Il sogno più dolce

by Doris Lessing, Monica Pareschi (Transaltor)

The motivating power of dream and the political price of illusions are the subject of Doris Lessing's extended family saga, The Sweetest Dream. While Frances Lennox, uncomplaining and unsentimental about her roles as a 1960s earth mother for a string of "screwed up" post-war children, serves up endless nurturing at the crowded kitchen table of a large North London house, her ex- husband pursues revolution on all-expenses-paid trips and conferences. Occasionally he drops by for free meals or to dump one of the children, or wives, of another failed marriage on Frances's doorstep. Lessing is able to turn a dispassionate eye on the economics of free love, in which women usually pay.

From swinging-'60s London to liberated sub-Saharan Africa, the author depicts the human faces of a broad canvas of issues in this polemical piece. The novel ranges from anorexia to AIDS to casting a questioning eye at the morality of the travelers on the World Bank gravy train. Moving from London to the tragic landscape of post-independence "Zimlia" (a thinly veiled Zimbabwe), Lessing documents the social movement and lost dreams of a post-war generation, for whom "it is always The Dream that counts." --Rachel Holmes, Amazon.co.uk

Genres: Fiction, Historical Fiction, Nobel Prize, Novels, Literature, British Literature, Book Club

456 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2001

About the author

Doris Lessing was born into a colonial family. both of her parents were British: her father, who had been crippled in World War I, was a clerk in the Imperial Bank of Persia; her mother had been a nurse. In 1925, lured by the promise of getting rich through maize farming, the family moved to the British colony in Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe). Like other women writers from southern African who did not graduate from high school (such as Olive Schreiner and Nadine Gordimer), Lessing made herself into a self-educated intellectual.

In 1937 she moved to Salisbury, where she worked as a telephone operator for a year. At nineteen, she married Frank Wisdom, and later had two children. A few years later, feeling trapped in a persona that she feared would destroy her, she left her family, remaining in Salisbury. Soon she was drawn to the like-minded members of the Left Book Club, a group of Communists "who read everything, and who did not think it remarkable to read." Gottfried Lessing was a central member of the group; shortly after she joined, they married and had a son.

During the postwar years, Lessing became increasingly disillusioned with the Communist movement, which she left altogether in 1954. By 1949, Lessing had moved to London with her young son. That year, she also published her first novel, The Grass Is Singing, and began her career as a professional writer.

In June 1995 she received an Honorary Degree from Harvard University. Also in 1995, she visited South Africa to see her daughter and grandchildren, and to promote her autobiography. It was her first visit since being forcibly removed in 1956 for her political views. Ironically, she is welcomed now as a writer acclaimed for the very topics for which she was banished 40 years ago.

In 2001 she was awarded the Prince of Asturias Prize in Literature, one of Spain's most important distinctions, for her brilliant literary works in defense of freedom and Third World causes. She also received the David Cohen British Literature Prize.

She was on the shortlist for the first Man Booker International Prize in 2005. In 2007 she was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature.

(Extracted from the pamphlet: A Reader's Guide to The Golden Notebook & Under My Skin, HarperPerennial, 1995. Full text available on www.dorislessing.org).

Reviews

[Sawsan · Rating 3 out of 5]

روايات دوريس ليسنج ممتعة فكريا لكنها بطيئة ومُطولة روائيا
تتناول ليسنج الأحلام التي لا تتحقق في الواقع ولا تصمد أمام عقبات ومصاعب الحياة
الأوهام الايدلوجية التي تسيطر على البشر والأفكار التي يثبت عدم صلاحيتها بالتجربة
تبدأ الرواية في ستينيات القرن الماضي بما فيها من صراعات واضطرابات وتمتد بعدها بعشرين عام تقريبا
وفي بيت كبير تجمع ليسنج شخصيات من أجيال متعددة وتوجهات سياسية وفكرية وحياتية مختلفة
وتتتبع مسار حياتهم في أوروبا وافريقيا خلال الأحداث السياسية والاجتماعية
حركات التمرد الشبابية, الفكر الشيوعي والتجربة السوفياتية في مواجهة الرأسمالية
القوى الكبرى وشعاراتها الزائفة التي تتغنى بها لاستغلال ونهب الدول الأضعف
حركات التحرر الافريقية وما يتبعها من مصالح وفساد وسوء إدارة
وفي النهاية يظل البيت الكبير هو الملجأ الذي يجمع بين خيبات الأمل والأحلام الجديدة

[Майя Ставитская · Rating 5 out of 5]

Doris Lessing is a Nobel Prize winner. Let scolding the choice of the Nobel Committee be the favorite amusement of the reading public, the Nobel is a sign of quality. Even perplexed and indignant, we do not doubt the competence of academics. In the case of Lessing, there can be no doubt - worthy. By the way, she received her award two years before her ninetieth birthday.

And she wrote "Great Dreams" at the age of 82. Once again, in words, eighty-two! If you were looking for a model of decent, active, timeless old age, he is in front of you. Before talking about the novel, it is worth saying a few words about the features of writing. Lessing does not break the text into parts, chapters and sub-chapters. It does not affect the level of reader comfort, these are not Saramagov bricks, without paragraphs, punctuations and dialogues, but the very concept of "content" does not seem to exist in her novels.

"Great Dreams", in fact, are two books that could well be autonomous. The English part is given a little more than half of the volume, it is a multi-figure mixture of a family saga with a novel of growing up, a social pamphlet, a historical and feminist novel. The images are carefully written out, the relationships between the characters are complex and ambiguous. African - as if in contrast, is scarce in all possible respects, and in a few words it could be described as a combination of "one warrior in the field" with "the burden of whites".

From all the variety of figures in the first part, a young woman doctor Sylvia, who grew up in a large disorderly house of the Lennox family, moves to the role of the main character in the second. A couple more characters appear in episodic roles. Surprisingly, the novel makes a surprisingly complete and holistic impression.

О гремящих ведрах и об огне, мерцающем в сосуде
С людьми, которые считали, что народ необходимо защищать, обращались как с врагами, их подвергали нападкам (причем слово «фашист» было еще самым мягким выражением) и физическому насилию.
Дорис Лессинг нобелиант. Пусть ругать выбор Нобелевского комитета любимая забава читающей публики, Нобель знак качества. Даже недоумевая и возмущаясь, мы не сомневаемся в компетентности академиков. В случае Лессинг и сомнений быть не может - достойна. Свою премию она, к слову, получила за два года до девяностолетия.

А "Великие мечты" написала в 82 года. Еще раз, прописью, восемьдесят два! Если вы искали образец достойной, деятельной, неподвластной времени старости, он перед вами. Прежде, чем говорить о романе, стоит сказать несколько слов об особенностях письма. Лессинг не разбивает текст на части, главы и подглавы. На уровень читательского комфорта не влияет, это не сарамаговские кирпичи, без абзацев, отточий и диалогов, но самого понятия "содержания" словно бы не существует в ее романах.

"Великие мечты", по сути, две книги, которые вполне могли быть автономными. Английской части отдано чуть больше половины объема, это многофигурная смесь семейной саги с романом взросления, социальным памфлетом, историческим и феминистским романом. Образы тщательно выписаны, отношения между персонажами сложны и неоднозначны. Африканская - словно в противоположность, скудна во всех возможных отношениях, а несколькими словами ее можно было бы описать, как соединение "один в поле воин" с "бременем белых".

Из всего многообразия фигур первой части, во вторую перекочевывает на роль главной героини молодая женщина-врач Сильвия, выросшая в большом безалаберном доме Ленноксов. Еще пара персонажей появляется на эпизодических ролях. Удивительно, но роман производит удивительно цельное и целостное впечатление.

Обе, столь различные по стилю и жанру, декорациям части, на деле прочно соединены идеей вынесенных в заглавие великих мечтаний. О чем? Об уменьшении несправедливости и горя, происходящего от угнетения одних другими, об умножении правды, добра, счастья. А не слишком пафосно и утопически? Ничуть, больше того, если смотреть на события романа сквозь призму этого понимания, поведение его героев совершенно логично и мотивированно.

Френсис, симпатичная и талантливая девушка, которую угораздило вляпаться в отношения с трескучим бездельником товарищем Джонни и родить ему сыновей-погодков, после чего муженек оставил их в нищете ради своей борьбы, а еще потом - ради другой женщины, настоящего партийного товарища. Почему потянулась к харизматичному мерзавцу? Можно списать на гормональные бури и общую безмозглость юности, но скорее от того, что душа горячо откликнулось на призыв обездоленных, не распознав жестянки в рупоре, который его транслировал.

Отчего живя в доме свекрови Юлии, не разгонит неприкаянных детей, привечает в доме, где и сама не хозяйка, кормит из своих скудных средств? Да потому что не может иначе, потому что отказавшись, перестанет быть собой. Сильвия во второй, африканской части приносит себя в жертву тому же служению. Не потому, что работа в больнице при миссии каким-то образом способствует ее карьерному росту или приносит финансовые выгоды. Я вас умоляю, она на свои средства ту больницу содержит.

И что, приносит эта самоотверженная работа на износ какие-то добрые плоды? Ну как, вот не пошли же по кривой дорожке отогретые подростки, всякий обрел свое место под солнцем. Ага, и гадкая Роуз, которая сначала жила в доме Юлии, а потом обливала ее грязью в своих статьях. И маленький негритенок Франклин, который в своей коммунистической, мать ее, Африке сделается жирным коррумпированным министром-кровопийцей. Что делать, дерьмо случается.

Или Сильвия. Много добра принесла ей работа на износ в больнице, где ни медикаментов. ни оборудования, ни даже помещения не было, когда она приехала? Ах, местные считали, что Доктор Сильвия ангел, посланный им с небес? И не забывали напоминать, что белые оттого так богаты, что все украли у них, черных. А СПИД - биологическое оружие белых для истребления африканцев.

"Великие мечты" не про то, как извлечь из жизни больше выгод, а про то, как делаешь, чего не можешь не делать. Понимая, что поощрение достанется пустому ведру, которое громче гремит по соседству. Делаешь, потому что ты сосуд с горящим внутри пламенем.

[Zaphirenia · Rating 1 out of 5]

Μετά από 150 σελίδες, μπαίνει στο ψυγείο. Στην κατάψυξη για την ακρίβεια.

Εσχάτως την πατάω ως εξής: Ακούω ή διαβάζω πολύ θετικά σχόλια για κάποιο βιβλίο (ή κάποια βιβλία) ενός συγγραφέα, σημειώνω νοερά το όνομα, μετά από καιρό βρίσκω προσφορά κάποιου ΑΛΛΟΥ βιβλίου του εν λόγω συγγραφέα, για το οποίο όμως δεν έχω ακούσει τίποτα, το αγοράζω, βγαίνει πατάτα.

Υπάρχει και ευκολότερος τρόπος να περιγράψουμε αυτή τη σειρά γεγονότων βέβαια: την πατάω ΣΑΝ ΗΛΙΘΙΑ.

Υπάρχει προφανής λόγος που "Το πιο γλυκό όνειρο" δεν το είχε ξανακούσει κανείς γνωστός μου, ούτε καν οι πιο φανατικοί φανς της Lessing που ξέρω. Και ο λόγος είναι ότι αυτό το βιβλίο είναι επιεικώς μια σούπα. Δομή δεν έχει, η γραφή είναι συμπαθητική αλλά όχι κάτι εξωφρενικά καλό για να κρατήσει τον αναγνώστη από μόνο του, πλοκή δεν υπάρχει, γενικώς δε βρήκα τίποτα που να με κάνει να θέλω να επενδύσω χρόνο για να διαβάσω 500 σελίδες από τα ίδια και τα ίδια.

Εν ολίγοις, τη δεκαετία του '60 η Φράνσις Λένοξ τραπεζώνει την παρέα των δύο γιων της.

Ναι, αυτό, δεν έχει κάτι άλλο. Σεξουαλική επανάσταση, ναρκωτικά, κομμουνισμός, σοσιαλισμός, αντισοσιαλισμός, μποέμικη ζωή και άλλες τρίχες κατσαρές πεταμένες μέσα σε ένα βιβλίο μαζί με λίγο από ανθρώπινες σχέσεις και εφηβικές ανησυχίες. Όχι ότι είναι άσχημα όλα αυτά βέβαια (αν και ομολογώ ότι δεν είναι και πολύ του γούστου μου η θεματολογία), αλλά έχει σημασία και ο τρόπος. Και η συνταγή εν προκειμένω δεν ήταν ιδιαίτερα επιτυχημένη (εξ ου και η σούπα).

[Ahmed · Rating 3 out of 5]

دوريس ليسينج من أجمل الأقلام الإنجليزيه التى قرأت لها فى حياتى,
أنثى جميله بقلم أنثوى أكثر من رائع,
أول ما قرأت لها كانت روايه بعنوان (الطفل الخامس) وأيقنت أننى وقعت فى غرام قلمها وأسلوبها السحر,
وفى هذا العمل (الضخم) الساحر تقدم لنا واقع المجتمع فى فترة منتصف القرن العشرين, بأحداث اجتماعيه قمة الإبداع عبر عين شخصيتها الرئيسيه الجميله (فرانسيس)تلك المرأة المكافحه الى تضغطها ظروف الحياة لدرجة الأنفجار,
كم يخذلها الرجال وكم تكافح هى لتربيه ولديها وكم تهتم بحماتها العجوز
ورغم أن العمل مترجم إلا أن اللغه جيده تنم عن حِرفيه شديده
الأحداث دقيقه بتفاصيل مهمه تعرف من خلالها واقع المجتمع فى تلك الف��رة البعيده
الشخصيات عميقه تجد فيها العمق النفسى الذى يجعلك تتعرف على كافة أبعاد شخصياته.
فى المجمل عمل روائى كامل ينم عن احترافيته وأكاديميته كسائر روايات حائزى نوبل ,
ورغم ضخامة العمل إلا أنى انتهيت منه فى وقت ممتاز.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

A thought provoking story set in London and later Zimlia or Zimbabwe from the 1960s through to the 1980s. Frances brings up her two boys in her mother-in-law Julia’s house in Hampstead. Her ex husband is a wastrel and staunch communist. The story brings in Sylvia and her anxieties and anorexia. Rose a person with no redeeming qualities and other friends of the boys where around the kitchen table the world of hippies, social action, rebellion and how to solve the world’s problems are discussed.

People fall in love, have breakdowns, survive and changes occur. The difference between big organizations such as the World Bank and large charities with small charities and individuals is laid bare. Corruption, cronyism and failure are illustrated. The Zimbabwe story is throughout the later half of the story with Sylvia now a doctor trying to make a difference. The horror of incompetence and the Aids epidemic is illustrated and the futility of the government’s efforts.

While bigger organizations have their conferences and with their aid money feed the coffers of African despots. Its sad to think nothing really changes or if it does it is slowly.

For me the moral of the story is that individuals can make small changes. That its better to support smaller charities than bigger ones. The failure of Live Aid and the damage Bill Gates is now doing to Africa is evident. They have good intentions but remind me of Andrew and virtue signaling.

Lessing is a great writer in drawing you into the story and questioning your interpretation of the world.

[Sarah Newton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely superb. This is a classic "great novel" - it reminded me very much of Thomas Mann's "Buddenbrooks". It's a tale of a family spanning generations, tracing British society's relationship with communism, and in particular the "Leninist / Stalinist communism" of the Soviet Union and China, from the 1960s to 1990s. It's very much more than that, though - a study of hypocrisy, lip-service, real active humanity vs cynicism, exploitation, and ingratitude.

I found myself arguing with Lessing's politics somewhat, while agreeing with her depiction of human nature. Especially in the early parts of the novel, she appears to be entirely critical of attempts to agitate for social justice and in favour of a more conservative, libertarian "common sense". Happily, as the novel progresses, it's clear she's being a lot more subtle than this, and using "communism" (or the 20th century statist-totalitarian nightmare which called itself "communism") as a hook for hanging her social critique on, in the same way that a 19th century writer would use the church or political protest.

There are lots of echoes - Mrs Jellaby from Bleak House, the three generations of Buddenbrooks, Rousseau, Candide, and a whole lot of Dostoevsky, from Verkhovensky / Stavrogin in The Devils and some very explicit appeals to Sonia from Crime & Punishment. In the end, though, it's a hugely powerful, original, and modern work; its conclusion could be seen as somewhat nihilist, but I prefer to read it as very human: good is its own reward, and is punished accordingly.

[Rachelfm · Rating 2 out of 5]

Granted, two stars to Doris Lessing is like four stars to anyone else. I just keep on picking up Doris Lessing books and hoping to get something as mind blowing as The Grass is Singing . While The Sweetest Dream was engaging and ambitious, I found the abrupt shift from the ensemble of characters to the focus on a single (supporting) character in the last part of the book hard to justify. I also have kind of a problem with staying focused when reading about hippie whiners, but I thought that the author did a great job contrasting the hero worship of the communist idol against the reality of his utter fecklessness as a human being.

The theme of the book? All too often, life just happens to reasonable people, especially people who don't abandon the moral responsibility to care for others, while the flashier and more selfish people justify leaving a lot of pain in their wake.

[Diane · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hadn't read Doris Lessing in years and here she was again, along with all her familiar kinds of people, scenes, concerns, prose. I still don't know how she does it, exactly. I did notice the narrator constantly pulling back from the scene to examine the bigger picture, to reflect in a puzzled way on how "we all" were acting one way or another, how a fashion for shoplifting took hold before anyone knew what hit them, for example - trying to discern the larger movements of social change in which individuals were swept up thinking it was all about them personally, making their individual choices. The London portion of the book felt most familiar and it was no surprise to go to Africa later in the book. What was new was the onset of the AIDS epidemic in her fictional "Zimlia" - based on Zimbabwe, where she grew up when it was Rhodesia. Such a rambly book, all over the place, with characters damaged and challenged in a number of ways, some seemingly born bad . . . and yet I liked it. She swept me up, carried me along for the ride, bumped me over the rapids and swirled me in the whirlpools and rowed me over the calm spots. I expected no less and I got it. The title, not at all by the way, refers to the dream of idealism and the book deals one way and many another with both the damage and the occasional good it can do, but on the whole I'd say Lessing comes down on the side of damage. Her moral compass is set by the people who carry on coping, helping those around them, doing the practical best they can with what's in front of them. There are glimpses of such in this book, barely holding things together as time and floods rush on.

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was a child of the 60s in the US. This book reminds me of how old I have become and how idealistic I was. The 60s in Britian were different than in the US, but there were still many similarities. There were children, who left their families to live with other families, because they could not tolerate their parents. There were demonstrations, drugs, sexual promiscuity and a general rebellion against authority and the Establishment, but the Communist Party seemed to play a big role in Britian while the Communists were locked up in the US. I think their history of having survived two world wars helped to shape their behavior. This novel traces the lives of a group of British children who were entering adolesence in the 60s until they entered middle age at the end of the century. Definitely worth reading. If you grew up in the 60s, you may find yourself in one or more of the characters as did I, and you will learn more about yourself and where your life began.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book in my twenties and bought it in hardcover after reading and being wonderfully disturbed by The Golden Notebook borrowed from the library. Easier reading with similar themes. I recall a kitchen table and radical, heartwarming conversations (if pessimistic at times). For those interested in politics past and present leaning toward socialism. A highschool friend of mine introduced me to this authors writing. She's difficult reading but worth it. I rounded up here as there aren't any new ideas in this novel; it almost feels like a nod to her blockbuster reminiscing as we do in time, with different characters where love isn't much a theme but a presence as it takes place mostly in a home. I still remember someone's face when he bought it from me. (There are places that value books still, I swear.)

[Marca · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mul tekib alati mingi sisemine vastuolu, kui naiskirjaniku teos ei ole lootusrikas, soe, halastav. Lohuta mind - sa oled ju naine! Ilmselt päikseliste lastekirjanike tahtmatu taak. Atwoodiga on sama lugu nagu Lessinguga - nad on nii ausad ja kohati seetõttu ka julmad ning ma tahaks öelda, et ei, mulle see raamat ei meeldi, see teeb haiget. Samas ei saa ma tegelikult hinnata mitte kuidagi alla maksimumi, sest kirjutatud on võimsalt, üle mõistuse andekalt ja mis sellest kõigest järele jääks kui see suhkruvaabaga kaunistada?

"Kõige ilusam unelm" räägib inimestest. Sellest, kui hirmus raske on inimeseks saada, inimene olla ja et kõigi äpardunute kiuste leidub siiski ka mõni, kes hakkama saab. Aga üldmuljet see ei muuda. 

"Kuidas saaks mitte tahta seda parandada? Aga tahta seda ise parandada - ei, selles on saatan." (lk 410). Mööndustega võib seda tsitaati ka loo moraaliks pidada. Teisalt on aru saada, et autori süda kuulub siiski neile, kes üritavad ja võib-olla hävivad.

Raamatus on peidus tegelikult kaks raamatut - esimene pool, mis mulle miskipärast meenutas praeguse noore menukirjaniku Sally Rooney "Vestlusi sõpradega". Kusjuures Lessing kirjutas "Kõige ilusama unelma" 82-aastaselt, aga ju tal oli hea mälu ja ju pole teatud vanuses inimeste suhtluses aastatega erilisi muutusi olnud. Siiski võib ka peale nende tüütute noorte tegemistest lugemist öelda raamatu moto sõnadega "Ja lahkuvad inimesed, kes olid südamlikud lapsed." Teises osas saavad lastest need inimesed. 

[meer damad · Rating 3 out of 5]

طالعت هذه الرواية في رفوف المكتبات، إلا أنّ سعرها الغالي كان محفزاً لي لتركها؛ علّـني اتحصل عليها في موقع هنا او مجلدٍ هناك. إلا اني طمعت فيها كثيراً حينما وجدتها في معرض الأيام الثقافي في المنامة، العاصمة البحرينيّة، فاقتنيتها بسعر يختلف بشكل يسير ( 60 ريال! ) في سبتمبر الماضي. والآن، أجدها قد قاربت هذا السعر في رفوف المكتبات.

البارحة، كان آخر عهدي في قراءة الرواية. صفحاتها – ذات الحجم الوزيري – كانت مملوءة بالأحداث. أمــا الحوارات، فهنا وهناك تجدها مبعثرة. إلا أن الصعوبة كل الصعوبة، والسوء كله في الترجمة، التي حاكت باسهاب الترجمة الحرفية من دون تدخل من قِبل المترجم لتعديل هذا وتقوية ذاك، وذلك ما يجعلك تعيد قراءة بعض النصوص والصفحات؛ محاولاً فهمها!

بداية الرواية كانت مربكة، ورغم ميلي للروايات الطويلة، إلا أنني عانيت فترة حتى استطعت التوفيق بين الأحداث في بداية الرواية، بعد مسيرة تقارب المئة صفحة منها!

كانت الرواية تحاول محاكاة المجتمع البريطاني خلال حقبة الستينيات 1960s بكل ما فيها من تفاصيل، حتى ذلك التوجه الكبير للتبشير في الأحراش الأفريقـيّة. رواية نجحت في عكس تناقضات جيلـَي الشباب والكبار في تلك الفترة، لتفسّرَ عمق الشرخ داخل العلاقات الأسرية والعائليّة في تلك المجتمعات.

ولعَلّ أجمل ما في الرواية من وجهة نظري، وما استهلكَ كثيراً من أجزائها، هو القسم المتعلق بأفريقيا، وبالتحديد في زيملايا – كما تقول الكاتبة – والعمل التطوعي فيها، عبر بعثات التبشير. ورغم ميل الكاتبة العنيف للرجل الأبيض، وانتقادها لتصرفات السود – رغم قضائها فترة طويلة معهم كما يقول المترجم – إلا أنها احسنت وصف الحالة المعاشة هناك في مجاهل أفريقيا، والتي لا أتصور تغيّرها رغم هذه السنين، وإن لم أ ُوَفق لزيارتها.

خـَتمت الكاتبة الرواية، بثلاث نهايات، موت مفاجئ وهو في نظري نهاية رتيـبة. وتحقيق أحلام صبيين انضما حديثاً للعائلة، وذلك أكثر رتابة. إلا أنّ مشهد الطفولة الأخير، في لندن، كان مشهداً جـِد جميل.

تبقى الرواية، دعوة مفتوحة لمن يرغب في معرفة بؤس تلك المجتمعات الغربية من الناحية الاجتماعيّة، وتفككِها، باعتراف أهلها وكتـّابها. واحب التأكيد على الفكرة الجيدة التي تعطيها الرواية – رغم سعرها المرتفع جداً – عن الوضع الأفريقي، وكما قلت سابقاً، لا أظن أن الوضعين قد اختفا..إلى يومنا هذا!

المير دامـاد

[Obsidian · Rating 2 out of 5]

I initially got this book to read for The Dead Writers Society Literary Birthday. But it took forever for me to get, and by the time I started/finished October was over. So unfortunately it doesn't count.

That said, I wish I had skipped this book. It was all over the place with too many characters/motivations and just horrible choices of all concerned.

I really don't want to even get too into this book besides the basics. A man named Johnny Lennox raised in the lap of luxury for his times and place eventually rebels against his family and becomes a communist. He marries a woman named Frances and they have two sons. Because of communist teachings, Johnny is loathe to take anything from his father or his mother Julia. The whole book really is about all of these people, Johnny's second or maybe third wife, his wife's daughter Sylvia, and the two sons (Andrew and Colin) friends who end up all descending on Julia's home through the years.

The whole book felt very scattered to me and I honestly was bored. I didn't really like anyone save for Julia. A German woman moving to England with her husband and having to deal with the fact that her son becomes a selfish stranger.

I assume there's a larger point to this story, about how those who once were all for communist after World War II eventually fell way to the god of capitalism or something. But seriously, these people felt like cartoon characters after a while.

[La Lectora · Rating 2 out of 5]

Está dividida en dos partes en la primera se refleja la atmósfera de una casa muy poco convencional y en la segunda la vida de una de sus habitantes en el África pre-descolonización. Las dos comparten personajes, trazos de historia, de política, de crítica social y una trama con un narrador que lo explica todo, demasiado, sin estructura de cambio de capítulo ni de cambio de personaje lo que hace que aveces resulte liosa. Empieza bien y está muy bien escrita pero enseguida se me hizo pesada por lo lenta y repetitiva que es. Cuando la historia se traslada a África me pasó un poco igual pero me cansó aún más por lo lento de esta parte sin apenas diálogos y exceso de reflexiones y datos históricos de un país imaginario.No me ha resultado una lectura sencilla ni amena y me han sobrado muchísimas páginas pero hace reflexionar .

[Ana Rita Ramos · Rating 4 out of 5]

Confesso que no início não me foi muito fácil entrar na história porque as descrições dos jantares eram exaustivas e as partes políticas não me suscitam muito interesse.
Contudo, quando a Sylvia foi para África toda a perspectiva do livro mudou para mim, achei fantásticas as explicações das crenças e dos lugares e de louvar o trabalho das pessoas.
Gostei de ao longo da obra acompanhar o percurso das personagens, lamentando a morte de Sylvia.

[Emily Green · Rating 3 out of 5]

Previously, I had only read a short story or two by Doris Lessing, and she has been on my to-read list for awhile. I picked up The Sweetest Dream from a library book sale in Princeton, when I was living there, and the book had a long internment in my trunk, until shortly before leaving Philadelphia.

The Sweetest Dream follows the story of the Lennox family from Frances and Johnny's young adulthood into the beginning of their senior citizen years. Frances, the matriarch of the family who manages to keep everyone going for a time, sacrifices her own dreams of being in the theater repeatedly throughout the book, while Johnny's selfish Communism begs to be supported by one starry-eyed woman after another. Their sons, Andrew and Colin, find they must build their lives around the drama, which ends up bringing them into Julia's, their grandmother's, life and home. A good portion of the book focuses on the 1960s and serves as a critique for the way of life, politics, and the expectations parents set for their children at the the time.

Being relatively unfamiliar with Lessing's style, I was surprised by several things, including the indulgent meandering of the plot. There seems to be no urgency to what happens next, and I was thoroughly thrown by what seemed to be a casual passage of time. In the first section of the book, which lacks paragraphs and sections, I was surprised that the emotional intensity of the young Frances is so casually shifted from being a young mother to middle-aged and eventually into her later years. The passage of time and age in The Sweetest Dream seems without consequence.

Indeed, when characters die, the impact of their deaths seems to have little emotional impact on the other characters, though they are affected practically by the absence.

I was also surprised by the rabid criticism of feminism, which was identified as simply being a way for women to hate on men and nothing more complicated. Likable characters in the book, Frances included, behave as feminists throughout out their lives, but with none of the rhetoric or political activity.

The Sweetest Dream was an interesting read, in part because I did not know what to make of Lessing's use of time. The book continues well after the 1960s, when it seems it should have ended decades ago, when the reader was more centered in the characters' lives and their tales were more urgent. I suppose that with reading more Lessing, I will gain a deeper understanding of her writing, methods, and philosophy. Upon finishing The Sweetest Dream, I am admittedly off put by the pessimism with which she treats politics, the past, and the ambitions of her characters. I am not used to this brand of pessimism from American novels.

[Ana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Li este livro com gosto, apesar de ter partes muito lentas e até aborrecidas e outras demasiado velozes. Acho que é um livro desequilibrado, estranho. As personagens são interessantes, embora a maioria seja muito irritante.
A maior parte da história situa-se nos anos 60, em Londres e tem como cenário principal uma casa que alberga uma família e vários jovens perdidos e sem rumo. A casa pertence a Julia, mãe de Johnny que teve dois filhos com Frances.
É apresentada a história de Julia, selecta, educada e discreta que vai viver para Inglaterra com o marido na altura da primeira guerra. O filho é um tipo inútil, com ideais comunistas que se traduzem numa vida bastante fútil e pouco produtiva.
Depois da separação de Johnny e Frances, Julia acaba por convidar a ex-nora e os netos para viverem com ela numa parte da sua imensa habitação.
Frances é uma pessoa generosa e não consegue fechar literalmente a porta a jovens que pedem ajuda e a casa transforma-se numa espécie de abrigo juvenil. Vivem lá miúdos arrogantes e mesquinhos, perturbados, egoístas, assustados. De todos, a história passa para Sylvia, uma rapariga insegura e emocionalmente instável, com um quadro de anorexia, também filha de Johnny. A família, em particular Júlia, consegue ajudá-la a organizar-se e a encontrar um objectivo de vida. Torna-se médica e parte para África, auxiliando uma população pobre, doente com muitas maleitas incluindo SIDA. A narrativa ganha uma nova dinâmica com esta mudança de cenário, mas também se percebe que os locais não salvam as pessoas. Sylvia regressa a Londres mais tarde, infeliz, doente e preocupada.
A personagem mais intrigante para mim é Frances por tantas vezes se anular enquanto mulher e pessoa para satisfazer os desejos dos outros. A generosidade e o amor confundem-se com passividade ou é o contrário?
Fiquei curiosa para ler outros livros da Doris Lessing 🤓📚

[J.C. Greenway · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this with the power of a thousand suns. There are some parts I read over and over, both from enjoying them so much and so as not to finish the book too quickly.
The tale of three generations spanning the 20th century, bound by a house in Hampstead where an extra spare bed can always be found, must surely be one of Lessing's finest. From Germany before World War I, via London as the Sixties begin to swing, to the fictional African country of Zimlia (a stand in for Zimbabwe, or Rhodesia as it was when Lessing was growing up), it is ambitious in scale but dazzlingly realised. By the end, the reader feels as if these are old friends, you could almost wander into Frances's kitchen for a cup of tea and to catch up on how everyone is doing.
As well as living, loving and all the usual stuff in between, reluctant patriarch Johnny guards the flame of Revolution, prepared to sacrifice family, loves, children and ultimately whole populations on the altar of ideology.
The shift to Africa and the machinations of international aid is at first a jarring one, so firmly ensconced are we in Julia and France's house. However, it is here that Doris Lessing's power as a writer really shines through, as deft with the small details of character's lives as she is with the march of history.
The Sweetest Dream is the story of how we got to where we are, showing that the family ties that hold us the closest are not necessarily the ones between blood relations. I think Johnny and Frances are also the perfect demonstration that those who theorise would not get as far without the ones who roll up their sleeves and get on with making life better for those around them.
A great read and one I am sure I will be coming back to before too long.

[Steele Wotkyns · Rating 5 out of 5]

In her first first 20 pages, Doris Lessing puts us in a London-area house with a well-developed cast of characters, a sure sign of her mastery. The Sweetest Dream then immerses us in a crash-course history that's well written, concise and centered around one of the novel's matriarchs. The lead up to and 1960s and beyond scene at the house features compelling, emotional chaos punctuated with moments of awe-inspiring compassion. Lessing follows and further develops the feelings and quirks of her characters through the seasons, and goes in depth at a couple of Christmas seasons. There's the stark contrast of the two leading women who are all about family juxtaposed on a turbulent political climate and the characters immersed in that and too deeply in their work. The book is so relevant to present day for its politics, history and just when you're wondering what will happen next in the London house, a main character goes to Africa to confront her and other demons: AIDs, corruption, utter poverty and the various false senses of entitlement various players hold dear. It's a marvelous, sometimes tragic book right to an end that leaves the reader hopeful, enlightened. This is a must read.

[Luís · Rating 4 out of 5]

Apesar do óbvio prestígio vencer o Prémio Nobel nem sempre é sinónimo de conseguir um romance realmente bem escrito e que nos fique na memória.

Mas este "O Sonho Mais Doce" é um exemplo de como se consegue retratar com mestria personagens que se tornam reais porque é fácil a identificação com as suas tragédias e sucessos.

Para mim foi particularmente surpreendente a evolução do clima dos anos 60 londrino para a dura realidade africana retratada sem o preconceito tão disseminado do politicamente correcto.

[Nadia Zeemeeuw · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Sweetest Dream was my first novel by Doris Lessing – and though I am definitely will read more of her works in the future – I have quite uncomfortable feelings about this one. To begin with this is a novel written by a very tired woman. The level of fatality and deep frustration with human beings here is unbearably high. It feels like all characters in this book serve one goal only – to prove the point that our world is full of spoiled adults who once have been spoiled and ungrateful children brought up by emotionally crippled women with a severe savior complex. And all such women have left is just die when they reach a point of exhaustion, letting other women to continue on with neverending task. One more issue I have with this book is its some scrappy structure – at first we have all these tedious Franses’s tries to be the Mother Earth and have to watch how little good comes from them. Then we suddenly find ourselves in Africa – by the way it is my favorite section of the book despite of black and white tone which Lessing used here – and it feels like you ride on a bike downhill, unable to stop. In the end I felt tired exactly as Sylvia was, happy me not with the same outcome. Anyway this was a thought-provoking read and Doris Lessing is a goddess indeed.

[Karola · Rating 4 out of 5]

I happened across the book as I’m reviewing an Estonian re-edition for Sirp, a cultural weekly. So, I read Lessing in translation which felt like a blasphemy, especially as her long-winding sentences are not easy to interpret into a language so much inherently ascetic in nature than English.

But the story itself – of London in the 60s and its disillusioned, dreamy young and the 80s they’ll find themselves living in, some in newly-independent African countries – had many touchpoints with Estonia and its post-Soviet history.

The novel which is the third volume of Lessing’s autobiography beautifully depicts the intergenerational relationships between people who lived through both World Wars and those that spent their childhood in cushioned safety. A clash of generations, ideologies, and ethics is bound to explode. The book also called to mind Annie Ernaux’s The Years and Viivi Luik’s “Seitmes rahukevad.” I suppose I’d recommend Lessing’s book, but not over the two other novels.

[Erwin Maack · Rating 5 out of 5]

Esse é um livro de memórias que repassa o século passado, que foi aquele que a minha geração teve sobre os ombros a responsabilidade de melhorar. De tornar o sonho mais doce como realidade. E a realidade se transformou em um grande ‘donut’.
A diferença é que contrariamente ao conselho de David Linch nós concentramos a atenção no buraco e não no biscoito propriamente dito, e deu no que deu: demagogia, populismo, domínio das relações financeiras, e o amesquinhamento das nações.
Jamais houve tanto progresso e tanta misérias casados ente si, em uma relação doentia. A era da ganância está em ação.

[Isabel · Rating 3 out of 5]

The style of writing is something I never read before but once you get used to it it become very natural and fluent. So the plot is just the life of a disastrous family of England that takes under his roof the most stupid and weak people of England together with the most horrific and cruel shitheads of England. You can immagine the disaster, the hate Doris make you feel for the weak that don't react AT ALL (I wanted to slap them several times) but mostly the hate for the arrogant and terrible person that are Rose, Jhonny, Phyllida and Meriel.

[Iona Stewart · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a very readable novel, though there are many characters in it so it can be slightly hard to recall who is who. And there isn’t so much about communism in it, as in some of Lessing’s books.

Frances is the main character. She is an actress, writes articles and is also at one point an “agony aunt”.

She lives in Julia’s big house. Julia, a German who escaped Nazi Germany, is the mother of Frances’s ex-husband, Johnny, who is a fanatical communist, always trying to convert people, and who is thus extremely boring.

Frances has two sons, Andrew and Colin.

What is special about the house is that it is filled with youngsters, who come from goodness knows where. Frances makes nutritious meals for them. The youngsters mostly can’t live with their parents for some reason or another, some being neglected by them.

Julia has money and pays for some of he youngsters’ upkeep, if Frances does not.

One child in particular, Sylvia, who at the start goes by the name of Tilly because, when a litle girl, she couldn’t pronounce Sylvia properly, is particularly prominent.

Sylvia was looked after by Julia. She hardly ate anything until Andrew began to encourage her to do so.

There was a rather unpleasant girl called Rose.

Later, Sylvia becomes a doctor and goes to Africa to help at a so-called hospital. This is one of the most interesting parts of the book.

Rose becomes a journalist but is still nasty and only writes articles attacking people, including Sylvia and her hospital, though Sylvia is a wonderful doctor and saves many of the natives’ lives. The “hospital” has no beds, and patients, no matter how ill, have to lie outside, even when it rains.

I can highly recommend this book.

[Catullus2 · Rating 2 out of 5]

Enjoyed the parts set in London, not so much those set in Africa.

[Reet · Rating 3 out of 5]

Much of this book takes place in a three-story house, with a basement too, in London. This house belongs to julia, the matriarch of the family.
She was from germany, and she met her future husband philip, who was from england, before world war I. He went away to war, and then he came back, and they were married. They had a son named Jolyon.
Jolyon, or johnny, as he likes to call himself, was a communist, or at least he said he was. He met a young woman named Frances, and they had a love affair. He said he was going away to fight in the Spanish civil war.
In that week they married and Andrew was conceived, and that was the end of her good times,

"Now here she was, and it was a final capitulation:
Johnny had snapped at her, ‘I don’t think I’ve managed to teach you anything, Frances, you are unteachable.’ ‘Yes, I know, I’m stupid.’

Johnny would never stay at home, but went traipsing around the world, supported by communist communities. She would stay at home, now with two children. Johnny would ask Julia to visit her. Julia would try to give her money, but Frances would not allow it. Julia:
‘I would say that you have more reality than you can cope with.’

Frances eventually comes to Julia's house to live with her two sons, on the Middle floor, with Julia above her.
This book seems to be about, at first people living in that house, many of them just taking up space and being supported by Frances and julia.
There are some despicable characters in here. I don't know how the character Frances was able to tolerate, for example, Rose.
She's always cooking, and putting out great loads of food on a gigantic table.

Frances works at a newspaper, at first being an "aunt agnes," something like Dear Abby. Later on she starts writing articles about women's plight. She gets to know one of her work colleagues.
‘This is our chief politico, Rupert Boland. He’s an egghead but he’s not a bad sort of person, even if he is a man.’

As when I was in high school, and my contemporaries would talk about what they wanted to be when they were quote grown up, Many of the teenagers that stayed in Julia's house, had dreams of going off to different places, and doing unreal things. For example, one of the young men said he was going to East africa,
"Frances understood that there was no need to say anything as crass as, Have you got a passport? A visa? How are you going to pay for it? And you are only seventeen."

Rose, one of the despicable teenagers that took up space in the basement, claimed that Frances's son Andrew had made her pregnant. Frances had to play the parent for Rose, as she had to for many of the other teenagers, who stayed in Julia's house.
She signed Rose up for a class course in a college. She let Rose's parents know.
"But they would not pay for Rose’s board and keep. They allowed it to be understood that it was Andrew’s responsibility to pay for her. That meant Frances, in effect.
"Perhaps she could be asked to do something in return, like housework–for there were always problems with keeping the place clean, in spite of Julia’s Mrs Philby, who would never do much more than vacuum floors. ‘Don’t be silly,’ said Andrew. ‘Can you imagine Rose lifting a finger?’ "

Johnny is disillusioned by the Vietnam war, and the lies of the so-called communism, of the USSR.
" ‘It was all . . . lies and nonsense.’ She could hear the tears in his voice. ‘What a waste. All that effort . . . people killed for nothing. Good people. No one is going to tell me they weren’t.’ A silence. ‘I don’t want to make a thing of it, but I did make such sacrifices for the Party.' "

Later on, Johnny gets married, and then leaves his second wife, and of course Frances is responsible for supporting her. Frances ends up getting together with her colleague from the newspaper, Rupert.
I really can't stand sex scenes, it makes me feel like throwing up. These are triggers for me, Because of my abuse...
"The sweet warm weight of a man sleeping in her arms, his mouth on her cheek, the tender heaviness of a man’s balls in her hand, the delicious slipperiness of. ."

The character from this book who I loved was Tilly, but that was just her nickname. Her real name was Sylvia.
When she first came to Julia's house, she was anorexic, and had extreme trauma from her mother's treatment of her. She was Johnny stepdaughter. When she said this, I communed with her character:
" 'But I must confess I’d be happy to spend my life lying on my bed and reading.’ "

I also like the character of Frances a lot. Except for when she was describing lying around in bed with Rupert:
"...a piece by Frances where she mocked the current fad for alien excitements like Yoga, and I-Ching, the Maharishi, Subud.
One of the young people who stayed at Frances and Julia's house, later turned out to be a minister in the country they called zimlia which was a thinly disguised Zimbabwe.
"They are all so privileged, they have everything, they have more than any of us ever had..."
These were the thoughts he had, when he came to stay in london, and began a student life there
"It’s not fair, it’s not right, why do you have so much and you take it all for granted. It was that which ached in him, hurt, stung: they had no idea at all of their good fortune."

It is hard, very, for the older ones, world-whipped, when they have to listen while the idealistic young demand explanations for the sadness of the world.

In the Eighties, at the behest of another ideological imperative, all the mental hospitals and asylums were closed, and their inmates turned out to sink or swim.

Julia: "If you were dead, Sylvia, then you’d not be missing much, you’ll only end up like me, an old woman with my life behind me, dwindling into a mess of memories, that hurt."

‘Don’t you think it is strange that stupid people should have such power?’

A piece of a poem of an author Julia liked:
"I wake and feel the fell of dark, not day. What hours, O what black hours we have spent ."

Frances: "Lord, just imagine, if there had been no Rupert she would have gone on in the same dull willed routine of duty, and without love, sex, intimacy."
This, though she has to support Rupert's ex-wife, and take in his two spoiled brat children.
And here we go again:
"Frances and Rupert lay side by side in the dark, her head on his right shoulder, his right hand on her right breast. Her hand lay on his inner thigh, her knuckles against his balls, a soft but self-respecting weight that was giving her confidence."
🤮🤢

I was a catholic, and actually going to school for part of the '60s, in a Catholic school, though I never knew anything about this:
"In the Sixties, the tumults of ideology that afflicted the world had taken a local shape in the Catholic Church, in a bubbling unrest that had attempted to dethrone the Virgin Mary. The Holy Mother was out, and with her went rosaries."

Andrew, Frances and Johnny's son, turns out to be one of those people that work in a world food organization, that take the money that people donate to famine, and spend the money on "conferences" in beautiful resorts.
He runs into Sylvia, where she's a doctor in a mission village in Zimbabwe.
"He knew he did not suffer from race prejudice. No, but it was class prejudice, and the two are often confused. What was Sylvia doing, letting herself go like this?"
Frances's other son, Colin, tells Sylvia this, when she makes a run back to London to buy supplies for the village. Sophie is one of the teenagers that camped out in frances's house. These characters just let the wind blow their lives around.
" ‘Sophie is pregnant,’ he said, ‘and so we are about to get married.’ "

And this is about Rupert's first wife, who Francis has to support and keep:
"She has always told Rupert that it is his duty to keep her, and she made him pay for her taking a degree in some rubbish or other, the higher criticism, I think. She has never earned a penny. And now she is trying to get a divorce where he keeps her in perpetuity."

Rupert and Frances...here we go with the triggers again:
"Let them mock who would, and they certainly did, but there was such a thing as happiness and here it was, here they were, both of them, contented, like cats in the sun."

Whites who got land dirt cheap when Zimbabwe was under the British rule, are starting to be attacked and run out, when zimbabe gets its independence:
"Besides, if the whites wanted land to have and to hold, with tidy fences and clear-cut boundaries, while the blacks’ attitude to land was that it was their mother and could not be individually owned, then there was also the question of cheap labour."

Sylvia has different eyes after she makes her quick run to London for supplies, and returns to her village mission
"What she saw down there, the assemblage of poor huts or sheds, was tolerable only if she did not think of London, or Julia’s house, with its solidity, its safety, its permanence, each room so full of things that had an exact purpose, serving a need among a multiplicity of needs, so that every day any person in it was supported as if by so many silent servitors with utensils, tools, appliances, gadgets, surfaces to sit on or to put things on–an intricacy of always multiplying things."

(2022's Ukraine):
"The Left in Europe [and EEUU] as usual concerning itself with events elsewhere: it had identified itself with the Soviet Union and as a result had done itself in."

Some more excerpts:
" ‘How would you fancy writing a piece about whether Proudhon’s “All property is theft” has been responsible for the corruption and collapse of modern society?' "

"once Sylvia had seen an old baboon sitting in it, a piece of grass between his lips, looking around him in a contemplative way, like a grandfather sitting out his days on a porch."

"She smiled to herself, the practised bitter twist of the lips of one who feeds on bitterness."

" ‘What interests me is how you see it. You are always surprised when there is injustice. But that is how things always are.’ "

" ‘There’s something wrong.’ Rupert and Frances went down and into the sitting-room where on the sofa Sylvia was indeed dead asleep: she was dead."

Lord I hate writing reviews. I put little flags on pages where certain excerpts I feel a connection to. But I have no idea how to put those feelings into words. I wish I had the talent that my Goodreads friend aPriL has.
Anyways, I was not as fond of this book of the authors, as I was of the previous books I've read of hers. Some of her books are astoundingly beautiful. This one was indeed a work of art, but I suppose I just didn't like the subject matter, so many privileged people and at the other end of the spectrum the utter poverty and hunger of the mission's village people in East Africa.

[tortoise dreams · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story of a large extended London household in the Sixties, related as much by chance and need as family, and their encounters many years later.

Book Review: The Sweetest Dream was one of the last novels Doris Lessing wrote, and it seemed that here she was trying to publish as many ideas (including addressing various political issues) as possible. This book seems to be three novels awkwardly stuck together to make an uneasy whole. It's slow starting, taking many pages to develop a rationale for the story. Purportedly about the Sixties (can't have a book about the London Sixties that doesn't mention the Beatles), it seems to be more about showing that communists are poor husbands and worse fathers, that everyone is either inclined to give selflessly until they kill themselves or corrupt, and there's no hope for developing countries (pick your reason). The sweetest dream is the failed illusions of communism and the pipe-dreams of the Sixties (believing that "everything is for the best in the best of all possible worlds" - Voltaire would understand). The "first book" is about Frances, an earth mother who gives (to her own detriment) to an extended "family" who are mostly uncaring or undeserving egoists ("who suck and feed and demand"). She's a giving tree to lost and spoiled children. The most interesting and touching part is her relationship with her mother-in-law, Julia, a stickler for order and by-the-book. Opposites, they gradually, clumsily, come to understand one another. Frances and her ex-husband gather a number of people under the roof who will become movers and shakers on the world stage. The ex-husband, the appalling "Comrade Johnny," is supposedly a significant, international, communist organizer, but as portrayed here is a dud, zero charisma, unappealing and unattractive. How he supposedly accumulated followers was beyond me. The second book is the extended "family" grown up, off to shape and mold the world. All of them far from the children they once were, now corrupt, self-serving, and oblivious to the needs and cares of others, even those they claim to love. This was the least interesting and believable part of The Sweetest Dream. The third book is the story of Sylvia, once a child in the household who now a doctor goes off to southern Africa to minister to those hit by the AIDS epidemic. These powerfully evocative scenes show the beginnings of the disaster and the difficulty in getting the victims to understand or the powers-that-be to act. The writing here was the strongest, and saddest, in the book. Once again, everyone is either a savior or a snake. In its mixture of history and the personal, The Sweetest Dream reminds me of Ali Smith or Nadine Gordimer (also a Nobel laureate), but without the clear intent of either. This was my first Doris Lessing and considering she's the author of The Golden Notebook, either I'm missing a whole lot or it was a late-career miss. Even though this was not a necessary read for me, I think she still has a number of books on my must-read list. [2½★]

[Babette Ernst · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ich war etwas unschlüssig, ob ich 4 oder 5 Sterne geben soll, aber in den allermeisten Passagen war das Buch für mich sehr überzeugend.

Die Geschichte beginnt in den 60er Jahren und wird oft als Darstellung der 60er beschrieben, dabei geht sie weit darüber hinaus. Ich selbst war in dieser Zeit Kind in der DDR, also in ganz anderen Verhältnissen als sie in London herrschten, aber trotzdem kam mir vieles sehr bekannt vor. Gerade Typen wie der Genosse Johnny, der Erfolg damit hatte, Phrasen mit einem überzeugenden Charme und Vorbildfunktion darzustellen, aber sein Leben selbst nicht ordnen konnte, kamen mir sehr bekannt vor. Oh, diese Sprüche "Wer nicht für uns ist, der ist gegen uns." oder "Der Kampf gegen den Imperialismus duldet keinen Aufschub." wecken unangenehme Erinnerungen. Alle Figuren wurden von der Autorin brilliant beobachtet, manche Darstellung war vielleicht etwas einseitig, aber auch nicht anders zu machen, um sich nicht völlig in Nebenfiguren zu verzetteln. Beim Genossen Johnny gefiel mir auch die Darstellung der Ursache seines Hasses, was mir bei der schrecklichen Rose Trimble, die der Neid völlig im Griff hatte, nicht so ganz klar wurde.

Der große Tisch im Hause Lennox ist ein schönes Symbol nicht nur der 60er. Ende der 70er begegnete ich erstmals solchen Familien, in denen es immer Gäste gab, die sich um den großen Küchentisch versammelten und es entstand der Wunsch, diese Lebensart selbst fortzusetzen. In kleinerem Maßstab gelang dies auch, daher habe ich diese Szenen am Tisch der Familie Lennox sehr geliebt.
Umso erstaunter war ich, als ich mich plötzlich in Afrika wiederfand und das Buch ein ganz anderes Thema eröffnete. Es passt natürlich zur Lebensgeschichte der Autorin und sie schafft es am Schluss vollkommen, die Themen zu verbinden. In mancher Hinsicht war das Buch ein Augenöffner, obwohl ich vieles ahnte oder wusste, was so im Hintergrund meines vom Kartoffeln sammeln ersparten Solidaritätsgeldes passierte.

Es gibt eine Szene im Buch, die an der Krankenhausruine in Kwadere spielt (ausländische Geldgeber spendeten für ein Krankenhaus, das Geld versickerte in dunklen Kanälen, zurück blieb eine Ruine mit noch verpackten Einrichtungsgegenständen), die bei mir ein ganz starkes Déjà-vu hervorriefen. Diese Szene hatte ich in ganz ähnlicher Art schon einmal in einem anderen Buch gelesen. Kann das sein? Weiß jemand etwas drüber?

Sehr angenehm war der Erzählstil, der nicht experimentell, sondern leicht verständlich und doch bereits mit kleinen Passagen sehr treffend war. Um das Verhältnis von Sylvias Mutter zu ihrer Tochter zu schildern, finde ich eine Szene z. B. besonders prägnant. Sylvia kommt nach Jahren in Afrika zur Mutter, die sie mit einer spitzen Bemerkung begrüßt, sie nicht hinein bittet, keine Fragen zu all den Jahren stellt, sondern nur sagt: "Du siehst ja völlig ausgetrocknet aus, benutzt du keine Creme?"
Es gäbe viele solcher Beispiele, von denen ich dachte: ja, genau solche Typen kenne ich auch. Dabei empfand ich das Buch gar nicht so sehr als feministisch, wie es beschrieben war. Klar, es gibt starke Frauen als Protagonistinnen, aber genauso sympathische Männer, unsympathische Frauen - wie es im Leben eben so ist. Für mich war das wichtigste Thema die Übernahme von Verantwortung, zunächst für das eigene Leben, dann für Familie und Mitmenschen. Im Gegensatz dazu stand die ständige Suche der Schuld bei anderen (Reichen oder vermutlich Reichen, Intellektuellen, Faschisten, Weißen).

Alles insgesamt hat das Buch zu einem großen Leseerlebnis werden lassen, das ich gerade für alle, die diese Zeit kennen, nur empfehlen kann.

[James F · Rating 1 out of 5]

I gave up; I couldn't finish this long, badly written book. I can hardly believe that this blatant propaganda novel is by Doris Lessing. It didn't surprise me, after reading her autobiography, that her politics have moved far to the right; but what did surprise me was the total lack of subtlety, of nuance, and to be frank, the poor writing.

Of course, there were touches of the old Lessing, passages where she shows a real understanding of psychology; but as soon as I began getting interested in the problems of the real characters, the cardboard villain "Comrade Johnny" would show up and she flips back into propaganda mode.

The characterization is not only one-dimensional, but actually dishonest. Lessing, having been in and around the British CP and the larger left for so long, certainly knows that someone like Johnny who welshes on child support and encourages kids to drink and shoplift would not be a "star"; he'd be bounced out on his ear from any left party I know of. Anyone who has been around any traditional left party knows they are strict to the point of paranoia about drugs, underage drinking, or any minor infraction of even the most seldom-enforced laws, which might legitimize police attention to the organization, and that they make a point of supporting women's issues.

It is not only with regard to "Communists" that this novel degenerates into simplistic propaganda; her view of the younger generation, whether political or not, is made up of the worst stereotypes: all shoplifters, all dirty, all lazy, one character goes to a rally against the Vietnam War and faints because all the protesters stink so badly.
And this from an author who wrote so well about the anti-nuclear protest marches in the last volume of the "Children of Violence" series.

The propaganda is not the only fault of the novel; there are far too many characters, and they are introduced in batches. As soon as I would get them sorted out and begin to identify their individual characters and problems, a new batch is introduced. The descriptions of the other characters, though better than those of the "comrades", is also not up to Lessing's previous standards, and there are absurdities like the anorexic girl who is suddenly "cured" by having attention paid to her -- if it were only so easy.

I would say this was a falling off because of old age, if she hadn't written General Dann and Mara's Daughter three years later, which shows little falling off from her best books. I can only conclude that it is because she is writing a "thesis piece", totally uncharacteristic for her and which she always professes to dislike, and that she has a psychological problem with writing about political subjects now, possibly because she feels some sort of guilt about her about-face and needs to convince herself that the left was all a "sweet", or rather bitter, dream.

The first Lessing novel that I have ever disliked, and I disliked it immensely.