, and Cao Ying. The press emphasizes the annotated collation of classic texts and the publication of authoritative translations, forming a publishing profile that spans both Chinese classical literature and world literary classics. Because public information on some details of its publishing history is limited, they are not discussed here.

Translator's Preface
Chapter One How Tom Brangwen Married a Polish Lady
Chapter Two They Live at the Marsh
Chapter Three Childhood of Anna Lensky
Chapter Four Girlhood of Anna Brangwen
Chapter Five Wedding at the Marsh
Chapter Six Anna Victrix
Chapter Seven The Cathedral
Chapter Eight The Child
Chapter Nine The Marsh and the Flood
Chapter Ten The Widening Circle
Chapter Eleven First Love
Chapter Twelve Shame
Chapter Thirteen The Man's World
Chapter Fourteen The Widening Circle
Chapter Fifteen The Bitterness of Ecstasy
Chapter Sixteen The Rainbow

FAQ

《虹》和《恋爱中的女人》是什么关系？

两书是姐妹篇，《恋爱中的女人》承接《虹》，继续写厄秀拉与妹妹古德伦的情感经历。可以先读《虹》，再读《恋爱中的女人》，人物脉络会更清楚。

这本书当年为什么被禁？

《虹》1915年出版后，被不少评论者指为淫秽，经法庭裁定销毁，直到后来才重新面世并获得承认。它对两性关系的直白描写和批判性议论，在当时的英国引起强烈争议。

这个版本是谁翻译的？

上海三联书店2014年版（ISBN 9787542648877）由黑马（本名毕冰宾）与石磊翻译，属于“世界名著名译文库·劳伦斯集”，卷首附有译本序，正文共十六章。

读起来会不会很难？

叙述部分并不晦涩，但劳伦斯常在情节中插入长篇议论与象征描写，节奏偏慢。建议放慢速度、按代际分段阅读，遇到议论段落不必逐句死抠，把握情绪脉络即可。

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About the author

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

D. H. Lawrence (1885–1930) was a British novelist, poet and essayist, born David Herbert Lawrence in a mining family in Eastwood, Nottinghamshire. His work spans novels, short stories, poetry and essays, and his best-known books include Sons and Lovers, The Rainbow, Women in Love and Lady Chatterley's Lover. Often set against the repression of natural human instinct by industrial civilization, his writing explores relations between men and women and individual emotional life in a direct, symbolic style; because of its bold subjects and expression, his books were repeatedly banned. He died of tuberculosis in Vence, France, in 1930. The collection holds 17 of his works, covering foreign literature and essays.