Saturday, August 7, 2010

Lori's Livres--Lady Chatterley's Lover



Book Title/Author
: Lady Chatterley's Lover by D.H. Lawrence
Publisher/Year Published
: My edition was the Penguin Classics edition, published in 2006. The novel was originally published in 1928.
How I got a hold of this book
: I bought this book from the Marketplace at Amazon.com.
Why I read this book
: I read this book for several reasons. Firstly, it's a classic and I'm trying to read the classics. Secondly, it was discussed in one of my favorite movies.
Rating
: I give this book 4 stars because it was interesting, well-written, and I'm glad I read it.

A brief synopsis: Connie is a young woman who had an intellectual, free-spirit upbringing, which causes her to have a looser view of marriage. During World War I, she married Clifford Chatterley, who soon becomes paralyzed. She spends most of her time taking care of him. A chance walk in the woods with her husband where she meets Oliver Mellors shows her how bored she is and sets them all on a course that will profoundly impact their lives. Read it yourself to find out how.

This is one of those books that I've been meaning to and trying to read for years. I'd pick it up and get a few chapters into it, but I'd wind up setting it aside because other things stood out to me more. Anyway, I finally finished it on my nook. (I don't know what it is about my nook, but it feels like I read faster on it) I think the main impetus for picking it up and finishing this time was that I went through a major Pleasantville phase. In the past few years, I've gone through these phases before, but I guess this time I wasn't so easily distracted.

I wouldn't call this book life-changing, but I am glad that I read it. I think Lawrence does a good job exploring a woman's inner thoughts and feelings toward her husband, especially at a time when it wasn't really an option to not marry if one didn't feel like it. Add on top of that the husband is paralyzed from the waist down about a month after getting married. Tough stuff. It's notoriously difficult for writers to write in the point of view of the opposite sex and I think Lawrence does a good job of it.

I felt like this book was quite sexy and exciting. I found myself getting caught up in the characters because they were so real. I understood and felt Connie's need and desire for excitement, for a change of pace, for something to call her own, even though we definitely are not in the same situation. I think a lot of this book is about yearning for a different life and that's something that a lot of us can relate to.

5 comments:

  1. Wow, I really disliked this book! It struck me as really sexist- Connie's not happy unless she has a "real man," and in fact spends her whole adult life obsessing about men. Apparently, a lot of Lawrence's works are like that? I haven't read anything else by him since, I'm a little scared. I thought "Madame Bovary" handled similar themes in a much less offensive way.

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  2. I liked this book, although I half agree with what Jane Doe said. I dislike the way Lawrence portrays women in general. But I think that Lady Chatterley found her own sexuality in a sort of get back to nature way, which I liked. Though she did get a bit too dependant on Mellors, and seemed a little bit desperate in parts.

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  3. This has been on my TBR list forever. Reading this really makes me want to give it a shot. I'm moving it over to my TBR table so I can pick it up soon =]

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  4. I've never read this book, though it's been on my to-read list for several years...your review makes me want to read it sooner. :)

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  5. Interesting review. I have never read it but I did download it for free fron B&N today. I'll have to give it a shot.

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