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The Temptation of Jack Orkney and Other Stories
From Doris Lessing, Winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature, one of her finest collections of short stories.
Doris Lessing is unrivalled in her ability to capture the truth from the complexities of relationships and the stories in this wonderful collection have lost none of their original power. Two marriages, both middle class, liberal and 'rather literary', share a shocking flaw, a secret 'cancer'. A young, beautiful woman from a working class family is courted by a very eligible, very upmarket man. An ageing actress falls in love for the first time but can only express her feelings through her stage performances because her happily married lover is unobtainable. A dedicated, lifelong rationalist is tempted, after the death of his father, by the comforts of religious belief. In this magnificent collection of stories, which spans four decades, Doris Lessing's unique gift for observation, her wit, her compassion and remarkable ability to illuminate the complexities of human life are all remarkably displayed.
Doris Lessing is unrivalled in her ability to capture the truth from the complexities of relationships and the stories in this wonderful collection have lost none of their original power. Two marriages, both middle class, liberal and 'rather literary', share a shocking flaw, a secret 'cancer'. A young, beautiful woman from a working class family is courted by a very eligible, very upmarket man. An ageing actress falls in love for the first time but can only express her feelings through her stage performances because her happily married lover is unobtainable. A dedicated, lifelong rationalist is tempted, after the death of his father, by the comforts of religious belief. In this magnificent collection of stories, which spans four decades, Doris Lessing's unique gift for observation, her wit, her compassion and remarkable ability to illuminate the complexities of human life are all remarkably displayed.
308 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1972
7 people are currently reading
198 people want to read
About the author
Doris Lessing
476 books3,195 followersDoris 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).
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).
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
November 18, 2019
I think this varied short story collection is my first encounter with Lessing. Given that she won the Nobel prize for literature (and many other awards), I was initially very disappointed. The first few stories were OK, but nothing more than that. I was on the verge of putting it aside, unsure if I should even bother seeing if I liked her better as a novelist. I'm glad I persevered, because several of the later stories were really good: you'll be able to tell which they were by the length of review for each.
It would have been helpful to know the publication date of each story, as once or twice I was initially unsure when they were set.
Our Friend Judith
About a mildly eccentric, single woman, and apparently based on someone Lessing knew, but it didn't ring true for me, especially near the end.
Each Other
Explores a taboo relationship in a non-judgemental way, but again, it didn't feel quite plausible to me. On the other hand, unlike Lessing, I'm not aware of knowing anyone who has been in such a relationship.
Homage for Isaac Babel
A young teen tries to be adult and intellectual to impress a boy she has a crush on. Possibly based on herself?
Outside the Ministry
African political intrigue reduced to a shady conversation. Apparently equally popular with black and white Africans. It didn't do anything for me, but my limited knowledge of the period and place may be a factor.
Dialogue
This has more depth: a conversation with someone on the edge of sanity. Unsettling, slightly surreal, and moving.
Notes for a Case History
The perils and perks of social climbing, based on a lower middle class girl, just after the war.
Out of the Fountain
A fable about the hypnotic power of wealth and jewels can skew actions.
An Unposted Love Letter
Actually about the visceral pain for artistic creation.
A Year in Regent's Park
One of three pieces about the park, all of which I found dull. This is a nature documentary in an urban oasis.
Mrs Fortescue
Another embarrassed teen, this time a boy. It is a nuanced, funny and shocking portrayal of a boy who wants to be treated as an adult and to be in on the adult knowledge, behaviour and emotions, but doesn't know how to handle it when he is, in part because he is more easily shocked than he expects.
Side Benefits of an Honourable Profession
A disjointed collection of odd anecdotes about the tangled lives of thespians. It was "written with relish, after certain experiences in show business"!
An Old Woman and her Cat
The first really good story. It is the gritty, sad, but unsentimental and horribly plausible depiction of the journey from ordinary life to cat lady. There are some good turns of phrase, too. The area between Kings Cross, St Pancras and Euston is described as "that part of London which is like an estuary, with tides of people flooding in and out", and a council flat where "pets were not actively persecuted by the authorities, only forbidden and then tolerated".
Lions, Leaves, Roses...
A prose poem about the park. Dull.
Report on the Threatened City
Brilliant sci-fi, with very obvious contemporary relevance, especially for San Franciso, Naples and such places, with plenty of humour. Aliens plan to warn the citizens of a large city of the imminence of a major geological event. They are shocked and perplexed to discover that everyone knows, but just carries on with normal life: "willful blindness... they are able to hold in their minds at the same time several contradictory beliefs without noticing it". The aliens target different groups of humans, in different ways, to no avail. "Fear is a mechanism to protect or warn, and in these creatures the function is faulty." Most baffling of all is the contradiction of ignoring the risk to the whole city, yet applying "infinite care and devotion to individuals or small groups".
Not a Very Nice Story
An unconventional narrative: explaining the nature of the story, the (im)morality of it, and the ending, before actually telling it. It concerns convoluted no-strings relationships: "they arrived in each other's presence vivid with variegated emotion". Can sex be emotionless? Can we deny love? What are the effects of lies, deceit and self-deception?
The Other Garden
The park. Again. Still dull.
The Italian Sweater
Some annoying anachronisms in this, which is a shame, as the story has potential. (What middle class young mother in 1991 London had friends called Joan and Betty, and a daughter called Joyce?!) Anyway, it is a story about the effects of secrets and the recession on a marriage. "There was no way he could tell her he had spied on her: the fresh and candid air the marriage lived in would not tolerate such a confidence."
The Temptation of Jack Orkney
The eponymous near-novella. Jack is a middle-aged, left-wing, atheist journalist with wife, three adult children and a dying father. He is not close to his brother and sister (or his father), who he meets at the deathbed. "They all exchanged news. The main thing that had happened to the three of them was that the children had all grown up" painfully summarises their polite detachment, though "The grandchildren... knew each other, and had complicated relationships; they were a family, unlike their parents".
Yet there are similarities: "They were suffering that diminution, that assault on individuality which is the worst of families: some invisible dealer had shuffled noses, hands, shoulders, hair and reassembled them... the owner would feed, maintain, wash, medicate for a lifetime, thinking of it as 'mine', except at moments like these, when knowledge was forced home that everyone was put together out of stock."
The only family Jack really cares about are his children. His daughters are somewhat grungy in their attire, and "looked enchanting, like princesses in disguise", but his relationship with his son is trickier. "It was because his son was so much like him that he felt he had no son, no heir. What he wanted was for his son to carry on from himself... to be his continuation but each generation repeats the mistakes of its parents."
Jack's temptation turns out to be the opposite of the usual: temptation to - not from - faith: "To get God, after a lifetime of enlightened rationalism, would be the most shameful of capitulations". He has doubts about his (political and religious) doubts, "looking forward to letting the false positions of the day dissolve themselves into unimportance".
The Thoughts of a Near-Human
Told by a yeti-type creature who feels drawn to a nearby primitive human settlement, to the shock of his brothers (though for some reason, I initially assumed the narrator was female). Seeing this other species creates body-image issues reminiscent of size zero/anorexic debates and the way Chinese fashion and cosmetics are sold via European-looking models. The whole piece is quite existential, in a naive way: "Why are They like They are? Why are we like we are?" Unfortunately, the final message seems to be about the importance and inevitability of knowing one's place.
It would have been helpful to know the publication date of each story, as once or twice I was initially unsure when they were set.
Our Friend Judith
About a mildly eccentric, single woman, and apparently based on someone Lessing knew, but it didn't ring true for me, especially near the end.
Each Other
Explores a taboo relationship in a non-judgemental way, but again, it didn't feel quite plausible to me. On the other hand, unlike Lessing, I'm not aware of knowing anyone who has been in such a relationship.
Homage for Isaac Babel
A young teen tries to be adult and intellectual to impress a boy she has a crush on. Possibly based on herself?
Outside the Ministry
African political intrigue reduced to a shady conversation. Apparently equally popular with black and white Africans. It didn't do anything for me, but my limited knowledge of the period and place may be a factor.
Dialogue
This has more depth: a conversation with someone on the edge of sanity. Unsettling, slightly surreal, and moving.
Notes for a Case History
The perils and perks of social climbing, based on a lower middle class girl, just after the war.
Out of the Fountain
A fable about the hypnotic power of wealth and jewels can skew actions.
An Unposted Love Letter
Actually about the visceral pain for artistic creation.
A Year in Regent's Park
One of three pieces about the park, all of which I found dull. This is a nature documentary in an urban oasis.
Mrs Fortescue
Another embarrassed teen, this time a boy. It is a nuanced, funny and shocking portrayal of a boy who wants to be treated as an adult and to be in on the adult knowledge, behaviour and emotions, but doesn't know how to handle it when he is, in part because he is more easily shocked than he expects.
Side Benefits of an Honourable Profession
A disjointed collection of odd anecdotes about the tangled lives of thespians. It was "written with relish, after certain experiences in show business"!
An Old Woman and her Cat
The first really good story. It is the gritty, sad, but unsentimental and horribly plausible depiction of the journey from ordinary life to cat lady. There are some good turns of phrase, too. The area between Kings Cross, St Pancras and Euston is described as "that part of London which is like an estuary, with tides of people flooding in and out", and a council flat where "pets were not actively persecuted by the authorities, only forbidden and then tolerated".
Lions, Leaves, Roses...
A prose poem about the park. Dull.
Report on the Threatened City
Brilliant sci-fi, with very obvious contemporary relevance, especially for San Franciso, Naples and such places, with plenty of humour. Aliens plan to warn the citizens of a large city of the imminence of a major geological event. They are shocked and perplexed to discover that everyone knows, but just carries on with normal life: "willful blindness... they are able to hold in their minds at the same time several contradictory beliefs without noticing it". The aliens target different groups of humans, in different ways, to no avail. "Fear is a mechanism to protect or warn, and in these creatures the function is faulty." Most baffling of all is the contradiction of ignoring the risk to the whole city, yet applying "infinite care and devotion to individuals or small groups".
Not a Very Nice Story
An unconventional narrative: explaining the nature of the story, the (im)morality of it, and the ending, before actually telling it. It concerns convoluted no-strings relationships: "they arrived in each other's presence vivid with variegated emotion". Can sex be emotionless? Can we deny love? What are the effects of lies, deceit and self-deception?
The Other Garden
The park. Again. Still dull.
The Italian Sweater
Some annoying anachronisms in this, which is a shame, as the story has potential. (What middle class young mother in 1991 London had friends called Joan and Betty, and a daughter called Joyce?!) Anyway, it is a story about the effects of secrets and the recession on a marriage. "There was no way he could tell her he had spied on her: the fresh and candid air the marriage lived in would not tolerate such a confidence."
The Temptation of Jack Orkney
The eponymous near-novella. Jack is a middle-aged, left-wing, atheist journalist with wife, three adult children and a dying father. He is not close to his brother and sister (or his father), who he meets at the deathbed. "They all exchanged news. The main thing that had happened to the three of them was that the children had all grown up" painfully summarises their polite detachment, though "The grandchildren... knew each other, and had complicated relationships; they were a family, unlike their parents".
Yet there are similarities: "They were suffering that diminution, that assault on individuality which is the worst of families: some invisible dealer had shuffled noses, hands, shoulders, hair and reassembled them... the owner would feed, maintain, wash, medicate for a lifetime, thinking of it as 'mine', except at moments like these, when knowledge was forced home that everyone was put together out of stock."
The only family Jack really cares about are his children. His daughters are somewhat grungy in their attire, and "looked enchanting, like princesses in disguise", but his relationship with his son is trickier. "It was because his son was so much like him that he felt he had no son, no heir. What he wanted was for his son to carry on from himself... to be his continuation but each generation repeats the mistakes of its parents."
Jack's temptation turns out to be the opposite of the usual: temptation to - not from - faith: "To get God, after a lifetime of enlightened rationalism, would be the most shameful of capitulations". He has doubts about his (political and religious) doubts, "looking forward to letting the false positions of the day dissolve themselves into unimportance".
The Thoughts of a Near-Human
Told by a yeti-type creature who feels drawn to a nearby primitive human settlement, to the shock of his brothers (though for some reason, I initially assumed the narrator was female). Seeing this other species creates body-image issues reminiscent of size zero/anorexic debates and the way Chinese fashion and cosmetics are sold via European-looking models. The whole piece is quite existential, in a naive way: "Why are They like They are? Why are we like we are?" Unfortunately, the final message seems to be about the importance and inevitability of knowing one's place.
April 9, 2018
Doris Lessing Tenimin Altında'da çizdiği profile en uygun derinlik kazılarını bu kitapta toplamış. Büyükanneler öykülerinden daha sivri kurmacalar. Genel geçer ahlaki kabullerin ve vasatın yörüngesinde devinen toplumsal değerlerin, insanlık hallerini anlamak için ne kadar bulanık bir görüş sahası yarattığını gösteren öyküler hızlı okumaya gelmeyecek inceliklerle bezeli. Kitaptan feyz almak için nitelikli edebiyat müptelası olmak yetmez. Zihniyet kalıplarının, hayatı kavrayışa ilişkin geliştirdiğimiz temel referans sisteminin sarsılmasına da razı olmak gerekiyor. Hararetle tavsiye ederim ama herkese değil.
June 15, 2020
I re-read this collection mainly for the sake of the 5-star Sci-Fi story "Report on the Threatened City". In it, some aliens observing Earth become aware that a large city is in danger of destruction by an natural disaster. The aliens wish to inform the people and to help move them to a safer location. After coming to Earth, though, they gradually become aware that everybody knows about the problem, but they are acting as if they don't care.
Based on physical descriptions, the city is very clearly San Francisco, but it is never named, nor is the planet ever called Earth. But what is really being studied is human thought patterns, which are fairly universal, as is our tendency to build homes in dangerous locations.
Rather than describe further, I'll just give some quotes:
"...the trouble with this species is not that it is unable to forec ast its immediate future; it is that it doesn't seem to care."
"The largest and most powerful groupings -- based on geographical position -- are totally governed by their war-making functions. ... This complete domination of a land area by its war-making machinery is not always visible to the inhabitants of that area, as this species is able, while making war or preparing for it, to think of itself as peace-loving...."
"... they are able to hold in their minds at the same time several contradictory beliefs without noticing it. Which is why rational action is so hard for them."
"The mark of an educated individual is this: that he has spent years absorbing received ideas and is able readily to repeat them. People who have absorbed opinions counter to the current standard of ideas are distrusted and may be called opinionated. This description is earned most easily by women and young people."
"... strong emotion was aroused by phrases and words of which we list a few here: profit motive, conflicting commercial interests, vested interests, capitalism, socialism, democracy .... We were not able to determine ... the significance of these phrases, since the emotions became too violent ato allow the conference to continue."
The tone is intentionally very dry since it is an official report back to the aliens superiors. That will turn off some people, but not me.
None of the other stories moves me as much as that one. Several are dead boring. But Lessing always, always, always shows deep understanding of human behavior and motivations. These are a few of the ones I enjoyed:
Mrs. Fortescue: A coming of age story with a nasty twist.
Spies I Have Known: Written as fiction, but probably based on her real life. She describes ridiculous situations people get into spying on each other. Including a situation where an Army guy is spying on the Navy of his own country (which is already absurd) and becomes friends with a Navy guy who is spying on the Army.
Not a Very Nice Story: the story of marital infidelity among two close-knit couples and how it affects the people involved.
The Temptation of Jack Orkney: A lifelong atheist is tempted by the comforts of religion after his father dies, much to the consternation of his family and political allies.
March 13, 2009
When Marxists get disillusioned and start attacking the ideology they used to be so fond of, it's always fun to watch. Sartre's
Les Mains Sales
is probably the best-known example. The title story in this collection isn't as vicious, but I think just as effective. Jack Orkney, long-time left-winger, starts having doubts about his political philosophy; Lessing portrays it as a crisis of faith. It was perhaps this story which convinced me that Marxism is just another religion, and not a terribly good one.
August 24, 2017
I wanted to like these stories because I do enjoy her novels, but for the most part I found these lifeless - dull and worthy. There were a few that I really enjoyed and will remember - 'An Old Woman and Her Cat', 'Out of the Fountain', 'Notes for a Case History'. But some have been forgotten one or two days after reading them.
March 5, 2023
Highlights: Mrs Fortescue, Report on the Threatened City, Not a Very Nice Story, The Temptation of Jack Orkney
September 7, 2014
& The Story of a Non-Marrying Man
Our Friend Judith: 2.5*
Each Other: 1.5*
Homage for Isaac Babel: 3.0*
Outside the Ministry: 3.0*
Dialogue: 1.0*
Notes for a Case History: 5.0*
Out of the Fountain: 5.0*
An Unposted Love Letter: 1.5*
A Year in Regent's Park: 1.0*
Mrs Fortescue: 2.0*
Side Benefits of an Honourable Profession: 1.5*
An Old Woman and Her Cat: 3.0*
Lions, Leaves, Roses...: 1.0*
Report on the Threatened City: 1.0*
Not a Very Nice Story: 5.0*
The Other Garden: 1.0*
The Italian Sweater: 2.5*
The Temptation of Jack Orkney: 3.5*
The Thoughts of a Near-Human: 2.0*
Spies I Have Known: 1.5*
The Story of a Non-Marrying Man: 2.5*
Our Friend Judith: 2.5*
Each Other: 1.5*
Homage for Isaac Babel: 3.0*
Outside the Ministry: 3.0*
Dialogue: 1.0*
Notes for a Case History: 5.0*
Out of the Fountain: 5.0*
An Unposted Love Letter: 1.5*
A Year in Regent's Park: 1.0*
Mrs Fortescue: 2.0*
Side Benefits of an Honourable Profession: 1.5*
An Old Woman and Her Cat: 3.0*
Lions, Leaves, Roses...: 1.0*
Report on the Threatened City: 1.0*
Not a Very Nice Story: 5.0*
The Other Garden: 1.0*
The Italian Sweater: 2.5*
The Temptation of Jack Orkney: 3.5*
The Thoughts of a Near-Human: 2.0*
Spies I Have Known: 1.5*
The Story of a Non-Marrying Man: 2.5*
Want to read
November 17, 2013epub.bookfi.org
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews