The Rocking-Horse Winner, D. H. Lawrence (1926)
The Rocking-Horse Winner, D. H. Lawrence (1926)  
Podcast: Classics Read Aloud
Published On: Fri Sep 25 2026
Description: “There must be more money! There must be more money!”I can’t say I’ve read a story quite like “The Rocking-Horse Winner” before. It took me by surprise; it took my breath away, really. In it, D. H. Lawrence tackles a number of taboo themes unapologetically—social striving, maternal loathing, failures of masculinity—and wraps them in a parcel carried earnestly by a clever boy.As in Willa Cather’s “Double Birthday,” Lawrence frames his story in the post-World War I era, a tumultuous time of economic and social strain. Traditional ways of life were at once irretrievably altered, wistfully yearned for, and increasingly dear to achieve. Unlike Cather’s subjects, who were found moving into the new age with certain stoicism, the family in Lawrence’s vision is led by a handsome father who “has no luck” and a mother who resents the unlucky fate befallen her in this love match. It is a fairy tale gone wrong.Children are like sponges, absorbing the unspoken tensions, opinions, hopes, and worries of the adults around them. In “The Rocking-Horse Winner,” Lawrence shows what happens when one of these little sponges decides to soak up all the drenching anxieties of the adults around him, painting for us an allegory of material want.Please enjoy…Add to Podcast Show Notes: Subscribe to Classics Read Aloud to receive future readings, including commentary and interesting “et cetera” tangent links, right to your inbox: https://classicsreadaloud.substack.com/subscribe This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit classicsreadaloud.substack.com