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Hailed as a great influence in the evolution of twentieth-century literature D. H. Lawrence's sensuous, lyrical style and boldly realistic stories continue to fascinate readers. In addition to his great novels, Sons and Lovers (1913), The Rainbow (1915), Women in Love (1921), and the controversial Lady Chatterley's Lover (1928), his works include poetry, essays, plays, travel books, criticism, and short stories. In D.H. Lawrence: A Study of the Short Fiction, Weldon Thornton illustrates Lawrence's distinctive achievement in the genre of short fiction. Lawrence wrote nearly four dozen short stories and has received consistent praise from noted critics of the form. The inclusion of his stories in virtually every anthology of short fiction confirms the importance of his work in the genre. Lawrence's short stories offer an amazing array of explorations of diverse human situations. Thornton explores the challenges these stories present to the reader - their great subtlety, depth and power. Rather than attempt a comprehensive examination of the author's work in short fiction, Thornton takes a closer, more detailed look at selected stories. By focusing on a discrete number of stories, Thornton reveals their surprising quality and encourages more careful attention to other Lawrence stories. Thornton specifically takes issue with extensive criticism based on supposed biographical or thematic correlations and points out that Lawrence, himself, advised the reader heed the tale, not the author, and permit the stories to speak for themselves.
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