Summer reading?

Well, are you?

I’ve never called it Summer Reading, because I read all the time.  There’s a book in the car, one by the bed, one by ‘my chair’, there are books every where in my home.

Usually I’m reading 3 or 4 at a time.

Recently, I’ve gone the decadent route.

I read The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde, and I read Lady Chatterly’s Lover by D. H. Lawrence.

Lady Chatterly’s lover was Oliver Mellors not Dorian Gray.  And neither was Christian Grey for that matter!  He was the gamekeeper on her English Lord of a husband’s estate.  They met, they did the nasty, they fell in love.

Lady Chatterly's Lover

The book was banned in the US from its publishing in 1928 until 1959.  ”Why?”,  you may ask.  Well, the first publication included Lawrence’s paintings, which were considered obscene.  Tame by today’s standards, I mean really, we’ve seen the entire Kardashian Klan in less.   It was also the first piece of ‘literature’ to use the ‘eff’ word.  Repeatedly.  Seriously, the ‘eff’ word appears often, far too in my opinion, in the book.  But, oddly, it doesn’t ruin it.

I know that sounds strange.  The vernacular of Mellors makes sense, and his vulgarity fits his character.  It’s set in the “Downton Abbey” era, so some Downton devotees my eat it UP.

Lawrence was a genius.  A great writer, and it’s a great read.  But, I’ll admit, it’s not for every one.

D H Lawrence

Other than the profanity, the language and the writing is exquisite.  Real writing, real prose, and a real love story too boot.

Nitebyrd, you’ll love it!

Frankly, I couldn’t put it down.

As to Dorian, Oscar Wilde was a genius as well.

Oscar!

A twisted genius, but a genius no less.  His pretentiousness prods him to fill the book with innuendo,  allusion, foreshadowing, and all the literary tricks English teachers hold dear.

The story of a man who stays young while his portrait ages, it’s a great book, a creepy book, a scary book, and a sexy-ish book.

The Picture of Dorian Grey by Oscar Wilde

Filled with murder, mayhem, deceit, and diabolical doings, it’s a page turner too.

Since Oscar was a play master and a poet, it is the only novel Wilde wrote.  His life and the times in which he lived are laid bare.

Check them out!  The Summer’s not over yet.

Reading, it does a body good!

Be Sociable, Share!