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Loading... Lady Chatterley's Lover (1928)by D. H. Lawrence
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I’m not so sure if D.H. Lawrence’s definition of a “man’s best friend” would be his dog or his member. ( ) Surprisingly I’d never read this book before although as a schoolboy we would often pass around books for the passages relating to sex. I’ve also read a lot of Lawrence’s other books and enjoyed them. When I saw there was an audiobook version read by Holliday Grainger I decided it was time I discovered what all the fuss was about and the first thing to say is that she was an inspired choice to be narrator and even made the sometimes dull parts listenable. My guess is that, if the book was published today, it would be more rigorously edited to take out some of the repetitive and redundant parts though I wouldn’t want to see Lawrence’s mystical passages excised. For me it was more about class and the rapaciousness of modern technology than about the affair between Connie and Mellors and even their relationship was as much about a clash between the classes as it was about how men and women approach sex. It helped, I think, that I grew up in Lawrence country and I could recognise all of the characters portrayed in the novel. Though many would deny it I see little difference with the type of people we encounter now to the ones Lawrence was writing about. As John Lennon put it: “You think you’re so clever, so classless and free but you’re still fucking peasants as far as I can see.” This book was a huge disappointment for me. It seemed very long and boring, although in fact it was a short book. The sex scenes were quite brutal and didn't seem really necessary to the book, and I really didn't like the heroine of the book, I found her quite stupid and insipid. I could hardly finish and I didn't enjoy this experience at all. I don't think I'll ever re-read this book. From my blog: https://dominikasreadingchallenge.blogspot.com/2019/09/lady-chatterleys-lover-by... Merged review: This book was a huge disappointment for me. It seemed very long and boring, although in fact it was a short book. The sex scenes were quite brutal and didn't seem really necessary to the book, and I really didn't like the heroine of the book, I found her quite stupid and insipid. I could hardly finish and I didn't enjoy this experience at all. I don't think I'll ever re-read this book. From my blog: https://dominikasreadingchallenge.blogspot.com/2019/09/lady-chatterleys-lover-by... Merged review: This book was a huge disappointment for me. It seemed very long and boring, although in fact it was a short book. The sex scenes were quite brutal and didn't seem really necessary to the book, and I really didn't like the heroine of the book, I found her quite stupid and insipid. I could hardly finish and I didn't enjoy this experience at all. I don't think I'll ever re-read this book. From my blog: https://dominikasreadingchallenge.blogspot.com/2019/09/lady-chatterleys-lover-by... Could have used more smut. When John Thomas and Lady Jane are properly covered up there's dreary philosophizing in their stead: about how Connie thinks everything is nothingness, and how industrialization is emasculating British men, and how Mellors thinks strong willed women should be shot. Though there's also a sharp critique of the English class system, not that that is all that rare a beast by these days. Much more entertaining are passages like this lovely, in which Connie bemoans the withdrawal of the post-ejaculatory penis: And only now she became aware of the small, bud-like reticence and tenderness of the penis, and a little cry of wonder and poignancy escaped her again, her woman's heart crying out over the tender frailty of that which had been the power. Had not read this before; an interesting historical snapshot from a century ago of the state of the art in free love. Lawrence veers off into various rants on his particular obsessions—lack of manly men, poisonous nature of capitalism, and "how few people have live, alert legs". In fact he has a slight obsession with the importance of men wearing tight red trousers that show off their buttocks, under a little white jacket. Mellors' letter in the last few pages is derailed by a rhapsody on tight scarlet trousers, and nostalgia for "the old group dances", which sounds worryingly like endorsing Morris dancing. Perhaps that's what the censors objected to.
Although written many years ago, Lady Chatterley's Lover has just been reissued by the Grove Press, and this fictional account of the day-to-day life of an English gamekeeper is still of considerable interest to outdoor minded readers, as it contains many passages on pheasant raising, the apprehending of poachers, ways to control vermin, and other chores and duties of the professional gamekeeper. Unfortunately one is obliged to wade through many pages of extraneous material in order to discover and savor these sidelights on the management of a Midland shooting estate, and in this reviewer's opinion this book cannot take the place of J.R. Miller's Practical Gamekeeping. Belongs to Publisher Series — 26 more Ebook [Newton] (6) Gallimard, Folio (19-871) Modern Library book (148) Penguin Clothbound Classics (2009) rororo (11638) Is contained inSons and Lovers; St Mawr; The Fox; The White Peacock; Love among the Haystacks; The Virgin and the Gypsy; Lady Chatterley's Lover by D. H. Lawrence Works of D.H. Lawrence: Women in Love, Lady Chatterley's Lover, Sons and Lovers 3 vol set by D. H. Lawrence Has the adaptationIs parodied inHas as a reference guide/companionHas as a studyHas as a student's study guideDistinctionsNotable Lists
Banned, burned, and the subject of a landmark obscenity trial, Lawrence's lyric and sensual last novel is now regarded as "our time's most significant romance." -- "The New York Times. "This classic tale of love and discovery pits the paralyzed and callous Clifford Chatterley against his indecisive wife and her persuasive lover. No library descriptions found. |
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Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)823.912Literature English & Old English literatures English fiction Modern Period 1901-1999 1901-1945LC ClassificationRatingAverage:
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