DL/A-Z//ADE - [Correspondence with Gary Adelman of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign]
Reference code
DL/A-Z//ADE
Level of description
File
Title
[Correspondence with Gary Adelman of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign]
Date/s
24/10/1997-20/02/2003
Quantity & Format
6 Letters (typescript)
Personal name
Lawrence, D. H.
Larkin, Philip
Larkin, Philip
Creator
Adelman, Gary
Scope and content
001 is a letter from Gary Adleman to Doris Lessing dated 24/10/1997. He asks Lessing’s opinion on why D.H. Lawrence’s reputation has recently [1990s] declined. Quotes Milan Kundera on Lady Chatterly’s Lover.
002 is a reply from Lessing dated 10/11/1997. She defends Lawrence, with reference to Sons and Lovers and The Rainbow (“among the greatest in our century”) and Women in Love. The contention centres on sex. Lessing asserts: “Who has said D.H. Lawrence is no longer important? He seems to have fallen foul of some idealogues[sic]. But as we all know, ideology is the most changable[sic] thing in the world”.
003 is a reply from Adelman dated 20/02/1998. He explains his students’ aversion to Lawrence, with comments quoted from final papers. Mentions The Rainbow, Women in Love, and Studies in Classic American Literature. Mentions F.R. Leavis and Dale Peck.
004 is a reply from Lessing dated 16/03/1998. She states that writers don’t care about ideology. Defends Lawrence passionately, arguing for his work to be viewed in the context of his era. Mentions class.
Quote: “The man [D.H. Lawrence] was a genius. A flawed one? Of course. He was trying to encompass the terror of the time he was in, which was the First World War and what happened after as a result of it. And he was not able to encompass it. But that does not mean he was negligible, on the contrary.”
Mentions “strong man worship” and the interwar rise of Fascism. Attacks Adelman’s students as “the women’s movement at its worst”; attacks the notion of identifying with fictional characters; refers to the effect of the contraceptive pill on women’s lives. Mentions Anna Karenina, The Iliad, and John Thomas and Lady Jane. Discusses the contemporary reception of D.H. Laurence.
005 is a letter from Adelman to Lessing dated 16/08/2000. He thanks Lessing. Mentions Adelman’s article “The Man Who Rode Away: What D.H. Lawrence Means to Today’s Readers” in TriQuarterly (quoting Lessing). Mentions a Lessing interview with Earl Ingersoll printed in the Ontario Review.
006 is a letter from Adelman to Lessing dated 20/02/2003. He invites Lessing to comment on Philip Larkin’s attitude towards Samuel Beckett. Mentions Modernism. Lessing hand writes “no” on the letter.
002 is a reply from Lessing dated 10/11/1997. She defends Lawrence, with reference to Sons and Lovers and The Rainbow (“among the greatest in our century”) and Women in Love. The contention centres on sex. Lessing asserts: “Who has said D.H. Lawrence is no longer important? He seems to have fallen foul of some idealogues[sic]. But as we all know, ideology is the most changable[sic] thing in the world”.
003 is a reply from Adelman dated 20/02/1998. He explains his students’ aversion to Lawrence, with comments quoted from final papers. Mentions The Rainbow, Women in Love, and Studies in Classic American Literature. Mentions F.R. Leavis and Dale Peck.
004 is a reply from Lessing dated 16/03/1998. She states that writers don’t care about ideology. Defends Lawrence passionately, arguing for his work to be viewed in the context of his era. Mentions class.
Quote: “The man [D.H. Lawrence] was a genius. A flawed one? Of course. He was trying to encompass the terror of the time he was in, which was the First World War and what happened after as a result of it. And he was not able to encompass it. But that does not mean he was negligible, on the contrary.”
Mentions “strong man worship” and the interwar rise of Fascism. Attacks Adelman’s students as “the women’s movement at its worst”; attacks the notion of identifying with fictional characters; refers to the effect of the contraceptive pill on women’s lives. Mentions Anna Karenina, The Iliad, and John Thomas and Lady Jane. Discusses the contemporary reception of D.H. Laurence.
005 is a letter from Adelman to Lessing dated 16/08/2000. He thanks Lessing. Mentions Adelman’s article “The Man Who Rode Away: What D.H. Lawrence Means to Today’s Readers” in TriQuarterly (quoting Lessing). Mentions a Lessing interview with Earl Ingersoll printed in the Ontario Review.
006 is a letter from Adelman to Lessing dated 20/02/2003. He invites Lessing to comment on Philip Larkin’s attitude towards Samuel Beckett. Mentions Modernism. Lessing hand writes “no” on the letter.
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DL - Doris Lessing Archive
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DL/2008 - Doris Lessing Archive 2008 deposit
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DL/A-Z - [A-Z Correspondence of Doris Lessing]
- DL/A-Z//ADE - [Correspondence with Gary Adelman of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign]
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DL/A-Z - [A-Z Correspondence of Doris Lessing]
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DL/2008 - Doris Lessing Archive 2008 deposit