2 Stars.
Pros: It was an interesting study on how, in Lawrence's day, it seemed that the idea of truly living life was to be in touch, completely with your body, physically, not living the "mental" life as they call it, striving after accolades and praise in the arts, but to truly experience the world through the physical senses.
Cons: The characters just seemed cruel in their thoughts and feelings, how Connie hated Mellors for stupid little things and then she would beg him to stay with her, all the characters were just very mercurial/The affair felt forced, like there was no real reason for it, though there was/Some of the relationships were just downright creepy.
Full Review:
Connie Reid is a young girl who's married off to Clifford Chatterley, Lord of Wragby Hall, a sprawling estate in the Midlands of England, near Sheffield. The main industry there is coal, and the Collieries (mines) are a constant source of industry and toil in the background of an otherwise idyllic, countryside life. Lord Clifford is a veteran of World War 1 and returned home, paralyzed from the waist down. Since he and Connie cannot engage in any sort of physical intimacy, they focus instead on creative pursuits. Clifford is a moderately successful author and Connie helps him with his manuscripts. Their marriage seems, if not ideal, at least, stable but Connie finds herself restless.
It isn't until she meets the gamekeeper, Oliver Mellors, that things change. One afternoon, while walking in the woods, she comes upon one of the tenants of Wragby, the Miltons, who have a 1 year old daughter. Seeing that baby shifts something within Connie and she realizes that she wants a child. Clifford has said to her before that he thinks it would be a wonderful idea for her to have a child, obviously from another man, since he is impotent, and they could raise the child as their own at Wragby.
Though when Clifford said this, I'm sure he wasn't thinking of her having an affair with a lowly commoner, or Heaven forbid, one of their servants, like the Gamekeeper. Seeing that baby awakes something in Connie and during her wanderings, she finds a small hut where Mellors keeps Pheasants. The Pheasants have recently had chicks and as she holds one of the chicks in her hands, she begins to cry. Mellors tries to comfort her, in his silent, stoic way and they, of course, end up sleeping together.
Things are complicated though, since obviously, Connie is married and so is Mellors. He's married to a woman named Bertha Coutts, who, after a few years of silent resentment, left him to live with another man in Tevershall, the nearby village close to the Colliery. As their affair progresses, Connie realizes that she wants nothing more than to be with Mellors, but obviously, they have to figure out a way to make it so Mellors can divorce his wife and Connie can divorce Sir Clifford.
In an interesting twist, it's not the fairy tale ending that one would imagine, but at the same time, it leaves things open ended enough to leave you wondering, and hoping.
I enjoyed the book, simply for the fact that it was racy for its time. I mean, we're talking Fifty Shades of Grey racy, considering it was the early 1900s. But the characters just always seemed to be thinking cruel thoughts about one another, doing one thing and thinking another, it was all rather off putting.
Also, though yes it was a different time, Lawrence definitely didn't seem to be a fan of feminism and some of his terms were crude and crass. It wasn't the worst book I've ever read but it wasn't the best. It falls strictly in the "meh" pile.
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