The classic "banned" novel. Lady Chatterley, even though Lord Chatterley is paralyzed from the waist down (or because he is), takes a lover. In my opinion, if it weren't for the frank depictions of sex, this novel would have faded into obscurity long ago.
If I had to stick this novel into a category, I would say that is really polemical, not a romance. Lawrence seems to be trying to make a point about the plight of the workers. He calls them Bolshevists, which we would probably call socialism or communism. And considering how Britain has turned out, he was probably perceptive. Even the couple, with Lady Chatterley in one class and her lover in another, reflect the polemical theme. Leave out the sex, or describe it in a more off-stage manner, and that is really what we are left with; a commentary on the social problems of the age.
The sex scenes are frank, probably shocking at the time they were written, but compare them now to, for instance, "The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love" for a real shocker. And Lawrence really loves to use the exclamation point! But the couple seems hopelessly self-centered by my own standards.
And the ending is particularly unsatisfying. Lawrence ends it with more petty allusions to sex, meant to shock it seems to me, but ultimately silly.
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