Lawrence writes beautifully; that I think no one can dispute. His style and character portrayals maintained my interest in the absence of any significant plot, which is no small task. There is something about these characters, their experiences and personalities, that does not ring true to anything I have seen in my own life. I recognize the son’s desire to make his mother proud and happy. I have seen the mother wanting the best for her son, fearing that his own decisions will never lead him there, and fighting against losing her centrality in his life. Paul’s relationships with Miriam and Clara, however, make little sense to me. How could a person have such a close intellectual and sexual relationship with someone, yet be unable to find any love or empathy for them? How could a person so easily vacillate between infatuation and disgust? The person of Miriam is equally foreign to me. Since the novel is apparently nearly autobiographical I must assume that people of this nature exist, but it does not provide a great deal of illumination of my own life.