Author: D.H. Lawrence
Publisher: Penguin Classics
Pages: 364
Format: Turkish translation, paperback
Source: Can Yayinlari
Definition:
Lady Chatterley's Lover is a novel by D. H. Lawrence, first published in 1928. The book soon became notorious for its story of the physical (and emotional) relationship between a working-class man and an upper-class woman, its explicit descriptions of sex, and its use of then-unprintable words.
The story is said to have originated from events in Lawrence's own unhappy domestic life, and he took inspiration for the settings of the book from Eastwood, Nottinghamshire, where he grew up. According to some critics, the fling of Lady Ottoline Morrell with "Tiger", a young stonemason who came to carve plinths for her garden statues, also influenced the story. Lawrence at one time considered calling the novel Tenderness and made significant alterations to the text and story in the process of its composition. It has been published in three versions.
My thoughts:
I'm sure all of you have heard of this book. In addition to being a classic, it's also drawn attention all over the world by being a book that was banned in several countries. And, of course, by mixing sex in with love... Maybe we owe the freedom of reading books such as 50 Shades of Grey without getting scolded to Lawrence. I'm not comparing the two books, obviously, but still.
First published in 1928, Lady Chatterley's Lover is the love story between a rich, high-society woman and a man from working class. Today, it may not feel weird to us that two different people should fall in love, but I'm sure in 1928 and several years after, it was a whole different thing. You know how those who say out loud what everyone else is afraid to get scolded? I think Lawrence is a very good example of that. Again, keeping in mind when he wrote the book, he took on a taboo subject matter and didn't hold back on the cursing or the vulgarity.
While reading this, I think, one should also think about how and why people come to make the decisions they make, how it's perceived as "so wrong" when we're different, what wealth and the lack of it brings, what standards men and women are held up to by society and what conditions people have to live and work in. I fell completely in love with Lawrence's descriptions of nature, and also wanted to applaud him for being a man who understands women can enjoy sex just like men do.
