Dull and boring perpetuate in Women in Love

I have been bested. I wanted to read the “greatest 20th century English novels” and knew there would be some that have not stood the test of time, but I’m a patient guy and thought I could read them all. I was wrong. D.H. Lawrence’s Women in Love is, to borrow a tired cliché (which fits, for this novel), like watching paint dry. I got nearly halfway through before giving up.

Really nothing I can promote about this novel. It tells the story of a couple sisters in the early 20th century as they fall for two very different men. At least, I think that is the gist. Hard to say, as most of the pages follow dull, drury conversations between the pretentious high-and-mighty characters. They engage in philosophical debates, I’m sure to further the author’s ideas, but to no end. It is like recording a debate club match and turning it into a novel. None of the characters have any endearing qualities which make you want to root for them or follow their lives.

I did really try to get through it, but this book is dreary and seemingly unending. The “action” was just starting to pick up when I quit it, in that an actual story was at least trying to develop, but when a debate broke out again at a party, I could take no more. Wave the white flag, and move on to (hopefully) a better novel.