Lady Chatterley's Lover

Couldn't get past the way that accents were written

Read this one because I enjoyed the Netflix adaption (which was sort of Pride and Prejudice vibes but more horny). But in the book version, the male lead definitely isn't a Mr Darcy :( definitely very explicit for a 100 year old book, I can see why it was banned!

I took my sweet time with this book, spanning a couple months because I honestly didn't want to overlook the writing, the characters, the themes, the side tangents...I loved it all. The characters felt like real people - flaws and all - and I couldn't get enough because while I felt I could understand them as a whole, they're actions were still unpredictable and fascinating to me. I feel like the whole book is a character-study, of the author and the four “main” characters that he spends the most time fleshing out. I absolutely loved how well the "couples" complemented each other in all their psychological idiosyncrasies (Mr. Mellors, Connie, Sir Clifford, and Mrs. Bolton).

Highlighted and annotated the bejeezus out of my copy and would 100% re-read.

Lawrence's commentary on English industrial society is pointed and vitriolic. It's clear he sympathises with the working class and disdains upper class hubris. It was useful having background on the time period from reading Orwell's Road to Wigan Pier and Hommage to Catalonia. Both Lawrence and Orwell share similar perspectives on the pernicious impacts of industrialisation, consumerist society and the consequential demise of romanticism and celebration of the human spirit. The period is a pretty fascinating one as it seemed that the old aristocracy were on their last legs, recognising (albeit reluctantly) their irrelevance in a society that was growing to recognise modern ideas of social mobility and egalitarianism. The characters felt a bit one dimensional, each one having a strong point of view, never really questioning their own perspectives. The novel is a sucker for romantics, with a lot of romantic literary techniques used by Shelley, Eliot and what not. Overall, I liked Lawrence's criticism on social injustice and entrenched class norms in modern England but found myself eye rolling at the shallow characters and cliche romantic narrative. I appreciated the provocative language and (for its time) unconventional focus on a woman's sexual desires and sexual fulfilment.

এই বইটা পড়তে গেলে প্রাপ্তমনষ্ক হতে হবে। নাহলে সামাজিকতার দাস হলে এই একবিংশ শতাব্দীতেও আপনি হয়ত বইটাকে পর্নোগ্রাফিক বলে চিহ্নিত করবেন। বইটার প্রাথমিক নাম ছিল ‘টেন্ডারনেস', ওটাই বেশি অ্যাপ্রোপ্রিয়েট ছিল হয়ত।

লরেন্স জীবদ্দশায় ও এবং তার পরেও যথেষ্ট কন্ট্রোভার্সির কেন্দ্রে ছিলেন। কিন্তু, একটা অথেনটিসি আছে লোকটার। আর অথেনটিক এক্সপ্রেশন যেহেতু আর্টের কেন্দ্রে, লরেন্স টিঁকে যাবেন বহুদিন।

I liked this better than I expected I would. The prose was long winded at times and I think Lawrence really wanted to set some kind of record for using the word “fuck” the most times ever, but it was broody and daring for it's time and progressive. Not just in the “talking about sex” thing, but the way Lady Chatterley thought of herself, her independence and her own daring.