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The Prussian Officer and Other Stories

D. H. Lawrence

453 ratings
The Prussian Officer and Other Stories | D. H. Lawrence

The Prussian Officer and Other Stories

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The collection of short stories – of which The Prussian Officer is one – was Lawrence’s first such book. A German officer and his orderly are the focus of the piece and, while socially the superior of his orderly, the officer demonstrates his is the distinctly baser character.
, who had always kept himself suppressed. Occasionally there had been a duel, an outburst before the soldiers. He knew himself to be always on the point of breaking out. But he kept himself hard to the idea of the Service. Whereas the young soldier seemed to live out his warm, full nature, to give it off in his very movements, which had a certain zest, such as wild animals have in free movement. And this irritated the officer more and more.

In spite of himself, the Captain could not regain his neutrality of feeling towards his orderly. Nor could he leave the man alone. In spite of himself, he watched him, gave him sharp orders, tried to take up as much of his time as possible. Sometimes he flew into a rage with the young soldier, and bullied him. Then the orderly shut himself off, as it were out of earshot, and waited, with sullen, flushed face, for the end of the noise. The words never pierced to his intelligence, he made himself, protectively, impervious to the feelings of his master.

He had a scar on his left thumb, a deep seam going across the knuckle. The officer had long suffered from it, and wanted to do something to it. Still it was there, ugly and brutal on the young, brown hand. At last the Captain's reserve gave way. One day, as the orderly was smoothing out the tablecloth, the officer pinned down his thumb with a pencil, asking,

"How did you come by that?"

The young man winced and drew back at attention.

"A wood-axe, Herr Hauptmann," he answered.

The officer waited for further explanation. None came. The orderly went about his duties. The elder man was sullenly angry. His servant avoided him. And the next day he had to use all his willpower to avoid seeing the scarred thumb. He wanted to get hold of it and—— A hot flame ran in his blood.

He knew his servant would soon be free, and would be glad. As yet, the soldier had held himself off

Marc 08/28/2023
Short novelettes with a very naturalistic atmosphere. Clearly early work of Lawrence.
leire 03/28/2022
mi top 3: el oficial prusiano, la hija del tratante de caballos y una vez
alex 03/04/2021
took a very gay turn which i was not expecting
Robin 12/12/2020
Only someone with a little cruelty in them could write so vividly about cruelty. It made me shudder. I loved it.
Shivani 02/16/2020
In this beautiful amalgam of passion, struggle, death, longing and wonder, we find the mastery of D.H.Lawrence over Life and living blaze out in resplendent glory. Each story in this collection is a masterpiece, a tribute to the convoluted imperfection of human emotions and desires.
As usual, D.H. La
Jeremy 07/31/2015
Superb, each is like a shining jewel of literary revelation. Some say that aside from the major works, Lawrence is 'difficult', but I think what's more true is that Lawrence just isn't fashionable these days, and in the major works you simply cannot deny his genius, even if you wanted to, and were i
Dan 06/24/2011
Early writings, interesting but inferior to his best. Recommended for the reader interested in the development of a fine writer or the emergence of Lawrence's style; don't miss the introduction by Brian Finney, which gives this book rating its forth star.
Joshua 12/29/2009
One of the best short story collections I have been privileged enough to read. Only a couple of stories fall below the masterful level of the rest. The psychological sprawl of some of his longer novels is cut down, making this an ideal starting point for a curious reader. This volume proves that Law

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