A review by hadeanstars
Kangaroo by D.H. Lawrence

4.0

Not Bert's greatest work imo, but it has its moments. Most illuminating is his certainly autobiographical account of his time in Cornwall during ww1, where he was mercilessly hounded by the British establishment for the crime of having a German wife. The book is worth reading for this alone if you are interested at all in the life of DH Lawrence. Otherwise we have a discussion of the Australian character and a great deal of political reflection, which itself is interesting. Back then things were not complex as they are now. Of course they are not complex now, but people have forgotten that unless they h=own capital then they fall under the aegis of labour. Instead, so convinced have the labourers become that they must be anything but filthy labour, thus they atone for their self-loathing by voting for capital. Nonetheless, even a century ago, it was made somehow complicated because labour was divided and could not decide on how to challenge capital. So, this is a surprisingly political piece of work for Lawrence. He pitches at an explanation of Australia and perhaps he hits the mark, I've never visited so cannot say, but certainly there is some authenticity around the national character herein. Not very easy, but there are shining moments.