Lady Chatterley's Lover did sneak in first, after all and Thor asked me to write about it. Fortunately for you all, I think, I'm a bit tired so I don't have my literary critic (Wordy Git) head on - which means it might be a bit more of a basic, better reasoning as to why I enjoyed it - rather than a socio-economic-feminist rant.
LCL was actually something of a self-prescribed antidote as I had recently finished another Lawrencian classic, Women In Love, which I'd picked up in December & had been reading on & off since.
As you know, I like to suffer a bit through my reading - to feel challenged or provoked ... fulfilled enough in what I've read & the time invested in the read.
WiL was that kind of a read. It's quite heavy-going at times especially as one of the characters, Birkin, is a self-portrait of Lawrence so he provides a mouthpiece for lots of Lawrencian thoughts & ideas. And the homoeroticism is a bit odd in its portrayal - it's manifested as (repressed) desire.
I even went as far to watch the film from the 70s, I think, to try & get more of a handle on what's going on in all the different love-entanglements - which was enjoyable, but I still think it's odd.
So I figured I would return to one of the classics I sped through in my teens, with the additional knowledge that Sean Bean plays the part of Mellors in the adaptation, hence replacing the Derbyshire accent in my head with the sexiest Yorkshire accent around.
The advantage of returning to an old read is that you know you enjoyed it first time round but you've forgotten many of the reasons why - so the twists & turns of the narrative come as a pleasant surprise.
Going back to LCL, I found that I enjoyed Lawrence's way of portraying his characters.
Clifford, Connie's husband, is an aristocrat nearing the end of his line, recently returned from the war, glorified but injured. His disabled status is slowly driving Connie to distraction, as what began as an intelligent, balanced love-affair has resulted in a marriage of dependence, curtailing her own physical & creative freedom.
Not only that, but Connie has also been typecast into playing the part of Lady Chatterley - a role in which she is not entirely at ease.
Her initial love affair with Michaelis works for so long but it is the spark between herself & Mellors that really moves the plot forward. Mellors, the gamekeeper, has also returned from war and having grown up in the mining village, his service to an officer of rank has given him better ideas about his abilities and identity. Clifford sees this as a streak of impertinence like having ideas above his station, but this is what draws Connie in.
Their love affair isn't romantic or straightforward - I think that's why I enjoy the novel so much. It's passionate and real, with miscommunication and misunderstandings.
There's an instance where Connie & Mellors are having sex & she just perceives him with utter contempt - it's quite chilling.
But what begins as lust for each other & escapism develops into something which is much more mutual and balanced .... it's like they don't need each other to exist, but that they chose to be together.
They learn a lot about themselves from being together - Connie becomes stronger & more independent and Mellors finds a woman who can match his passion and his intellect. They are both prepared to fight and prepared to risk and to contend with the social
fall-out on both sides. At the end, Mellors describes the spark between them in a beautiful poetic manner referring to the connection that they've unearthed.
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Plot: ***
it's not the most radical storyline ever used (not now, anyway) but the narrative is strong & good.
Fun: **
it's not a LOL kind of read, but Lawrence's way of looking sideways at characters within Soc is funny.
Novelty: ***
the only text I know to use the word cunt & somehow make it sound attractive, rather than ugly.
Overall: ****
... for the 'Pentecost flame'; for the passion, defiance and discovery of self.
