Mornings in Mexico

By D.H. Lawrence

Book Overview

"Mornings in Mexico" is a vibrant and evocative collection of travel essays by the renowned English writer D. H. Lawrence. Composed during his travels in the mid-1920s, the work offers a series of deeply personal and philosophical reflections on the landscapes, people, and traditions of Mexico and the American Southwest. Lawrence's prose captures the sensory richness of the region, from the bustling atmosphere of local markets to the rhythmic intensity of indigenous ceremonial dances.

The collection is comprised of eight sketches that blend keen observation with Lawrence's characteristic exploration of the human spirit and its connection to the natural world. In pieces such as "Market Day" and "Indians and Entertainment," he delves into the cultural contrasts between Western industrial civilization and the more primal, earth-bound existence he encountered in the valley of Oaxaca and among the Pueblo peoples of New Mexico. D. H. Lawrence uses his distinctive literary style to convey not just the physical sights of his journey, but the "spirit of place" that defines the soul of a region. "Mornings in Mexico" remains a significant work of 20th-century travel literature, providing a unique window into the mind of one of modernism's most influential figures as he grapples with themes of ritual, identity, and the search for meaning in a changing world.

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you may see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work.

This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.

As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1025848055
• ISBN13: 9781025848051
• Release Date: February 2026
• Publisher: Tradd Street Press
• Length: 186 Pages
• Weight: 0.97 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 6.1" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

unique travel piece

D.H. Lawrence writes like a painter would write were he to. What is most real in the writings of Lawrence is the physical world, and of course the body. Mornings in Mexico is really a slight work but with a charm to it. There is a relating of facts (especially about Indian life and thought) that you would expect from a travel piece but the charm is in the kind of easy sauntering pace that the narrative keeps. That feeling that it is vacation time and there really is no hurry. The house he lives in for his stay in Mexico and the surrounding markets and open fields in which he walks and the balcony he stands on in the morning with parrot are all pleasantly described. It feels like a place you want to be. The way time away should feel. There is a slight mournful air to the fact that the Americans are beginning to spoil the place, it is as if the Americans have brought that intruder time itself into this timeless land. It's not so much the details you will remember as the overall feel of the work. And Lawrence himself. And here he seems at ease, searching as always but not desperately so, which is a nice Lawrence to spend time with.

Mexico - by a first rate traveller

Lawrence was a good traveller in these parts and he spent a lot of time carefully observing the Indians he met along the way. He was particularly interested in the ways of thought of the Indians and their religious beliefs and the ways their ideas differed from yours and mine. On simple concepts like time and distance, for example: "To an Indian, time is a vague, foggy reality. There are only three times: en la manana (morning); en la tarde (afternoon); en la noche (night). But to the white monkey (you and me) there are exact spots of time, such as five o'clock and half past three." The Indian's concept of God was different from ours. "With the Indians...there is strictly no god. The Indian does not consider himself as created and therefore external to God, or the creature of God. There is, in our sense of the word, no God. But all is godly. There is no great mind directing the universe. Yet the mystery of creation, the wonder and fascination of creation shimmers in every leaf and stone... There is no God looking on. The only God there is is involved all the time in the dramatic wonder and inconsistency of creation. God is immersed, as it were, in creation, not to be separated or distinguished. There can be no ideal God." Lawrence does a wonderful job of digging into this exotic culture and explaining to us the significance of Indian rituals and dances. I particularly liked one of his statements: "The Indian is completely immersed in the wonder of his own drama." There is also a lovely example of descriptive travel writing in "Market Day", a chapter that makes you slow down your reading pace to savor the beautiful descriptions of small things like a bird's flight or flowers in a doorway. I guess this is the difference between reading and information-processing, which we do so much of today.