Sunday, January 27, 2008

Lady Chatterley's Lover

Can we live without sex? Is there really a contrast between the mind and the body or they compliment each other? What happens when an aristocratic Lady decides to give away her life that is "all mind" and open up to her physical self, with a common man from a working class? Can a relation of tenderness, physical pleasure and mutual respect exist between those two lovers? All these questions and many other related ones form the plot of the novel Lady Chatterley's Lover written by the British writer D H Lawrence (1885-1930) and considered as his masterpiece and extremely controversial book. The book is full of explicit sexual scenes, extremely physical, with illicit descriptions and all the obscene words you can imagine. The book was written in 1928, revealing much of the hypocrisy of the aristocratic life of England at that time, portraying a sexual relationship that grows between an aristocratic lady and a common man when both are married and of course the sexual content were all reasons behind banning the book that was not published in the UK until 1960 by Penguin Print House, an action that lead the publishers to court in what was known as the Obscenity Trial. The publishers were demanded to prove that the book is one of literature otherwise they would be sentenced to a verdict. A committee was assigned to evaluate the book and finally the verdict was "Not Guilty" No wonder when one of the important members of the evaluating committee was the famous British writer E. M. Forseter, known for being homosexual, having his own works with sexual content and one of the most famous works of gay literature, Maurice. Lawrence himself, although has been married, had some homosexual encounters in his life and like all his works, Lady Chatterley's lover has a female at the center of events. Constance Chatterley, an aristocratic lady who is forced to live a life of mind with her disabled husband gets encountered with Mellors, her husband's game keeper. Slowly but profoundly they start a sexual relationship that brings both of them happiness, not because of the sex alone but because….. Well I do recommend you read the book yourself, thanks to the freedom our age is currently having, it is available everywhere now and also online (link below) One last thing, although the book is full of sexual scenes, it is not really all about sex, read it and you will see. Finally I end this long email with the first lines of the book: "Ours is essentially a tragic age, so we refuse to take it tragically. The cataclysm has happened, we are among the ruins, we start to build up new little habitats, to have new little hopes. It is rather hard work: there is now no smooth road into the future: but we go round, or scramble over the obstacles. We've got to live, no matter how many skies have fallen. This was more or less Constance Chatterley's position. The war had brought the roof down over her head. And she had realized that one must live and learn."

Tuesday, January 01, 2008

From my diary about 2007

A new year is starting today, in the last year many things happened to me, good and bad, pain mingled with happiness, shocks with illusions, experiences here and abroad but above all, an increased self awareness and corrections for many mistakes. I've always labelled the year 2000 as the toughest year of my life, but last January changed this with the shock it brought me and with hosting the darkest days of my life, surprisingly enough, followed by the best days of my life when I spent three months in Europe. February saw me carrying my suitcase and seeking refuge in Germany where I found parts of myself by the lake in Muenster, in Beethoven's house in Bonn, in the cathedral of Cologne and in the opera house of Berlin. Visiting Holland and Belgium was another event to be celebrated and again I found parts of myself in Anne Frank's house and Van Gogh museum in Amsterdam, starring at The Girl with a Pearl earring in the Mauritz house in The Hague and with my friend Birger in Brussels. Easter in Germany was an unforgettable experience and the love and support I had from the people there was more than I really thought I could get or even deserve. May witnessed me coming back home with a 55 Kg suitcase full of things and a mind and heart full of memories. The summer started with a tremendous wave of depression and absurd nostalgic feelings to Europe in general and Germany in particular, to the places where I never felt like a foreigner and found ultimate happiness. Summer that I hate rewarded me for that by strange encounters and mjor question marks, most of which haven't been answered yet. But August sent me to Switzerland where in that beautiful country and over its amazing Alps I found more parts of me, a week later I was in Munich and Salzburg wondering if life could ever be more rewarding. In September I had to say good bye to my best friend wishing him all the best in his new life and career in Germany and spending the whole month of Ramadan trying to handle the emptiness his departure left me and the longing I had for him, something that brought me closer to God. October found me in London walking through its streets grasping parts of me in The National Gallery, by the river Thames, on the Tower Bridge, in Hyde park and with the company of my dear friend David. November brought me an unpleasant experience but then made it up to me with a trip to Tehran where I enjoyed the wonderful country and the company of my sweet friend Beno. Then along came December, with a welcoming winter that was long waited for, with a new light that only God knows where it would take me and with lots of hopes and fears but above all, with an unbreakable will and a mighty belief in myself, supported by the love and care I get from people around me and my faith in God. Then starts 2008, and may all my wishes for this year come true... Happy New Year