book data
137 ratings, 3.81 average rating, 14 reviews
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published
April 12th 1981
by Vintage
binding
Mass Market Paperback, 288 pages
literary awards
1971 Booker Prize Nominee
isbn
0394746627
(isbn13: 9780394746623)
description
A fascinating look inside the mind of a man who is supposedly "mad."
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other reviews (showing 1-20 of 206)
Some crazed english teacher assigned this to our class in 10th grade. I loved the book and have re-read it many times. I think this may have been one of the first adult books that turned me on to reading
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Read in October, 2007
She has some lovely phrasings and poetic leanings, which makes for beautiful and lyrical reading. However, the first half of the book is quite difficult to understand, and I was not satisfied with the conclusion. It certainly had promise, and perhaps I'll like it better on a re-read.
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I was tempted to abandon it at first but I knew it would pay off eventually and it did but I don't know how or why. I just don't know.
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recommended to (Teresa) Fenixbird by:
David Pringle
recommends it for: Others favorites & nobel prize WRITERS
recommends it for: Others favorites & nobel prize WRITERS
On David Pringle as one of Modern Fantasy's 100 Best Novels
NY Times on her nobel prize winning "The Fifth Child:"
By recent Nobel literature prizewinner Doris Lessing...about Ms. Lessing, "Ms. Lessing, who turns 88 this month, never finished high school and largely educated herself through voracious reading. She has written dozens of books of fiction, as well as plays, nonfiction and two volumes of autobiography. She is the 11th woman to win the Nobel Prize in Literature......more
NY Times on her nobel prize winning "The Fifth Child:"
By recent Nobel literature prizewinner Doris Lessing...about Ms. Lessing, "Ms. Lessing, who turns 88 this month, never finished high school and largely educated herself through voracious reading. She has written dozens of books of fiction, as well as plays, nonfiction and two volumes of autobiography. She is the 11th woman to win the Nobel Prize in Literature......more
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This is one odd book. I had a real difficult time getting into it, but once I did, it had me hooked.
It's hard to tell exactly what's going on because it's told from the perspective of a mental patient. But just like Marge Piercy's Woman on the Edge of Time, the reader is invited to imagine that the fantasies of the madman/woman are actually an alternate universe. Except in Lessing's novel, which alternate universe we're referring to is unclear, since there seem to be several of them, or at lea...more
It's hard to tell exactly what's going on because it's told from the perspective of a mental patient. But just like Marge Piercy's Woman on the Edge of Time, the reader is invited to imagine that the fantasies of the madman/woman are actually an alternate universe. Except in Lessing's novel, which alternate universe we're referring to is unclear, since there seem to be several of them, or at lea...more
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Read in June, 2008
Una ofensa de libro. Esto es lo que cree un escritor del mainstream que es la ciencia ficción o lo que es el uso de recursos propios de la ciencia ficción. Una ofensa para aquellos que de verdad sabemos de ciencia ficción y conocemos los recursos estilísticos de este género. El libro comienza de forma interesante, pero después de la descripción del viaje interior del personaje, el libro cae estrepitosamente en los lugares comunes propios del discurso sobre la locura y la explicación cien...more
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still am wresting away from hidden narative, a stunning theoretic that hints at tangibility.
boats, drowning, ship-wrecked survivors and mad ramblings in a hospital comatose:)
boats, drowning, ship-wrecked survivors and mad ramblings in a hospital comatose:)
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Read in January, 1989
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recommends it for:
Psychology fans.
My first experience with Lessing was a great joy to read. Briefing challenges the idea of who a person/novel should be. When we first come into contact with out protagonist he is nameless and memoryless. Throughout the story readers revolve around two worlds. A very dry, boring world in the hospital (that comes and goes like a dream) and an active mind-blowing world the patient travels through as he tries to find himself (whoever that may be). Before its over he'll question whether or not m...more
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Has a copy to sell/swap
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Read in January, 2001
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Read in November, 2000
This book works on multiple levels--as surreal dream, as adventure story, as allegory, as metafictional commentary on genre. Perhaps that's what stands out about it--you begin reading it as one type of narrative, but find yourself reconsidering your approach to the book as you become aware of other possible approaches to interpreting the events in the plot.
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Here I go again, knocking a Nobel Prize winner. Well, I did appreciate this more than Memoirs of a Survivor. I came out with a sense of having gained something. But again, I remember having trouble with the ending and feeling that Lessing just wasn't for me.
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Tough to read - okay, sometimes really tough to read - but Lessing is undeniably an interesting writer with a unique perspective.
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Not a happy book, by any means, but an interesting examination of mental illness.
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