The Rainbow.

D.H.Lawrence (1885 -1930)

There is a big difference when you have to study classic literature via a curriculum, than if you desire it. Having been engrossed with the depth of feeling and how authors approached building up characters - I was led to D.H. Lawrence's 'The Rainbow.' The classic stands tall in literature's dreamy world of an era locked in a fortress of conventions - who's only endearing outlet was writing amorously passionate accounts of enthused social narratives; by which was a vividly stark contrast to ones erect demure. Writing was a log of 'true' life feelings, daily experiences that embellished the creative soul. D.H. Lawrence delves into the period of 1840 - 1905 as if the period was a living entity in the next room.

For Lawrence 'The Rainbow' plays out a social experiment - exposing a glimpse of author surmising - not that it is obvious in the heavily researched classic. Yes, I could see how social restrictions may have caused gargantuan relationship rifts, threatening to dissolve family units; when on the outside they appear calm as a swan, yet inwardly hatred and steadfast beliefs bubble beneath - An example of the ever familiar tussle between tradition and modernity - the corner-stone to the book's existence. I can imagine the hormones pumping about the young Lawrence whilst detailing the 'sowing the seedy dalliances', of nineteenth century lesbians, whose fiery lust was short-lived then subsequently pledged to 'speak nothing of their shenanigans' and wilted off into their loveless conventional married life. I distinctly heard early twentieth century oak panelled cupboards' creak by the shear weight of skeletal bones. Remarkably Lawrence was in real terms still sharpening his literacy craft whilst writing 'The Rainbow' - I marvelled at his descriptive era minutiae, as well as keeping in toe with events, without losing flow or structure, especially during an era that Lawrence would've not experienced at first-hand. He probed historical content zealously, by polishing off lost fragments of time - breathing life into old artefacts.

Lambs suckling, grown men suckling.

The nucleus of the classic is kitted around the Brangwen family. Farming by trade, hardworking, routine orientated family, who'd successfully kept the farm running for a couple of generations. Turmoil seems to be closely connected with Tom Brangwen's crop, year in, year out. When you would think in a period that love conquers all - you kind of feel it should be 'loyalty' that conquers all is more apt. Lawrence portrays prickly cultural clashes between Tom and his Polish wife Lydia Lensky who'd been previously widowed. Their relationship 'rock of sustainability' survived the thrusting turmoil that incessantly beat down on it. A myriad of disparity, recognised as relationship glue, hardening as years unfolded. Another one of their feats was producing children, a numerate healthy crop to carry on the Brangwen's Marsh Farm legacy.

Ursula, is a wise girl beyond her age; daughter to the Brangwen clan, is a pivotal character in this novel. Stringent intense narratives follow her life's flight resembles CCTV coverage - detailing each snippet, each moment. Mirroring Lawrence's experiences as far, including the fly-by-night flings - crushes, and festering curiosities that required dabbling into, during his youth. Forensic explorations is bounty full when it comes to Ursula - even her incredulous period whilst teaching emulated Lawrence's own uncomfortable experience. Realism employed to exhilarate the novel's clarity. Events surrounding the farm and the lives of the children profoundly echo actual dramas of it's time. 'The Rainbow' epitomizes a history lesson beyond anything documented on Wikipedia. The fertility of the land reflects a mother earth embodiment on Lawrence's female subjects that embraces simultaneously the rich fertile earth and intercourse - sexual restraints seems to consume a high octane sexual intensity in which all his heaving characters indulges in, with vigour and explosive might. Lambs suckling, fully grown men suckling, in the lush green pastures; Lawrence knew how to boldly go where no author had gone before - amalgamating pulsating sexual desires with the fertile mother earth.

Overtly out to repulse the conventional bourgeois in the early twentieth century - the actual script bares nothing as perverse as 'Lady Chatterley's Lover' - Whereby the language is forcibly crass in comparison. I wonder if Lawrence's experiment came to the conclusion Lawrence had intended.' If it was achieving to get a book banned - the experiment shows the deficiencies of conservatism in England during 1915. The Brangwen dynasty naturally survived the test of time close to the turn of the twentieth century. The fertile land tinkering into the lives of Tom and Lydia's offspring and beyond, but as soon as you nature is a good thing, nature has a sodden rule to blight at whim. Her twig like fingers coercing the storm clouds to unleash it's worse - marvelling at her natural power, as she plays God. Amongst the destruction - rebirth is never far away.

Religion in its extremes adds to the novel's narrative impetus. For me, it is the seasoning on a succulently cooked Beef Wellington. A perfect storm for rebellion to take firm grip, whereby it is then thrashed out to a conclusion, afterwards 'The Rainbow' appears signalling a freshness, which portrays an arc of natural beauty, that rains down onto the land and the Brangwens' - a silver lining of hope, flooding out over the Derby Valleys'. Ursula's religious persuasion, her thwart road of loyalty and love thunders on in the background, rumbling sporadically, startling the doves nesting above; metaphorically speaking. Lawrence's over-use of wordage can be forgiven, in my opinion - most classics suffer from this epidemic. 'The Rainbow' deserves a higher accolade than other more well-known scripts such as 'Lady Chatterley's Lover'; as seen on TV in 1993.

British film maker; the late Ken Russell also delved into making a film adaptation of 'The Rainbow' - enveloping his lust for the flesh. Worth a read if you're a lover of the fleshy classics.