Big Books of 2026
The Golden Notebook

Questions About The Golden Notebook

by Doris Lessing

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Answered Questions (3)

Why did this horrible book get the Nobel Prize? It's ironical (a word used many times in the book).
Tytti This book didn't get the Nobel Prize, it isn't awarded to books.

It is given to an author who "has produced in the field of literature the most outsta…moreThis book didn't get the Nobel Prize, it isn't awarded to books.

It is given to an author who "has produced in the field of literature the most outstanding work in an ideal direction" and the work here means the author's work as a whole. Nowadays it is also "awarded both for lasting literary merit and for evidence of consistent idealism on some significant level".(less)
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I have to make a comment. I am reading all the reviews and find it interesting especially the ones that take a personal insult from it. It is a NOVEL. OMG. This is how people are. ...the main characters are not toilet scrubbers...so what! They are in another book. Some people find insults in everything. This is not a news story or an opinion. It is a novel. I found it truly insightful and really not at all one sided?
Eric Jay Sonnenschein I am not sure what you mean by "they take a personal insult from it." Do you mean that reviewers are insulted by the book, itself, or that other reade…moreI am not sure what you mean by "they take a personal insult from it." Do you mean that reviewers are insulted by the book, itself, or that other readers are insulted by bad reviews of a particular book that they like?

In either case, I guess that people have a right to feel the way they do about what they read and to express their responses. Are they fair-minded in what they say about books or, for that matter, about other people? Quite often, not. Humans are aggressive animals and the Internet is a safe place for many people to discharge their less attractive emotions.

Ultimately, a review is a piece of writing like the book it is evaluating. Therefore, it, too, is subject to analysis and criticism. When I read a review, I am reviewing the reviewer more than I am assessing the value of the book he or she is discussing. Does the individual make good arguments? Does he or she seem to understand the subject at hand?(less)
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Stopped midway through the Yellow notebook in Free Women I. Interesting read, but I find it a bit slow in its description. Is there an incentive to keep reading, or did I just pick up the wrong Lessing book to start with?
Emilie I do not know of her other books, I, as you it seems, started here. At times I find it babbeling, at other times the tekst is absolutely what I have m…moreI do not know of her other books, I, as you it seems, started here. At times I find it babbeling, at other times the tekst is absolutely what I have myself thought, just not been able to ekspress. On the other hand, if all her books is like this one, I am not sure I can make it. It is very long... Now I am babbeling it seems. Well, i think i like it just the way I think I like Moby Dick, which is also very odd and long.
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