Between the Lines: Lady Chatterley’s Lover

The Dust Jacket: Perhaps the most famous of Lawrence’s novels, the 1928 Lady Chatterley’s Lover is no longer distinguished for the once-shockingly explicit treatment of its subject matter–the adulterous affair between a sexually unfulfilled upper-class married woman and the game keeper who works for the estate owned by her wheelchaired husband. Now that we’re used to reading about sex, and seeing it in the movies, it’s apparent that the novel is memorable for better reasons: namely, that Lawrence was a masterful and lyrical writer, whose story takes us bodily into the world of its characters.

My Take: It’s true. We’re used to reading about and seeing sex everywhere. But I’ve gotta say the only thing about this book that was in any way exciting was the sex. At least it carried me through the first half of Lady Chatterley’s Lover. Then I got sick of it. Meh. They fight. They make up. They have sex. Repeat.

Moreover, I hated all of the characters. D. H. Lawrence’s depiction of Lady Chatterley was pretty dismal. I felt as though he imagined himself getting into a woman’s mind about what we think and how we feel about lust and love and doing the nasty. I was disappointed. She was weak and let both of the men in her life treat her (and her beloved sister) like absolute crap. I’m glad I read it and had it under my belt of “classics you’re supposed to read” but I’m glad it’s over.

Perfect For: People who’ve got this on their library bucket list, unless of course those people are men in search of having a better understanding of women. Seriously. It’s like giving them Cosmo magazine and saying, “This is the key to how a woman’s mind works!” Barf.