Anyone read any D.H. Lawrence?

[pixiecrinkle]

OK, once in a while, I start reading a book, and I just don't get it. I've never read Lawrence before, and I'm about halfway through The Rainbow right now, and it's driving me nuts because I can't seem to figure it out. I read the introduction so I'd have some context for it, but because it talked about how the book was regarded as quite scandalous for its forthright treatment of sexuality, I'm having a terrible time figuring out how to take certain things. For example, you know when you read a Victorian novel that the phrase "making love" doesn't mean anything close to what that would mean in a novel published today. I can't figure it out in this one though. It talks about how people are "withholding" themselves from their spouses for pages on end, but then refers to them "being intimate." So I guess the withholding is emotional? But in that case, then other things don't make sense.

I'm really not getting it, which is making it very tedious to read. I'm enjoying the other book I'm reading, Bare: On Women, Dancing, Sex, and Power by Elisabeth Eaves, a lot more. It's almost convinced me to move to Seattle and embark upon a dancing career at the Lusty Lady.