The Doris Lessing Reader

by Doris Lessing

This reader has been assembled by Doris Lessing herself, and it provides a representative introduction to both her fiction and non-fiction. The book enables the reader to see her ideas evolve over the years as they recur and develop throughout her work. The extracts are taken from her previous books "The Grass is Singing", "Children of Violence", "Canopus in Argus", "The Golden Notebook", "Briefing for a Descent into Hell", "The Summer Before the Dark" and "The Good Terrorist" as well as her non fiction books "Going Home" and "A Small Personal Voice".

Genres: Fiction, Literature

528 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 1991

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

[Ade Bailey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting introduction by Doris Lessing focused upon 'realism'. It is very comforting to return to this lovely writer and shows the wisdom of the saying that a certain quality of reading is closely related to intimate conversation: the reader must return the act of generosity.

[Joe Mossa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the first 4 short stories. she has a great style and her stories have a purpose, to make you think, see, feel problems. Her GOLDEN NOTEBOOK is one of my best one hundred and I only read some of it. I think I ll read all of this reader-short stories, excerpts from her novels, non fiction.

[Susana · Rating 4 out of 5]

In all honesty I got through the short stories and then had to return this to the library. It was refreshing to read a competent adult themed writer with a real gift for language. That seems to be missing in much contemporary fiction that reads like a précis for a film script. I'll be returning to a Lessing novel soon.

[Cuauhtémoc Kish · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read "STORIES" by Doris Lessing; NOT the READER.

I found it a bit challenging, and it took me awhile to get into the compilation ("Stories" needs to be added to her long list on Good Reads).

I got half way through and it was time for me to hop aboard a plane to Japan, so I had to return it to the library. I may re-request it for a later read to finish the book.

[Uintah Louise · Rating 3 out of 5]

Demanding but well written. Deeply thoughtful but too heavy for me at this time in my life. Representative of a valuable historical perspective from the time of Lessing's life.

[S · Rating 3 out of 5]

Took me five years of on-off trying and failing to read her novels, but I have now finally started to quite enjoy Doris Lessing. The short stories more so than the novel excerpts, though I to had to skim-read some of the more clunking bits. She's not a master of naturalistic dialogue. I may give her novels another go in the future. The non-fiction excerpts were perhaps the most interesting.

[Tracey · Rating 3 out of 5]

I remember reading her in college; I just don't remember why. Assigned reading perhaps. Maybe I've been reading SF/F too long, but most of the stories weren't terribly compelling, except for maybe "Sunrise on the Veldt". I liked the non-fiction selections better.

[Henry Sturcke · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent introduction to her work.

[Luce Cronin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Liked the short stories, but did not enjoy the sections of novels - sort of pointless to read.