When I was aged 20-21, I was very strongly attracted by DH Lawrence's novel, Women in Love; and I have been re-listening to it in the excellent audio-book version read by Ruth Golding, and available free at Librivox.
I am only around half-way through, and there have been some excellent chapters so far, and there are some more to come, that I recall - although I also remember the the novel ends badly.
What WiL has that appealed to me is obvious: it is written from a full recognition of the horroribleness and despair-inducing experience of alienation and materialism. It yearningly aspires to - although does not achieve, such a possibility being excluded by the nature of reality, as well as Lawrence's assumptions - the romantic ideal of a life lived with full participation, and engagement.
The protagonists spend a good deal of the time having deep conversations and intense experiences; which is exactly what I most liked and sought in late adolescence! Indeed, there is perhaps more of this in WiL than in any other fiction I have encountered.
The thing moves slowly, there is a good deal of incantatory deliberate repetition - and sometimes it is dull, almost grinding to a halt. I suspect that I might nowadays find it harder to get-through reading with my eyes, than to hear it well-read.
But where Women in Love succeeds - which is quite often! - Lawrence makes a tremendous impact; with very vivid, absorbing, and memorable scenes.
Note: My recommendation is a case of: people who like this sort of thing may find this the sort of thing they like.
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