Book Review: "Lady Chatterly's Lover" by D.H. Lawrence

When I was still a young girl, I heard a reference to this book in a song on a Tom Lehrer record my older brother brought home. There was a great deal on that political/satirical LP that went right over my nine-year-old head, but over the years I would hear or read something and suddenly say to myself, "Oh! I get that now!" The book about Lady Chatterley did not pique my interest until recently, when I wondered if it is still as shocking today as it apparently was decades ago. So I checked it out of the local library to find out!

The book wasn't exactly what I was expecting. Yes, Lady Chatterley eventually acquires a lover and their sexual escapades are described in vivid detail. But those encounters account for only a modest percentage of the book's content. There are lengthy conversations among various characters about politics, society, changes, and the future. I don't know enough about the 1920s to be sure whether large segments of the British population shared the thoughts and feelings of Lawrence's characters, or whether those were strictly peculiar to his characters. I suspect the former to be the case. There was much agonizing over the "ridiculousness" of everything connected with authority, including the governing class when it attempted to govern. This was at the time of World War I, when I am sure the young generation of the day began to question many things they had previously taken for granted.

Many pages are devoted to discussions about the coal industry prevalent at that time and in that part of England, and how it affected the workers and the estate owners, and whether the mines paid for themselves, or if mine owners ought to be turning their coal into electricity on the spot and then selling that instead. The British aristocracy was losing its grip on its way of life, huge estates were being dismantled and housing for workers being built in their place.

Regarding the details of Lady Chatterley's relations with her lover: I can see why the book was banned for many years after its initial publication in 1928. Many words and expressions found in the book were simply not used by proper people in those days. (Many of them are still not used by proper people today.) The author seemed to believe it was important to use those words and to bring everything sexual out into the open for the world to see and discuss. I wonder what he would think of the world today, if he were still alive? Would he approve of the Anything Goes attitude that so often prevails now? Or would he think we've gone too far? I do wonder.

Yes, I found the book mildly shocking. However, I have read other startling books, like "The Taker" by Alma Katsu, and "The Other Boleyn Girl" by Phillipa Gregory, both of which contain segments that left me thinking, "Did I just read that?!" So I wasn't as appalled as I might have been ten or twenty years ago. Furthermore, it was written in the style of 90 years ago, which manages to lend a slightly less smutty air to the whole story. Finally, I am well acquainted with a certain promiscuous young woman who delights in filling my ears with the sordid details of her liaisons. A conversation with her is not substantially different in content than this book.

Today's person who watches R-rated movies, seasons every sentence with 2 or 3 f-bombs, and collects Playboy centerfolds would not bat an eyelash upon reading this book. On the other hand, anyone who has lead a sheltered life, shuns profanity and vulgarity, and prefers to focus on the higher things in life would be shocked by this book. I can't recommend it wholeheartedly; there are so many better books to be read!