The Rainbow cover art

The Rainbow

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The Rainbow

By: D. H. Lawrence
Narrated by: Maureen O'Brien
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About this listen

Set in the rural midlands of England, The Rainbow revolves around three generations of Brangwens, a family deeply involved with the land and noted for their strength and vigour. When Tom Brangwen marries a Polish widow, Lydia Lensky, and adopts her daughter, Anna, as his own, he is unprepared for the conflict and passion that erupts between them. Their stories continue in Women in Love.

©1995 The Estate of Frieda Lawrence Ravagli (P)2014 Audible, Inc. Classics

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Critic reviews

"O'Brien reads the Brangwens, both women and men, as vital people, with instinctive lines that are both sensual and spiritual; always they are whole and organic as they are drawn inexorably into the Rainbow. Both book and reading give us Lawrence at his best." ( AudioFile)
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The biography of generations of the Brangwen family, their life at the Marsh and their relationships are layered with passionate intensity and with words that are palpable and breathe.
There is richness in the detail of the characters....intimate thoughts and desires, reflecting their own humanity and themes of class, religion and sexuality pertinent to the period; and the struggle between the rational and instinctual.
Passions are visceral, with interactions that I suspect (I hope...) the rest of us rest experience, but fail to realise; and you need to love Lawrence to endure some of these passages ! I do laugh when Ursula and Anton Skrebensky have sex for the first time and DHL describes this as ....” their final entry into the source of creation “

I guess I shouldn’t be surprised by the use again of jewish references by 19th century novelists; Lawrence was no different......”Anna Lensky’s father owed money to the Jews...” that reinforce anti-semitic tropes.

Brilliant of course, but you need to love Lawrence

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It was a stunning novel, something I would happily listen to again. overall the performance was well delivered but some of the voices put on by the narrator where incredibly annoying at times. D.H. Lawrence is a classic for all the right reasons. Beautiful!

The Rainbow

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I rarely stop listening to a book half way through, but this is a real slog. The storyline is repetitive and depressing. Obviously the quality of the writing cannot be denied and there are some beautiful observations both of the natural world and the inner soul. However, there are only so many times you can listen to a couple hating each other one day qnd loving each other passionately the next day. There is no story line, no interesting characters, nothing changes. I got 12 hours through and couldn't bear any more, couldn't BEAR it (as Lawrence would have repeated). Not for me and I wonder if the narrator regretted her acceptance of the job half way through? She kept up a good show regardless.

A long slog

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Maureen O'Brien gives a dazzling performance. It was word perfect and had a deep understanding and obvious love of the text. Bravo

Fantastic Rendition

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Almost every aspect of human experience is described and explored so vividly. The Rainbow shows you your every colour one by one.

Like therapy

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