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Victoria et les Staveney
Roman familial. Roman de société.
First published January 1, 2010
1 person is currently reading
18 people want to read
About the author
Doris Lessing
478 books3,205 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
December 6, 2020
Commencé le : 06/12/2020
Terminé le : 06/12/2020
Yessss je l'ai lu en une seule journée mais non une seule après midi yess
Avis :
C'est une histoire très fluide mais aussi ça donne un petit peu des leçons de morale ça parle d'une petite fillette noir de peau et a passé une enfance difficile après après elle est devenue une maman de deux enfants ...
J'aime trop ce style et aussi ce type de livre
Et aussi je suis fière de moi, de lire un livre juste en une seule après midi bravo a moi
Terminé le : 06/12/2020
Yessss je l'ai lu en une seule journée mais non une seule après midi yess
Avis :
C'est une histoire très fluide mais aussi ça donne un petit peu des leçons de morale ça parle d'une petite fillette noir de peau et a passé une enfance difficile après après elle est devenue une maman de deux enfants ...
J'aime trop ce style et aussi ce type de livre
Et aussi je suis fière de moi, de lire un livre juste en une seule après midi bravo a moi
February 1, 2014
Ce livre parle d'une histoire comme on en voit trop souvent. Dans la réalité, beaucoup ont eu ce genre d'expériences et c'est triste. Néanmoins, ici il n'y a aucune "vie" dans le texte, c'est banal. Je n'ai pas compris ce que l'auteure souhaitais transmettre. Peut-être y a-t-il plus de sens si l'on lit les autres œuvres du recueil, "The Grandmothers", auquel il appartient ?
July 26, 2012
J'hésite entre fable ou chronique du racisme ordinaire pour décrire ce petit bijou de 125 pages de Doris Lessing. Pas un mot en trop pour nous raconter en ces quelques lignes, le parcours de Victoria qui n'a eu de cesse que de vivre ses rêves et qui faute d'y arriver pleinement souhaite le meilleur pour sa fille. Tant pis, si elle doit pour cela la perdre et la voir petit à petit se faire sa place dans cette famille de blancs aisés à qui elle servira de caution bien pensante. Mais préjugés, racisme ordinaire et barrière raciale et sociale sont toujours là en filigrane grâce à la plume aiguisée de Doris Lessing.
Read
August 3, 2011L'intention est bonne, mais dommage que les personnages ne soient pas plus fouillés. Un livre agréable à lire, presque enfantin dans le style malgré les thèmes de prédilection tout à fait sérieux de Doris Lessing (le racisme, les préjugés). Un coup de griffe à une certaine Angleterre.
May 15, 2010
Se lit d'une traite ! Très beau style.
May 1, 2010
Confrontation de deux mondes: les Blancs, les Noirs.... Une très belle écriture. Une histoire originale qu'on ne se résout pas à laisser.
October 6, 2011
Well written, simple and a good read. :) Though I was hoping for something more at the end.
Read in French.
Read in French.
September 5, 2014
The story is written in a straightforward and simplistic way, lacking details. The reading process did not caused me excitement, amusement or emotion.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews