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Original poster

Doris Lessing's Mara and Dann. Oh My God what a book.

31 replies

Overmydeadbody · 20/05/2009 20:45

It blew me away.

Truly.

I don't think I've ever read such an amazing book. Not this year anyway!

What did you think?

If you haven't read it, I highly recommend it. Amazing.

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LoveTheCarbs · 16/09/2009 21:17

I have just finished Mara and Dann. Got the book out of the library after reading the rave reviews about it on here. I really enjoyed it - great chacterisation and ideas. I also thought the ending was odd, as if she didn't quite know how to end it. Although I don't think it spoiled the book for me.

LyraSilvertongue · 09/06/2009 23:52

No-one else read Mara and Dann? I highly recommend it.

LyraSilvertongue · 09/06/2009 18:38

I also read The Cleft which wasn't so good. Interesting but very put-downable.

LyraSilvertongue · 09/06/2009 18:34

I've just finished Mara and Dann. I have to say I loved it. Mara and Dann are amazing characters and the trials and tribulations they go through. It makes you think, there are people in drought-stricken countries going through something pretty similar now.
The ending was a bit odd though. When did they decide they had to go to the Centre? It wasn't mentioned in the first three-quarters of the book.
And I'm slightly in love with Dann, even though he's a bit of a loon who gambled away his own sister

RaggedRobin · 21/05/2009 22:11

yes, thanks for the reminder. been meaning to start reading doris lessing. so this will be the summer of doris.

MarshaBrady · 21/05/2009 19:33

I haven't yet read Doris Lessing. And I need a new author to read. SO

I bought one of her books today inspired by this thread - The Golden Notebook.

excited, hope it's good.

Jux · 21/05/2009 19:31

Lyra must have got to them first

Haven't read that one.

AnyFucker · 21/05/2009 19:29

feck

I went to the library to look for Doris Lessing's books

I needed paperbacks 'cos I am off on hols on Saturday. The only one they had was a book of novellas called "The Grandmothers"

Anyone read it?

LyraSilvertongue · 21/05/2009 18:09

You lot have inspired me. I'm off to the library...

Jux · 21/05/2009 12:20

Give them a go Overmydeadbody. They are not typical sci-fi at all, nor fantasy. They are intelligent and well-informed, thoughtful and beautifully written as is all her stuff.

MrsFlittersnoop · 20/05/2009 21:59

I had a blown away moment when I first read "Shikasta" about 28 years ago. I It had a tremendous impact on me at the time, and profoundly altered my thinking.

"At once a brief history of the world, a tract against human destructiveness, an ode to the natural beauties of this earth and a hymn to the music of the spheres."

I haven't read any of the Canopus in Argos books for years though, but I particularly enjoyed "The Marriages Between Zones 3, 4 and 5". She describes the series as "space fiction" rather than science fiction.

She is a marvellous writer, and manages to convey complicated ideas in very straightforward language, so not "hard" to read at all.

Original poster
Overmydeadbody · 20/05/2009 21:44

Jux it was the fact that they where science fiction that stopped me reading them so far, as I am generally not a science fiction person, but after getting so much out of Mara and Dann (which borders on sci fi) I would really like to give them a go.

Time for a tip to the library methinks.

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EachPeachPearMum · 20/05/2009 21:41

I loved 5th child... though I haven't read it since I became a parent... time for a reread I think.
I really like (what little) Doris Lessing I have read

Jux · 20/05/2009 21:31

They are clearly science fiction Overmydeadbody, so if you're not a sci-fi fan you might not enjoy them so much. However, they do, imo, constitute a very interesting allegory.

The last time I read them was while I was pg (10years ago) and in the months after dd was born. They were a huge source of comfort to me when the world was crashing down on my shoulders, and really helped me keep on top of the situation.

AnyFucker · 20/05/2009 21:26

omg, I don't know how I have missed these books

she seems a very varied author

Original poster
Overmydeadbody · 20/05/2009 21:24

Jux I haven't read those, you have inspired me to!

I also really enjoyed The Sweetest Dream, and couldn't put it down when I was reading it.

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Jux · 20/05/2009 21:19

I have read the Canopus in Argos quintet time after time and they're falling apart now. It's years since I read The Grass is Singing, but I reread The Good Terrorist about 5yrs ago (found it a bit irritating that time). I have read a few others 20-30 years ago.

Loved Mara and Dann. The woman is a genius.

Original poster
Overmydeadbody · 20/05/2009 21:19

Amazonsays about the fifth child:

'Listening to the laughter, the sounds of children playing, Harriet and David would reach for each other's hand, and smile, and breathe happiness.' Four children, a beautiful old house, the love of relatives and friends, Harriet and David Lovatt's life is a glorious hymn to domestic bliss and old-fashioned family values. But when their fifth child is born, a sickly and implacable shadow is cast over this tender idyll. Large and ugly, violent and uncontrollable, the infant Ben, 'full of cold dislike,' tears at Harriet's breast. Struggling to care for her new-born child, faced with a darkness and a strange defiance she has never known before, Harriet is deeply afraid of what, exactly, she has brought into the world

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Cammelia · 20/05/2009 21:10

Doris Lessing "The Good Terrorist" is one of my all time favourite books

Original poster
Overmydeadbody · 20/05/2009 21:09

I haven't read the Golden Notebook.

The Fifth Child is about a family, a seamingly perfect family, with four children, living the ideal life, when their fifth child is born and he is 'difficut' to say the least. Lessing creates him as a bit of a monster and the story i about the mother's struggle to love him and accept him and stuff. It is very sad.

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AnyFucker · 20/05/2009 21:07

what is the fifth child about ?

CHOOGIRL · 20/05/2009 21:07

Is it better than the Golden Notebook? I tried and tried with that one, but gave up in the end.

BigBellasBeerBelly · 20/05/2009 21:04

anyfucker i don't pick her books up because she is so famous and award winning and grown up I worry they will be too difficult for me.

That is even worse

Original poster
Overmydeadbody · 20/05/2009 21:03

AnyFucker I did that for ages too, just dismissed her books as I assumed they would be boring and old fashioned

Then I ran out of books and got desperate and read The Fifth Child, and form then on I was hooked.

She really is amazing. Her characters take over my life when I'm reading, and some stay with me long after I've finished the book.

I highly recommend her work. It is fairly easy to read and yet oh my God so engrossing.

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AnyFucker · 20/05/2009 21:00

wow

this will sound really shallow but when I see her books on the shelf in the library, I don't bother because her name seems so old-fashioned

silly ain't I