How we cite our quotes: (Part.Chapter.Paragraph) or (Part.Paragraph)
Quote #7
He had been about to conjure for her a private moment of exuberance, a passing impatience with convention, a memory of reading the Orioli edition of Lady Chatterly's Lover, which he had bought under the counter in Soho. (1.11.50)
Lady Chatterly's Lover by D.H. Lawrence is a famously dirty book, and the Orioli edition was the uncensored version. The novel is giving a shout out to some of the most famous sex scenes in literature before getting on with its own (sole) steamy scene.
Quote #8
His experience was limited and he knew only at second hand that they need not lie down. As for her, beyond all the films she had seen, and all the novels and lyrical poems she had read, she had no experience at all. Despite these limitations, it did not surprise them how clearly they knew their own needs. (1.11.65)
Up until now, we've mostly seen people thinking about sex by reading or imagining—always through second-hand encounters. Here, though, the novel suggests that those second-hand versions of sex are pretty second-rate. They don't actually help Cecilia and Robbie much at all, but at the same time, they sort things out just fine. There's some irony here, though, since this scene is itself a scene within a book (within a book). If Cecilia had somehow read it before her library rendezvous with Robbie, would it have provided useful information?
Quote #9
In love with her, willing himself to stay sane for her, he was naturally in love with her words […] During his time inside, the only female visitor he was permitted was his mother. In case he was inflamed, they said […] He had been diagnosed, with clinical precision, as morbidly oversexed, and in need of help as well as correction. He was not to be stimulated. Some letters—both his and hers—were confiscated for some timid expression of affection. So they wrote about literature, and used characters as codes […] Mention of "a quiet corner in a library" was a code for sexual ecstasy. (2.80)
Robbie is in love with Cecilia's words. At the same time, the library where they had sex among the books becomes a literary code for sex. Who knew reading a novel could be so exciting?