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To Room Nineteen: Collected Stories Volume One
From the winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature, a collection of some of her finest short stories.
For more than four decades, Doris Lessing’s work has observed the passion and confusion of human relations, holding a mirror up to our selves in her unflinching dissection of the everyday.
From the magnificent ‘To Room Nineteen’, a study of a dry, controlled middle-class marriage ‘grounded in intelligence’, to the shocking ‘A Woman on the Roof’, where a workman becomes obsessed with a pretty sunbather, this superb collection of stories written over four decades, from the 1950s to the 1990s, bears stunning witness to Doris Lessing’s perspective on the human condition.
384 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1958
164 people are currently reading
3815 people want to read
About the author
Doris Lessing
463 books3,229 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 - 30 of 127 reviews
December 3, 2017
Started reading because of the Korean drama Because This is My First Life. It is said that married men like to sit in their cars in the garage before going back home. Marriage is a chasm and we are all trying to enjoy the fall.
March 2, 2026
This is such a powerful and tragic short story.
The saying “you can be surrounded by a sea of people and still feel completely alone” has never been truer than in this book. To Room 19 by Doris Lessing follows Susan as she navigates the complexities of her marriage, motherhood, and personal identity.
Susan Rawlings is an intelligent woman in a stable, middle-class marriage. She seemingly has it all: a conventional life, a loving husband, four children, and a comfortable home. Yet she begins to long for a space untouched by the demands of that life, a place where she can simply exist. She finds it far removed from her home, in a small hotel room in London: Room Nineteen.
The story begins by showing the circumstances of Matthew and Susan’s marriage and the dynamics of their relationship. At first, life seems comfortable, even ideal, but it quickly becomes clear that what feels like a dream life is slowly turning into a kind of prison for Susan. Her negative feelings start and end with the same thing: the absence of personal space and autonomy. She is never truly alone. There are always the children, her husband, friends, and her unhappiness comes from the fact that she has no private time or room to be herself. Who is she without the world she has built for herself? She doesn’t know, and yet she has no room to discover this, no space to process her thoughts, emotions or needs. It is this lack of essential solitude and the constant pressure of the roles she is expected to play that gives the story its deep emotional weight.
At some point, Susan searches for a centre to anchor herself. Is it her love for Matthew, the life they have built together, their four children, or some unspoken part of herself she has never been able to nurture? Even that becomes complicated, however, as she is forced to navigate her husband’s infidelity and wrestle with what it means for her sense of identity, love, and trust.
The book also explores honesty and the ways intelligence can become a trap. Susan is highly aware, thoughtful, and reflective, but her intellect sometimes prevents her from fully facing her feelings or the reality of her life. She overthinks, rationalizes, and suppresses emotions, creating a web of internal conflict that isolates her even further. This tension between knowing and feeling, between understanding and acting, is as true for the time in which the novel is set as it is today. Doris Lessing shows how being “smart” does not make life easier. In some ways, it makes it lonelier, because self-awareness can magnify pain and complicate the most basic human needs, like love, acceptance, and honesty with oneself.
In the end Susan is a symbol of a broader condition surrounding marriage, as Doris Lessing masterfully examines the need for individuality and personal truth amid the endless expectations imposed by society and family.
Although written in the 1960s, this story resonates profoundly if you are someone who finds peace in solitude and would rather be misunderstood than labeled crazy for feeling something you can't explain. For me, Reading Room 19 feels like holding a mirror to the quiet, invisible struggles of women everywhere and the beautiful moments of self-realisation that emerge in the small spaces we claim for ourselves.
Updates while reading ༄˖°.☕️.ೃ࿔📚*:･
Susan Rawlings is an intelligent woman in a stable, middle-class marriage. She seemingly has it all: a conventional life, a loving husband, four children, and a comfortable home. Yet Susan is haunted by a creeping feeling of emptiness, leading her to find solace in Room Nineteen.
The saying “you can be surrounded by a sea of people and still feel completely alone” has never been truer than in this book. To Room 19 by Doris Lessing follows Susan as she navigates the complexities of her marriage, motherhood, and personal identity.
Susan Rawlings is an intelligent woman in a stable, middle-class marriage. She seemingly has it all: a conventional life, a loving husband, four children, and a comfortable home. Yet she begins to long for a space untouched by the demands of that life, a place where she can simply exist. She finds it far removed from her home, in a small hotel room in London: Room Nineteen.
The story begins by showing the circumstances of Matthew and Susan’s marriage and the dynamics of their relationship. At first, life seems comfortable, even ideal, but it quickly becomes clear that what feels like a dream life is slowly turning into a kind of prison for Susan. Her negative feelings start and end with the same thing: the absence of personal space and autonomy. She is never truly alone. There are always the children, her husband, friends, and her unhappiness comes from the fact that she has no private time or room to be herself. Who is she without the world she has built for herself? She doesn’t know, and yet she has no room to discover this, no space to process her thoughts, emotions or needs. It is this lack of essential solitude and the constant pressure of the roles she is expected to play that gives the story its deep emotional weight.
At some point, Susan searches for a centre to anchor herself. Is it her love for Matthew, the life they have built together, their four children, or some unspoken part of herself she has never been able to nurture? Even that becomes complicated, however, as she is forced to navigate her husband’s infidelity and wrestle with what it means for her sense of identity, love, and trust.
The book also explores honesty and the ways intelligence can become a trap. Susan is highly aware, thoughtful, and reflective, but her intellect sometimes prevents her from fully facing her feelings or the reality of her life. She overthinks, rationalizes, and suppresses emotions, creating a web of internal conflict that isolates her even further. This tension between knowing and feeling, between understanding and acting, is as true for the time in which the novel is set as it is today. Doris Lessing shows how being “smart” does not make life easier. In some ways, it makes it lonelier, because self-awareness can magnify pain and complicate the most basic human needs, like love, acceptance, and honesty with oneself.
❝ In that case why did Susan feel (though luckily not for longer than a few seconds at a time) as if life had become a desert, and that nothing mattered, and that her children were not her own?❞
❝ Meanwhile her intelligence continued to assert that all was well. What if her Matthew did have an occasional sweet afternoon, the odd affair? For she knew quite well, except in her moments of aridity, that they were very happy, that the affairs were not important. ❞
❝ There was no need to use the dramatic words, unfaithful, forgive, and the rest: intelligence forbade them. Intelligence barred, too, quarrelling, sulking, anger, silences of withdrawal, accusations and tears. Above all, intelligence forbids tears.
A high price has to be paid for the happy marriage with the four healthy children in the large white gardened house.
And they were paying it, willingly, knowing what they were doing. ❞
In the end Susan is a symbol of a broader condition surrounding marriage, as Doris Lessing masterfully examines the need for individuality and personal truth amid the endless expectations imposed by society and family.
Although written in the 1960s, this story resonates profoundly if you are someone who finds peace in solitude and would rather be misunderstood than labeled crazy for feeling something you can't explain. For me, Reading Room 19 feels like holding a mirror to the quiet, invisible struggles of women everywhere and the beautiful moments of self-realisation that emerge in the small spaces we claim for ourselves.
Updates while reading ༄˖°.☕️.ೃ࿔📚*:･
Susan Rawlings is an intelligent woman in a stable, middle-class marriage. She seemingly has it all: a conventional life, a loving husband, four children, and a comfortable home. Yet Susan is haunted by a creeping feeling of emptiness, leading her to find solace in Room Nineteen.
January 9, 2026
Não havia qualquer necessidade de usar as velhas palavras dramáticas como infidelidade, perdão, e todas as outras do costume; aliás, a inteligência proibia-as. A inteligência opunha-se também a questiúnculas, cenas de ciúmes, de fúria, a silêncios de ressentimento, a acusações e a lágrimas. Acima de tudo, a inteligência proíbe lágrimas. Tem de ser pago um preço elevado por um casamento feliz, com quatro crianças saudáveis e uma ampla casa ajardinada.
O angustiante “Quarto 19” começa como sendo a história de um casamento inteligente, com toda a carga irónica possível, mas, aos poucos, a racionalidade dá lugar à alienação, levando-me a compreender por que é este o mais falado e elogiado conto de Doris Lessing.
Susan deixa de trabalhar quando os filhos nascem, com a ideia de retomar a sua vida profissional e ter mais tempo para si quando todos eles forem para a escola, mas quando esse dia chega, nasce uma ansiedade enorme dentro dela e a tão desejada liberdade nunca se concretiza verdadeiramente.
Olhava para fora, para o jardim, e via os ramos das árvores a balouçar. Inquietação. Vazio. Devia estar a pensar na sua vida, nela própria, mas não. Talvez não pudesse. Mal forçava a mente para pensar em Susan (pois para que outra coisa quereria ela estar sozinha?) esta desviava-se para preocupações como saber se havia manteiga ou se os filhos tinham roupa suficiente para irem para a escola.
“O Quarto 19” é um conto sobre identidade e independência, com fortes reminiscências de Virginia Woolf, Sylvia Plath e dos demónios interiores do conto “The Yellow Wallpaper” de Charlotte Perkins Gilman.
Pôs-se a pensar o que havia de dizer: “Desde há um ano que vou todos os dias a um quarto muito sórdido de hotel. É onde sou feliz. Na verdade, onde não existo.” Ouviu-se a si própria dizer isso, e compreendeu como Matthew estava aterrorizado com medo de que ela o dissesse.
O angustiante “Quarto 19” começa como sendo a história de um casamento inteligente, com toda a carga irónica possível, mas, aos poucos, a racionalidade dá lugar à alienação, levando-me a compreender por que é este o mais falado e elogiado conto de Doris Lessing.
Susan deixa de trabalhar quando os filhos nascem, com a ideia de retomar a sua vida profissional e ter mais tempo para si quando todos eles forem para a escola, mas quando esse dia chega, nasce uma ansiedade enorme dentro dela e a tão desejada liberdade nunca se concretiza verdadeiramente.
Olhava para fora, para o jardim, e via os ramos das árvores a balouçar. Inquietação. Vazio. Devia estar a pensar na sua vida, nela própria, mas não. Talvez não pudesse. Mal forçava a mente para pensar em Susan (pois para que outra coisa quereria ela estar sozinha?) esta desviava-se para preocupações como saber se havia manteiga ou se os filhos tinham roupa suficiente para irem para a escola.
“O Quarto 19” é um conto sobre identidade e independência, com fortes reminiscências de Virginia Woolf, Sylvia Plath e dos demónios interiores do conto “The Yellow Wallpaper” de Charlotte Perkins Gilman.
Pôs-se a pensar o que havia de dizer: “Desde há um ano que vou todos os dias a um quarto muito sórdido de hotel. É onde sou feliz. Na verdade, onde não existo.” Ouviu-se a si própria dizer isso, e compreendeu como Matthew estava aterrorizado com medo de que ela o dissesse.
February 10, 2015
These are my thoughts on the title story only.
Susan Rawlings is married to a man she has loved, has four beloved children, is financially comfortable, and seeks a centre and purpose for her life.
Lessing's protagonist has a terrible hunger and the root of it is the emptiness of her inner life in the situation of a financially secure, initially happily married housewife. Little colour is given to Matthew's portrait; is it unimportant to Lessing's purpose. He is typical. The briefly sketched character of Sophie Traub, the agreeable German au pair who seems to understand Susan's plight, in so far as she can imagine a healthy response to it, is more significant and interesting. Sophie seems to be a healthy mirror for Susan, even a younger self, representing possibilities and freedoms no longer open to Susan, but real for Sophie's generation.
Lessing does not need to describe the freedom Susan is starving for; her desperation is absolutely clear and her husband's rational objection based on the comparison with his own life is met with the reader's sympathetic frustration. Matthew can carry on a secret affair; he has an independent emotional life. The constraints on his time reflect his power and control and are utterly different from the ostensibly light demands on Susan, which render her purposeless and subject her emotions to scrutiny from all sides. Though we understand her thirst, her extreme solution highlights the severity of her disease. She is ill and therefore society is ill. Susan's life is her culture's ideal for a woman, yet it drives her to despair. She is so damaged that the 'creative darkness' she accesses does not heal her.
All artists have some kind of creative inner refuge, which satisfies and is restorative, even transformative when it is productive. Susan lacks a creative outlet (she has worked as a commercial artist so she has the mechanical ability to express herself) because she lacks stimulation - this is what patriarchy has deprived her of, no? When Lily paints a tree (in a creative space that enlarges her spirit) it is a tree that Susan could never see in the garden that threatens her and where she senses the presence of her 'enemy', who takes a man's image. She is oppressed and her emotional space is pressurised by this monster, who is a creation of her guilt and resentment, of the 'aridity' she can't fathom. Perhaps it's her response which is pathological - we want her to confront this demon and instead she retreats and retreats - but the whole story is pervaded by a sense of inevitability, as if no escape from him is possible. So the creative confrontation, the artist's episode of self-discovery, is not accessible to Susan, and Lessing sees this as a fatal disaster.
Susan Rawlings is married to a man she has loved, has four beloved children, is financially comfortable, and seeks a centre and purpose for her life.
Lessing's protagonist has a terrible hunger and the root of it is the emptiness of her inner life in the situation of a financially secure, initially happily married housewife. Little colour is given to Matthew's portrait; is it unimportant to Lessing's purpose. He is typical. The briefly sketched character of Sophie Traub, the agreeable German au pair who seems to understand Susan's plight, in so far as she can imagine a healthy response to it, is more significant and interesting. Sophie seems to be a healthy mirror for Susan, even a younger self, representing possibilities and freedoms no longer open to Susan, but real for Sophie's generation.
Lessing does not need to describe the freedom Susan is starving for; her desperation is absolutely clear and her husband's rational objection based on the comparison with his own life is met with the reader's sympathetic frustration. Matthew can carry on a secret affair; he has an independent emotional life. The constraints on his time reflect his power and control and are utterly different from the ostensibly light demands on Susan, which render her purposeless and subject her emotions to scrutiny from all sides. Though we understand her thirst, her extreme solution highlights the severity of her disease. She is ill and therefore society is ill. Susan's life is her culture's ideal for a woman, yet it drives her to despair. She is so damaged that the 'creative darkness' she accesses does not heal her.
All artists have some kind of creative inner refuge, which satisfies and is restorative, even transformative when it is productive. Susan lacks a creative outlet (she has worked as a commercial artist so she has the mechanical ability to express herself) because she lacks stimulation - this is what patriarchy has deprived her of, no? When Lily paints a tree (in a creative space that enlarges her spirit) it is a tree that Susan could never see in the garden that threatens her and where she senses the presence of her 'enemy', who takes a man's image. She is oppressed and her emotional space is pressurised by this monster, who is a creation of her guilt and resentment, of the 'aridity' she can't fathom. Perhaps it's her response which is pathological - we want her to confront this demon and instead she retreats and retreats - but the whole story is pervaded by a sense of inevitability, as if no escape from him is possible. So the creative confrontation, the artist's episode of self-discovery, is not accessible to Susan, and Lessing sees this as a fatal disaster.
November 23, 2011
I actually only read Room 19 (my version wasn't a collection) and LOVED it. It's obvious why Lessing won the Nobel prize - she can write!
Room 19 is a simple story about a frustrated housewife. Her life goes exactly according to plan which leaves her at a loss when she can't manage happiness. This story is a fantastic character piece that really gets you into the head of someone you might know, might even be, but would rather not deal with. You could easily summarise this as a book about an ungrateful woman suffering a mid-life crisis and find it devoid of anything new or interesting - but boy would you be way off the mark.
I don't want to presume to know what Ms Lessing was thinking about when she wrote this but it certainly made me wonder what it takes to be happy, consider how much we can actually manufacture our own happiness and whether that changes with time.
So many things to think about coming from such a short story. Wow.
Room 19 is a simple story about a frustrated housewife. Her life goes exactly according to plan which leaves her at a loss when she can't manage happiness. This story is a fantastic character piece that really gets you into the head of someone you might know, might even be, but would rather not deal with. You could easily summarise this as a book about an ungrateful woman suffering a mid-life crisis and find it devoid of anything new or interesting - but boy would you be way off the mark.
I don't want to presume to know what Ms Lessing was thinking about when she wrote this but it certainly made me wonder what it takes to be happy, consider how much we can actually manufacture our own happiness and whether that changes with time.
So many things to think about coming from such a short story. Wow.
December 15, 2021
You hear about a story of a woman who rents a room without the knowledge of her family just so she can be alone and free as she was when she was a young maiden. How does that not pique your interest?
It certainly piqued mine when I heard it being mentioned in the Korean drama Because This is My First Life. This is the premise of the short story To Room Nineteen, which is the sole reason for me reading this collection.
The entire collection is a stellar observation of human relationships and expectations rooted in gender roles. But the last story, To Room Nineteen, which interested me in reading this, might be the most exceptional among them all.
One must read it to know its mastery.
It certainly piqued mine when I heard it being mentioned in the Korean drama Because This is My First Life. This is the premise of the short story To Room Nineteen, which is the sole reason for me reading this collection.
The entire collection is a stellar observation of human relationships and expectations rooted in gender roles. But the last story, To Room Nineteen, which interested me in reading this, might be the most exceptional among them all.
One must read it to know its mastery.
November 26, 2019
Because this is my first life
February 1, 2018
"이번 생은 처음이라" 때문에 이것을 읽었다.
March 27, 2021
I love everything about this. This is a perfect read after Kim Ji Young born 1982. also this makes me not wanna get married hahahhahal
November 24, 2024
TW: suicide
I have To Room Nineteen by Doris Lessing in a large anthology of short stories but not this collection.
This is a heart-breaking, unnerving tale. Susan Rawlings (for the time she lives in) should feel she has everything, instead Dorris Lessing reveals an unsettling picture. The build-up of what’s to come is shocking, and more so in how it happens matter-of-factly.
I have To Room Nineteen by Doris Lessing in a large anthology of short stories but not this collection.
This is a heart-breaking, unnerving tale. Susan Rawlings (for the time she lives in) should feel she has everything, instead Dorris Lessing reveals an unsettling picture. The build-up of what’s to come is shocking, and more so in how it happens matter-of-factly.
September 21, 2018
อ่านไปช่วงแรก เรานึกถึงเล่ม "ซึ่งมิอาจปลอบประโลม" ของ อานน์ โกดาร์
เพราะยังไม่รู้ว่าเรื่องจะเป็นไปยังไง แต่อ่านไปได้อย่างลื่นไหล เพราะการแปลของผู้แปล ที่ช่วยให้คนอ่านรู้สึกว่า ประโยคมันอ่านต่อไปได้เรื่อยๆ สามารถจับอารมณ์ความรู้สึกของผู้แต่งได้ โดยไม่ทำให้รู้สึกเบื่อแต่อย่างใด ถึงแม้ว่าต้นเรื่องจะยังจับประเด็นอะไรไม่ได้ก็เถอะ
ในเล่ม ที่ห้องหมายเลขสิบเก้า นี้ พออ่านมาถึงหน้าที่ 19 เท่านั้นล่ะ คุณเอ๋ยย (อ้าว.. ทำไมบังเอิญจัง 19 เหมือนกันอีก ...รึ สนพ.เขาตั้งใจให้ตรงกันแน่หนอ) พอ 19 หน้าช่วงหลัง เรื่องก็เริ่มเข้มข้นขึ้นกับความคิดของตัวละครเอกที่ชื่อ ซูซาน รอลิงส์ ผู้ที่เป็นทั้งเมีย แม่ และคุณนายรอลิงส์ประจำบ้าน ที่ต้องคอยเป็นทุกสิ่งอย่าง
แต่ขณะเดียวกัน กลับรู้สึกว่าตนไม่มีตัวตน หรือไม่ได้เป็นตัวของตัวเองเอาเสียเลย
(อ่านถึงช่วงนี้ก็นึกไปถึงเล่ม "ความรักใดจะไม่ปวดร้าว" ของ ชวนหนี)
หลังจากที่ซูซานคิดแล้วคิดอีก เธอก็เริ่มหาที่ทางให้กับตัวเอง ที่ๆเธอรู้สึกว่าเป็นที่ของเธอจริงๆ ในตอนจบของเรื่อง
สำหรับเราเล่มนี้ส่วนหนึ่งคือ เป็นเล่มที่สะท้อนให้เห็นถึงการดำเนินชีวิตไป ของการมีครอบครัว ว่าต้องผจญกับความรู้สึกแบบใด ความรับผิดชอบต่ออะไร แล้วมีปัญหากันอย่างไร ทั้งฝ่ายหญิง (ภรรยา) ฝ่ายชาย(สามี) หรือแม้แต่ ฝ่ายลูกๆ เองก็ด้วย (เผลอๆ อาจจะเจ็บปวดกว่าคนเป็นพ่อแม่รึเปล่าก็ไม่รู้ได้ ) เพราะมีฉากบรรยายในส่วนของลูกไว้ด้วยเหมือนกัน
แล้วที่จริง ปัญหาครอบครัวนี้มันอยู่ที่ตรงไหนล่ะ
ป.ล.ไม่รู้จะเกี่ยวไหม แต่เคยอ่านเจอว่า
คุณแม่ลูกอ่อนมักเสี่ยงเป็น โรคซึมเศร้าหลังคลอด เหตุเพราะ บทบาทในชีวิตต้องเปลี่ยนไปนี่เอง
เพราะยังไม่รู้ว่าเรื่องจะเป็นไปยังไง แต่อ่านไปได้อย่างลื่นไหล เพราะการแปลของผู้แปล ที่ช่วยให้คนอ่านรู้สึกว่า ประโยคมันอ่านต่อไปได้เรื่อยๆ สามารถจับอารมณ์ความรู้สึกของผู้แต่งได้ โดยไม่ทำให้รู้สึกเบื่อแต่อย่างใด ถึงแม้ว่าต้นเรื่องจะยังจับประเด็นอะไรไม่ได้ก็เถอะ
ในเล่ม ที่ห้องหมายเลขสิบเก้า นี้ พออ่านมาถึงหน้าที่ 19 เท่านั้นล่ะ คุณเอ๋ยย (อ้าว.. ทำไมบังเอิญจัง 19 เหมือนกันอีก ...รึ สนพ.เขาตั้งใจให้ตรงกันแน่หนอ) พอ 19 หน้าช่วงหลัง เรื่องก็เริ่มเข้มข้นขึ้นกับความคิดของตัวละครเอกที่ชื่อ ซูซาน รอลิงส์ ผู้ที่เป็นทั้งเมีย แม่ และคุณนายรอลิงส์ประจำบ้าน ที่ต้องคอยเป็นทุกสิ่งอย่าง
แต่ขณะเดียวกัน กลับรู้สึกว่าตนไม่มีตัวตน หรือไม่ได้เป็นตัวของตัวเองเอาเสียเลย
(อ่านถึงช่วงนี้ก็นึกไปถึงเล่ม "ความรักใดจะไม่ปวดร้าว" ของ ชวนหนี)
หลังจากที่ซูซานคิดแล้วคิดอีก เธอก็เริ่มหาที่ทางให้กับตัวเอง ที่ๆเธอรู้สึกว่าเป็นที่ของเธอจริงๆ ในตอนจบของเรื่อง
สำหรับเราเล่มนี้ส่วนหนึ่งคือ เป็นเล่มที่สะท้อนให้เห็นถึงการดำเนินชีวิตไป ของการมีครอบครัว ว่าต้องผจญกับความรู้สึกแบบใด ความรับผิดชอบต่ออะไร แล้วมีปัญหากันอย่างไร ทั้งฝ่ายหญิง (ภรรยา) ฝ่ายชาย(สามี) หรือแม้แต่ ฝ่ายลูกๆ เองก็ด้วย (เผลอๆ อาจจะเจ็บปวดกว่าคนเป็นพ่อแม่รึเปล่าก็ไม่รู้ได้ ) เพราะมีฉากบรรยายในส่วนของลูกไว้ด้วยเหมือนกัน
แล้วที่จริง ปัญหาครอบครัวนี้มันอยู่ที่ตรงไหนล่ะ
ป.ล.ไม่รู้จะเกี่ยวไหม แต่เคยอ่านเจอว่า
คุณแม่ลูกอ่อนมักเสี่ยงเป็น โรคซึมเศร้าหลังคลอด เหตุเพราะ บทบาทในชีวิตต้องเปลี่ยนไปนี่เอง
January 22, 2019
เล่มนี้มีพลังของความเป็น Feminist สูงมาก การปลดเเอกจะพันธะหน้าที่ๆสังคมมอบให้กับความเป็นหญิง เเต่ในทางกลับกันก็เป็นการตั้งคำถามถึงพันธะหน้าที่ของเราทุกคน เราทำไปเพราะเราอยากทำ หรือมีอะไรบางอย่างคอยกระซิบเราอยู่เสมอให้ทำอย่างที่เราเองไม่รู้ตัว
January 19, 2019
And once in a while you read a story that stirs you up so badly, you rampage through the reviews anywhere you can find, for someone to talk to, for some of the unanswered questions, for at least a bit of closure. And although I knew about the story for almost a year now, being able to read it in the whole is an experience that has overthrown my calm all over again. Not only am I impressed by the matter-of-fact, oh-so-obvious logical way of thinking and writing that is the mind of the protagonist, but that in the light of the apparently illogical and 'unreasonable' (according to her and her husband) context of those logical thought strings gives this a touch of irony that I so love in my books. It's scary to say how much I connected with this line of thought that she had, considering her final outcome. But relatability is something I hold in high regards in my reads, since I find them through so few authors.
This was my 1st ever story by Lessing. And considering this and this piece only, I think I'll be very much willing to pick up more books by her next time
This was my 1st ever story by Lessing. And considering this and this piece only, I think I'll be very much willing to pick up more books by her next time
May 9, 2020
Lästips royale av the Duchess of Lomma, d.v.s. vår #boblmaf-vän Pondy (Book Pond). Läste den i pdf-format via den här länken och uppskattade bokägarens noteringar. https://www.thebibliophilegirluk.com/...
En av de första tankarna, måste jag erkänna, var att det verkligen är fiktion att ett par som jobbar på förlag och i reklambranschen skulle kunna köpa ett hus i Richmond, med flodutsikt dessutom. Men den gavs ut -63. Så, här i min förnuftiga garden flat en bit bort läste jag denna långnovell som ekar av V. Woolf och Plath.
Ett exempel på en novell man nog aldrig glömmer om man en gång läst den.
Nyutkommen som Novellix. Konstaterar förnöjt att vissa läsare kommit till den via ett kdrama!
https://koreandramaland.com/the-books...
En av de första tankarna, måste jag erkänna, var att det verkligen är fiktion att ett par som jobbar på förlag och i reklambranschen skulle kunna köpa ett hus i Richmond, med flodutsikt dessutom. Men den gavs ut -63. Så, här i min förnuftiga garden flat en bit bort läste jag denna långnovell som ekar av V. Woolf och Plath.
Ett exempel på en novell man nog aldrig glömmer om man en gång läst den.
Nyutkommen som Novellix. Konstaterar förnöjt att vissa läsare kommit till den via ett kdrama!
https://koreandramaland.com/the-books...
January 17, 2022
تو زمانی که داشتم به نقش ها، فشار جامعه بنا به تعاریفی که این نقش ها به آدم روا می دارند و هویت آدم ها فارغ از اون نقش ها فکر میکردم داستان اتاق شماره 19 رو خوندم. داستان زنی که پوسته ظاهری زندگیش به چشم دوستان و تعریف جامعه کامل و بی نقص بود. نقش مادر، نقش همسر. این نقش ها انقدر برای سوزان پررنگ شده بودند که وقتی فرزند آخر خانواده به مدرسه میره سوزان دچار بحران، درد و ترس میشه. ترس رویارویی با این زمان آزاد یا که با خود درونش. تلاش برای کشف خودش و نیاز به تنها بودن. تنها بودنی که سوزان تو اتاق شماره 19 پیدا میکنه و یکی دیگه تو ی جزیره ... داستان از لحاظ نقش اجتماعی زنان وتجربه زندگی شون زیاد بررسی شده و جز داستان های مطرح تو این زمینه محسوب میشه اما فارغ از پیامش اینکه کلماتی رو بخونم که ی فرد با این پوچی و درد رو به رو شده برام دردناک بود.
November 22, 2017
It's the first English story that I found interesting, even it doesn't have many events.
August 18, 2019
Рассказ, вынесенный в заглавие сборника, рассказывает о жизни семейной пары "новой закалки". Измены мужа, которые не должны волновать женщину, лишенную предрассудков прошлого, толкают ее в объятия одиночества.
Немного затянуто, но интересно. (Напомнил мне The Yellow Wallpaper, думаю, Дорис Лессинг вдохновилась им для создания своего рассказа).
Немного затянуто, но интересно. (Напомнил мне The Yellow Wallpaper, думаю, Дорис Лессинг вдохновилась им для создания своего рассказа).
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October 16, 2023Looove. She plays her stories like emotional cluedo - like a crime writer tuned to ennui.
Nuptials so macabre & misanthropy so endearing . She's like an evil clown or an anti-eros - any proclaimed 'love' in these stories is an aggregate of indifference & bitterness. Stifling & creeping objectivity abt her style. Punchlines laughably audacious. good ointment .
Nuptials so macabre & misanthropy so endearing . She's like an evil clown or an anti-eros - any proclaimed 'love' in these stories is an aggregate of indifference & bitterness. Stifling & creeping objectivity abt her style. Punchlines laughably audacious. good ointment .
October 22, 2023
Just gonna leave a list with my favourite stories from this collection/that I think are really worth reading:
– The Other Woman
– Wine
– One off the Short List
– A Woman on a Roof
– How I Finally Lost My Heart
– To Room Nineteen
– The Other Woman
– Wine
– One off the Short List
– A Woman on a Roof
– How I Finally Lost My Heart
– To Room Nineteen
March 27, 2024
I mean... if you are a man, I suppose this could be a very insightful read. But if you are a woman, you would have known a million different stories like this one in real life. Mothers, grandmothers, aunts, friends... this is a very common but sad tale.
April 15, 2025
a new favorite, I have so many thoughts that won't fit here
August 29, 2013
Estoy impresionada. ¡Qué manera de acabar el libro con el cuento To Room Nineteen! Me ha dejado un poco en una especie de shock.
Los cuentos han sido representaciones de una europa posguerra. Los personajes se encuentran llevando una vida lo más "normal" posible. Tenemos protagonistas mujeres, hombres, incluso niños que son muy bien representados en historias con las que puedes relacionarte. Algunas historias son de valentía, otras de fuertes deseos sin realizar, otras de amor, otras de desamor. Hay de todo un poco con ese toque de redacción impecable e íntima llena de crudeza y honestidad que marcan a Doris Lessing como una de las mejores escritoras de su tiempo.
Creo que las historias que más me llegaron fueron: To Room Nineteen, Two Men, The habit of loving, The Other Woman y How I finally lost my heart. En general todas son muy buenas pero estas robaron mi corazón, especialmente la que da nombre a esta colección de cuentos.
Los cuentos han sido representaciones de una europa posguerra. Los personajes se encuentran llevando una vida lo más "normal" posible. Tenemos protagonistas mujeres, hombres, incluso niños que son muy bien representados en historias con las que puedes relacionarte. Algunas historias son de valentía, otras de fuertes deseos sin realizar, otras de amor, otras de desamor. Hay de todo un poco con ese toque de redacción impecable e íntima llena de crudeza y honestidad que marcan a Doris Lessing como una de las mejores escritoras de su tiempo.
Creo que las historias que más me llegaron fueron: To Room Nineteen, Two Men, The habit of loving, The Other Woman y How I finally lost my heart. En general todas son muy buenas pero estas robaron mi corazón, especialmente la que da nombre a esta colección de cuentos.
March 24, 2018
3.5 rather
On "To Room Nineteen":
Halfway between Chopin's The Awakening and Perkins Gilman's "The Yellow Wallpaper" and updated to the 20th century. However, while Edna Pontellier's end is depicted as victorious and Gilman's "madwoman" also reaches a freedom of sorts, Susan seems to succumb under her entrapment after a short-lived freedom (always of sorts). The insight into the protagonist's thoughts, however, makes the story refreshing and original if not as hopeful as the two above.
On "To Room Nineteen":
Halfway between Chopin's The Awakening and Perkins Gilman's "The Yellow Wallpaper" and updated to the 20th century. However, while Edna Pontellier's end is depicted as victorious and Gilman's "madwoman" also reaches a freedom of sorts, Susan seems to succumb under her entrapment after a short-lived freedom (always of sorts). The insight into the protagonist's thoughts, however, makes the story refreshing and original if not as hopeful as the two above.
February 3, 2014
Wonderful discussion on identity.....
June 21, 2018
To Room Nineteen is a short story about marriage and the hidden truths in conformity. Lessing’s use of realism shows what it’s like to be an intellectual and married with a family in the 1960’s.
December 8, 2023
როგორ მიყვარს "ქალთა სახეები" დორის ლესინგის შემოქმედებაში :))
და ისევ მგონია, რომ დორისი იმ იშვიათად მწერალთაგანია, რომლებიც სიყვარულის (ან უსიყვარულობის) შესახებ წერისას არ იტყუებიან და კარგად ესმით ის, რაზეც ლაპარაკობენ.
მოთხრობები კი არა, პატარა, შეუმჩნეველი ფანჯრებია, რიგითი ადამიანების სახლების კედლებში გაჭრილი და რამდენიმე გვერდიც საკმარისია, შენც იმ სახლის მაცხოვრებლად რომ იგრძნო თავი. განსაკუთრებით ბოლო მოთხრობა დამამახსოვრდა, to room nineteen, რომელშიც მარტოობის საშიში და ულამაზო სურათია დახატული - კრებულის საუკეთესო მოთხრობაა ჩემთვის და ისედაც, ასეთი შთამბეჭდავი ტექსტი იშვიათად თუ შემხვდება ხოლმე. ცალკე გამოყოფის ღირსია A woman on a roof - მშვენიერი ეპიზოდებითა და დასასრულით.
"The demons were not here. They had gone forever, because she was buying her freedom fron them".
და ისევ მგონია, რომ დორისი იმ იშვიათად მწერალთაგანია, რომლებიც სიყვარულის (ან უსიყვარულობის) შესახებ წერისას არ იტყუებიან და კარგად ესმით ის, რაზეც ლაპარაკობენ.
მოთხრობები კი არა, პატარა, შეუმჩნეველი ფანჯრებია, რიგითი ადამიანების სახლების კედლებში გაჭრილი და რამდენიმე გვერდიც საკმარისია, შენც იმ სახლის მაცხოვრებლად რომ იგრძნო თავი. განსაკუთრებით ბოლო მოთხრობა დამამახსოვრდა, to room nineteen, რომელშიც მარტოობის საშიში და ულამაზო სურათია დახატული - კრებულის საუკეთესო მოთხრობაა ჩემთვის და ისედაც, ასეთი შთამბეჭდავი ტექსტი იშვიათად თუ შემხვდება ხოლმე. ცალკე გამოყოფის ღირსია A woman on a roof - მშვენიერი ეპიზოდებითა და დასასრულით.
"The demons were not here. They had gone forever, because she was buying her freedom fron them".
November 17, 2020
From the outset, you have a feeling that things will go wrong! It is a roller coaster of betrayal, ostensible forgiveness, relief and eventual resignation. The protagonist, although narrated in third person for most of the ordeal, exhibits signs of depression, a plight that perennially seems to lack the requisite support. She is audacious enough to aspire for peace, in spite of lack-thereof, which culminates in disastrous consequences. A powerful read.
November 30, 2019
It's hard to rate anthologies, but i really enjoyed how different this is compared to what I usually read and D.Lessing shows her genius often in this, however, it was sometimes hard to grasp the idea of the story and some were quite meh compared to others sooo, 3.75? I think?
October 14, 2022
Lessing is always brilliant. These stories portrait despair, boredom, the longing for an unattainable pleasure, dark humour, light humour, unique humour and so much more. Each short story is a live well lived.
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December 13, 2024lectura máster pero esta vez versión female rage and subsequent descent into madness así que slay
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