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Summary: Sensuality & Industrialization
Review: This is a fantastic book. Each time I read it I am struck by the relevancy of the topics presented and the startling grace of Lawrence's language. I believe we have much to learn from this book about ourselves. Despite the fact that sex is a rather hum drum topic in today's world the book is still shocking in the brutally honest and beautiful way it presents human relations with each other and the world on the whole.Excellent literature instructs, as well as delights, and Lawrence presents an entertaining, but deep and complex lesson for his readers. Take some time and read the book.
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Summary: Don't be put off by the censors
Review: David Herbert Lawrence was born on 11th September 1885 in Nottinghamshire, England, little knowing that he would eventually have much in common with writers as varied as James Joyce and Aristopanes. Ulysses by James Joyce was recently selected by the Modern Library as the best novel of the 20th century. Like Aristophanes' Lysistrata and Lawrence's 'Lady Chatterley', it was banned for decades from the U.S. mails under the Comstock Law of 1873. Officially known as the Federal Anti-Obscenity Act, this law banned the mailing of "lewd", "indecent", "filthy", or "obscene" materials. The Comstock laws, while now to some extent unenforced, remain for the most part on the books today. The Telecommunications Reform Bill of 1996 even specifically applied some of these outdated and outmoded laws to computer networks. So what's my message here? Simple - if we continue to allow censors to dictate what we can and cannot read, we stand the chance of being robbed of some of the world's finest written works. We're not talking exceptions here. Consider, for example John Cleland's Fanny Hill - Candide, Voltaire's critically hailed satire - Jean-Jacques Rousseau's autobiography Confessions - Chaucer's Canterbury Tales - Boccaccio's Decameron - Defoe's Moll Flanders, and various editions of The Arabian Nights. All were banned at various times in the US. The 1928 Lady Chatterley's Lover is no longer distinguished for the once-shocking treatment of the adulterous affair between a sexually unfulfilled married woman and her husband's game keeper. Now that we're used to hearing and reading about sex, it's apparent that the novel is memorable for better reasons: namely, that Lawrence was a masterful writer whose wonderful story takes us bodily into the world of its characters. Of Connie Chatterley's indecisiveness, her husband's callousness, the gamekeeper, Oliver Mellors' persuasiveness - all are portrayed in a quiet, even manner until the climactic end. Necessarily, some of the language and imagery is mildly explicit (though you can read a lot worse in many of the magazines that lie around in dentists' waiting rooms), because Lady Chatterley's Lover affirms Lawrence's vision of individual regeneration through freely-expressed sexuality. The book's power and complexity make it a unique, original work-a triumph of passion and eroticism over sterility. The next time you hear that something has been censored, question whether it is really to protect public morals (where war, and starvation appear to be more acceptable than freedom of sexuality), or whether it is to protect the censors' own frustrated identities! Lady C is a powerful reminder that all the censors have ever succeeded in doing is to ban outstanding literature in the name of public morality.
Rating: 
Summary: She had never been loved before
Review: Lady Chatterley's Lover is not my Lawrece's favourite - see "Women in Love" for that honor-, but I think it is a very great novel, and it is praised as his best. Although the title mention The Lover, in my opinion the book is about Lady Catterley herself. It is very interesting to imagine the effect the story might have caused on people by the time its was first published. It's known that the author had many problems in order to get it released and had to use his own money to get it printed.Even nowadays, Lady Chatterley may shock some puritans, but its effect would never be as strong as in 1928. The large use of slang names for private parts sounds a bit funny, but still disturbing. After finish reading the book, the mainly feeling I had was: selfshiness. All characters most of the time just worry about themselves. On the other hand, I would read very naive if I believed that human beings are not natural born selfish, consequently, people in this book are very close to people we met on the streets when it comes to feelings and emotions. Clifford, the husband, is disgusting. He is a British aristocrat and as so he looks down on everybody all the time.Nobody is good enough to be an equal. Mellors, the lover, appeared to be very polite and open minded in the beginning, but I change my mind in the middle of the novel, after Lady Chatterley spends a Sunday night with him. He sounds very sexist and racist in his speech. However, I think that was the common sense by that time, today readers may feel a bit unconfortable with his opinions- as I did-, but he can still be taken to. But the real 'star' of the novel is Connie, yes, I am talking about Lady Chatterley herself. At first, Clifford takes it out on her all the time- and I felt sorry for her. Later, she finds a new love and starts living her own life - this is the best part of the book. We can't run her down having the love affair because she had such a boring and senseless life before Mellors. By the end - I won't give it - she is not the same person. Some nice twists are saved for the last chapters, what makes the reading much more interesting. I highly recomend this book for whose who are not afraid of reading - and discovering - about sex.
Rating:
Summary: A gorgeous book
Review: I adored the sexual freedom of this book, the way it voiced an opinion I've held deep inside without voicing it for fear of sacrilege: intellect is not sustenance enough to live on, rather, it can sometimes drain you of sustenance.
Though I dare to call myself feminist, my approval of Mellors denies this -- I suppose the female part of me ignores the intellectual feminist part.
Rating:
Summary: Beautifully Written by a Masterful Writer.
Review: "But when he had done his slow, cautious beating of his bounds -- it was nearly a five mile walk -- he was tired. He went to the top of the knoll and looked out. There was no sound save the noise, the faint shuffling noise from Stacks Gate Colliery, that never ceased working; and there were hardly any lights, save the brilliant electric rows at the works. The world lay darkly and fumily sleeping. It was half-past two. But even in its sleep it was an uneasy, cruel world, stirring with the noise of a train or some great lorry on the road, and flashing with some rosy lightening-flash from the furnaces. It was a world of iron and coal, the cruelty of iron and the smoke of coal, and the endless, endless greed that drove it all. Only greed, greed stirring in its sleep. "It was cold, and he was coughing. A fine cold draught blew over the knoll. He thought of the woman. Now he would have given all he had or ever might have to hold her warm in his arms, both of them wrapped in one blanket, and sleep. All hopes of eternity and all gain from the past he would have given to have her there, to be wrapped warm with him in one blanket, and sleep, only sleep. It seemed the sleep with the woman in his arms was the only necessity." - D.H. Lawrence As the coal dust settles over everything and everyone, a woman comes into her own as a woman, and comes to the realization that she despises her arrogant, manipulative husband. The woman begins to long for a child. Her husband, wounded in the war and unable to use his legs, perhaps sensing this longing, has turned into a whining and very demanding child. And in the universal way that these things work, the more he insecurely demands of her, the more she is repulsed by him. There is a gatekeeper on the estate, and one can well conclude by the title of the book what happens. Begun in 1926, and set in the coal fields of Industrial Age England, this work takes one on a very intimate visit within the class system of that country. It contains a deep, thoughtful examination of English cultures and roots, as well as the values and rules within those various classes and how they intersect and interact within themselves. It is a trip to another time and place which seems altogether too familiar, too unresolved in its issues, and in the structures, restrictions, rules, and cultural foundations. The history of this book is as interesting as the chronicle contained therein. Originally published in Italy, complete with misspellings, it contained "shocking words" which, along with the subject matter of the book, caused it to be banned in English speaking countries until some court decisions allowed it to be printed. This happened in the U.S. in l959. After completion of the reading of this book, it was interesting to contemplate what had to change in order for this work to be published. This book was a significant factor in the pushing of the envelope in terms of "shocking words" which are not altogether shocking anymore, because they are ubiquitous. And yet, even though the words, as well as the issues presented in this work no longer cause a violent backlash, the drama is still entirely familiar and very easily understood. It's a cause for one to contemplate how far we have come as a society, and yet how little we have actually accomplished. Highly recommended.
Rating: 
Summary: Sexist Fantasy
Review: Male readers may find this book interesting (or at least titillating). I doubt it has many female fans. The female protagonist is completely a male fantasy. The book's message is simply that men like women who are able to climax at the same time as their partners without any need for foreplay or other effort on the man's part (Lawrence likes to call this "gentleness"); and that this type of sexual relationship is all a woman should really need of a man.
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Summary: Surprisingly good....
Review: When I thought of "Lady Chatterley's Lover," images of some late night cable movie came to my head. Because of this, I thought of this as just a novel by Lawrence but not something which was really indicative of his work. I was wrong. This is a very good book. As in "Sons and Lovers," Lawrence uses the scenery around the characters to give you an idea of something deeper than the interaction between Clifford, Connie, Mrs. Bolton, and Mellors. Flowers play another large role is showing you what he means. Yes, there is frank talk of sex in the novel. I do not find it crude as the history behind the book would lead you to believe (but then, I am reading it over fifty years after it came out). The way Lawrence deals frankly with his characters in their mannerisms and speech is pure art. Even if you have never been in the exact situation that these people are in, you can see things and experience emotions/frustrations that affect you now. At the end of the book is a short section from Lawrence discussing what he was thinking when he put this work together. For those wanting to see a bit more into Lawrence's mind, this is a great treat. I would recommend this book to anyone.
Rating: 
Summary: an average classic
Review: I often find that a number of classics are highly overrated. I believe this to be true of this novel. That it was written so long ago is what makes it noteworthy. The story often feels drawn out; and, during the course of reading this, I found my mind wandering off. I probably would not recommend this book to anyone, but I might not encourage them to avoid reading it either.
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Summary: Like a beautiful painting unfolding in your mind...
Review: This novel is not the explicit sex book that you have been led to believe. instead it is a flawless masterpiece that tells the story of Charlotte, the sexually deprived wife of an invalid husband and her search for true love and sexual fulfillment. As a woman, I have no idea how Lawrence was able to delve into the female mind so thoroughly, but so he has done. This book is a compelling argument in favor of the belief that sexual attraction is certainly one of the most important aspects when we search for a mate-despite what snobbish types may say about how looks don't matter and good sex and attraction grows with time. Baloney! Charlotte's attraction to Mellors was immediate and we watch her life developing with breathless anticipation. Some may feel the ending is too cute and tidy, but knowing the characters as they are, you feel that it could not have ended any other way. A profound book, thoroughly readable, and shockingly modern for its time.
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Summary: I'm speechless--- in a good way!
Review: I'll be the first to admit it. I read this book because as a young kid, it was on the list of banned books. My curiosity had been sparked. Now, some 10, 15 years later, I have finally unlocked the mystery of this wonderful book. It is a pity to be put off by the controversy. This book is NOT just 'controversy for contraversy's sake', and it is an injustice to label it such. How someone in the 1920's could write statements and observations about the human condition that would last beyond the end of the millenium is truly fascinating. In this book, you will find the scenes that once ignited controversy, and continue to. At the same time, however, Lawrence is using them to create an in-depth character study of what we have allowed sex to become in our society, blatantly contrasted with all the things it has the potential to be. Enjoy.
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