The Minoan Distance: The Symbolism of Travel in D.H. Lawrence by L.D. Clark (review)

Book Reviews285 Perhaps in order to exhibit this contrastive spirit, each chapter is divided in two parts: Profil, in which a phonologic topic is defined in English, and Pratique, in which exercises are conducted in French, including the directions. In comparison with other textbooks on the topic of French Phonology, D'accord is very explicit on intonation and groupe rythmique. For these and other subjects, the transcription symbols used here are very helpful. Slightly revised IPA is resorted to: crescents of different shapes show the differences between liaison, enchaînements vocalique or consonantique; circles limit the boundaries of groupes rythmiques; stress and intonative patterns are also marked in manners that favorably compare with most other works. On the other hand, this textbook sometimes suffers from its very quality. On the matter of liaisons obligatoires, facultatives or interdites, forinstance, it says as much as others do, but, in relationship with its otherwise greater bulk of information, the topic appears inordinately underdeveloped! Besides, the need to dig for this information in three different places contrasts with the usually clear presentation of D'accord. This may only be an inconvénient de richesse'. Another impression of relative deficiency is produced by the use of "français international" in the title. Actual references to the concept are rare in the text, but it is eventually defined as ...a variety of French that is understood and accepted in all countries of the world where French is spoken. It is devoid of regional, social or national marks, or "accents". It is close, in many ways, to educated Parisian French, (p. x) The synchronic position of contrastive analysis would have been better served by concise, basic information on the dialects of French, and this would have dispelled this faint whiff of naive Gallic chauvinisme'. In conclusion, D'accord leaves the reader with a feeling of excellence. Even strong Code-Learning advocates may not be offended by its open structuralist orientation, since phonology is the area where they resent it least! This is a very thorough work, tested at the prestigious French Summer School at Middlebury College. Only one major objection could be addressed to this textbook: for most French majors whose only exposure to Phonology, or even Linguistics, may be the one course, it may be too thorough and they might have been better satisfied by a simpler, less informative but more visually effective text. But even French majors should never complain that la mariée est trop belle'. JACQUES LAROCHE New Mexico State University L.D. Clark. The Minoan Distance: The Symbolism of Travel in D.H. Lawrence. Tucson: The University of Arizona Press, 1980. 428p. Interested in Lawrence's travel for many years, Clark originally intended to follow in Lawrence's footsteps and examine only the travel works, as amplified by Clark's own visits to the same places. Taking this parallel journey with his wife LaVerne Harrell Clark, the photographer of the exquisite black and white compositions that accompany the text, Clark yielded to a grander design. The book suggests many dimensions — perhaps because Clark is a novelist, as well as a teacher 286ROCKY MOUNTAIN REVIEW and scholar; perhaps because Harrell Clark's images are haunting evocations of Lawrence's vision. The sheer richness of Clark's conception of "travel" represents quite an achievement. Travel in The Minoan Distance is a concept with many layers. The title arises from Lawrence's poem "Middle of the World" where Lawrence asserts What do I care if the smoking ships of the P. & O. and the Orient Line and all the other stinkers cross like clock-work the Minoan distance! They only cross, the distance never changes. For Clark the phrase highlights Lawrence's "quest for a golden time in a golden space," that is, Lawrence's inner necessity for imaginative journeys where he "found and lost over and over again what he was searching for..." Clark suggests that Lawrence traveled constantly, not, as Huxley suggested, because Lawrence was "an expatriate seeking an unspoiled country with a population whose outlook might be in accord with his own," but because Lawrence was "a traveler born," one whose imagination "eventually came to be controlled by the concepts of voyage, of...