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The golden notebook Doris May Lessing 9780553208504 Books

Download As PDF : The golden notebook Doris May Lessing 9780553208504 Books

The golden notebook Doris May Lessing 9780553208504 Books

A lot of info about the post war(WWII) European life of those middle class people involved in politics. Lots of discussions about politics of the time,
attraction, sex, parenthood, friendships, jealousy, ambition. All the topics that Nora Ephron learned from as she was growing up. Valuable lessons; I'd have loved to read this book as an young teenager. Now, as an older woman, I've heard it all.


Tags : The golden notebook [Doris May Lessing] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Book,Doris May Lessing,The golden notebook,Bantam Books,0553208500

The golden notebook Doris May Lessing 9780553208504 Books Reviews

This book broke ground, and not in the way usually assumed. In dividing the book into discreet sections (notebooks) Lessing found a way to express our divided lives. This was my third time reading it.
"The Golden Notebook" is an important novel of ideas that will be of special interest to anyone concerned with the history of second-wave feminism and the relationship between second-wave feminism and the leftist politics of the 1950s and '60s. Published in 1961, TGN anticipates in an almost uncanny way the emergence of the Women's Liberation Movement out of the radical leftist politics of the late 1960s. The protagonist of the novel, Anna Wulf, is a strongly committed leftist who also suffers from serious mental illness. Her experiences are deeply evocative, and the novel is both rich and enriching. I recommend it highly.
I remember reading this years ago and decided to purchase a copy for my hard copy library. The book stood up to the test of time. As I remembered, the novel is filled with stories within stories, but not distracting. Gorgeous writing, well worth the investment in time and money.
It's brilliant talking about relationships, there's a lot to be learned from this. Considering this was written in the late 50s Lesser's candidness in writing about intimacy must have been very empowering for women at the time.
A classic in its time. Read it now if you want to understand what people were thinking and feeling in the 1960s. I just downloaded it on kindle to read it again, decades after I first read it. If you are in your 20s, you will see yourself in many of the emotional decisions over love, destiny, children and finding a sense of purpose in life. Clearly this Nobelist found hers, but she did us all a favor by giving us a good look at the messy journey she took to achieve her life.
I read this for a classics book club. The style presented a huge challenge. Tracking story and characters was confusing, a novel and journals within a novel. I didn't trust my perceptions and turned to literary criticism for help. Much has been written about this as a feminist treatise, but I disagree, as does the author herself. I did arrive at the realization that I have become a lazy reader because I had to work getting through this novel. That said, exhausted as I was, I am glad I persevered. Lessing is a thinker, introspective and definitely not a lazy writer.
Usually considered the best novel written by 2007 Nobel Prize awardee for literature, Doris Lessing, The Golden Notebook has made the lists of 100 best novels of all time . One of the main reasons I think is it was inventive, for its time. It's written as if it consists of two parallel stories. Every part consists of a standard narrative showing life as it unfolds for two "Free Women" (indeed, this section can be read as a standalone piece) as well as the contents of a notebook filled with the thoughts of the main protagonist. This notebook goes into her innermost thoughts and chronicles the facets and changes in her psyche.

The novel has often been touted as a seminal piece in the feminist movement, foreshadowing its basic tenets. But Lessing insisted in a preface for a later edition that she was more concerned about the fragmentation in the heroine's psyche. This was, in fact, what I picked up from my reading of the novel. More than 50 years later, the women's insistence on their being free sounded like old hat to me.
A lot of info about the post war(WWII) European life of those middle class people involved in politics. Lots of discussions about politics of the time,
attraction, sex, parenthood, friendships, jealousy, ambition. All the topics that Nora Ephron learned from as she was growing up. Valuable lessons; I'd have loved to read this book as an young teenager. Now, as an older woman, I've heard it all.