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D.H. Lawrence on Benjamin Franklin
Posted by michaelvdg in Uncategorized.
Mar 26th, 2007 | 5 responses
Mar 26th, 2007 | 5 responses
I have published two essays by D.H. Lawrence at my own blog right now – they provide great, though-provoking, and funny reads.
For those interested: here’s D.H. Lawrence on Benjamin Franklin. As reader and commenter ‘Domajot’ wrote after reading it: “How much Lawrence packs into this one single essay!… A great read. I’ll revisit to reread. There’s an awful lot here, and I want a second combing through.”
At the end I link to the other marvelous essay I published, The Spirit of Place.
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5 Responses to “D.H. Lawrence on Benjamin Franklin”
A great, great read, Michael, thanks. Though I don’t adhere to Lawrence’s philosophy I can relate to and agree with his criticisms of Franklin’s.
The end bit about Europe is quite prescient and timely now too, eh?
C.S.: yeah…
I don’t adhere to his philosophy either, but he does force on to think, and he’s, quite simply, a great writer and.. makes one think (and laugh). Glad you enjoyed Christine. It’s a long read, but well worth the time.
Well, I must admit that I had the opposite opinion of Lawrence’s essay on Franklin as most other commenters. I read about half of it before I gave up and closed the window, so perhaps I missed the good part. However, I realized as I was reading that the only reason I was continuing on was because of the Name of the Author and not for what the author was saying. At that point, I gave up.
Lawrence seems only to be engaged in finding the worst in what Franklin said. He finds ways to belittle and tease but never really engages in an interesting way with Franklin’s ideas. This is an easy game to play, finding the flaws and making fun of someone with quirky phrases. You could do that with the Sermon on the Mount or I Have a Dream or Washington’s 2nd inaugural, etc. If Lawrence had actually been interested in the virtues of Franklin’s position as well as the drawbacks, then I would have kept reading.
There are many ways to read an essay. This one will not work for those
looking for a personal message or for a directive on how to do
nation building.
To appreciate, you have to be able to go with the flow of the author’s passioniate soul and to look down from the eagle’s perspective.
It provides insight, not a recipe.
Domajot: well said.