{TEXTBOOK} Under My Skin: Volume One of My Autobiography, to 1949

UNDER MY SKIN: VOLUME ONE OF MY AUTOBIOGRAPHY, TO 1949 PDF, EPUB, EBOOK

Visiting the past is revisiting the trap, one that she found herself so nearly caught by. And she shrinks away from its walls even as she recalls them. Shrinking away is not the best artistic posture; she is much better now and then when she bursts into full-throated rage. Otherwise, there are a few moments of unclouded evocation--the beauty and freedom of the African back lands, the quiet rhythm of a farm day--but they quickly cloud over. She attempts to portray the neighboring families they knew, but she wards them off by naming them. Her boarding schools are recounted at a numb distance; so is her marriage to a young and rising civil servant. She played the competent, cheerfully quirky young colonial wife and mother to the point of madness. Her husband and children are present but impalpable, as if the scandal and pain of walking out, moving across a stuffy little colonial capital and going to live with artists and leftists were the exchange of matter for anti-matter, with no connection between them, even that of memory. Only imagination--in her fiction--would make a bridge. Toward the end, before she emigrates to England and her literary career, she, Gottfried Lessing and their baby would occasionally picnic with her first family, but she tells it as if two sets of ghosts were sharing the tea cakes. Hot Property. About Us. A life well lived. Mar 23, Laura rated it it was amazing. I've been in a Doris Lessing state of mind since fall , and thankfully I have plenty of work still ahead of me. I read her out loud to Andy. And I wrestle with the decisions she made in her young life in Southern Rhodesia; abandoning her two young children to join the Communist Party, blithely entering into another loveless marriage, having a child with that man while continuing to have affairs, and then leaving with that child for Britain. I fear that she had to do those things to escape a society that was intellectually barren and oppressively racist. And what does that say about the choices we must make now? Apr 18, Lynne rated it liked it Shelves: , biography. I wish I were more familiar with Lessing's many other works. She won the Nobel Prize in It would be useful to see how the raw material of one's life is crafted into art. In this autobiography, she frequently notes which stories or novels are based on certain episodes or people she knew growing up in Rhodesia. She is writing this as an older woman, so either she kept a good journal of her early years as a writer, Communist, mother, and free thinker, part of a white minority in the country t I wish I were more familiar with Lessing's many other works. She is writing this as an older woman, so either she kept a good journal of her early years as a writer, Communist, mother, and free thinker, part of a white minority in the country that would be come Zimbabwe I really wished for more of a story. As Lessing herself observed, "Every novel is a story, but a life isn't one, more of a sprawl of incidents. Dec 09, Andrea rated it really liked it Shelves: africa , memoir. I don't agree with Lessing about everything, nor do I like everything she has written. With that disclaimer, I feel free to say that this is a great memoir. From her early life as a child of white immigrants to "Northern Rhodesia" to her life in South Africa first as a fairly conventional wife and mother and later as a divorced, remarried communist activist, Lessing is honest, witty and thoughtful. Interesting insights into the time period and also into the life of an extraordinary woman. Sep 16, Dierdre Milin rated it it was amazing. Doris Lessing is brutally honest and tells her story with anger, pride, and great wit. I have loved her writtings for so long and was taken aback at the decisions she has made in her life. I was almost disappointed in her but years after reading the book can look back and think wow what a couragous woman for telling her tale. The great strength of the first volume of Lessing's autobiography is that she's reflecting from 60 years on, and brings substantial perspective to the historical currents she lived through in midth-century Africa Rhodesia. She's uber-dark, and very critical. Really interesting person. It bogs down a bit in the second half Mar 15, Keith rated it really liked it. Mar 14, Jane added it. Found the first three quarters fascinating. The profound effects of WWI on multiple generations. The build up to WWII resonates with present political and cultural events. Got a bit bored during her communist phase towards the end. Feb 02, What Possessed Me rated it it was ok. Terrifying woman. Angry, angry. Feb 06, Cheryll rated it it was ok. I like Doris Lessing's novels but this memoir was disappointing. Aug 23, Uli Vogel rated it it was amazing. I recommend any woman should read this. It's amazing how Doris Lessing steps into the mind and motivations of her younger self at any stage of her life. Autobiographies are always a reflection on the past and reliant on the untrustworthy servant of memory. Lessing takes advantage of her skill as a novellist to enter the mind of herself as she was when a child and then a young woman. There can be few accounts that are so vivid of a time between the two world wars of the twentieth century and during the second one long past and place southern Rhodesia changed forever. Although the reader is always aware of Lessing the writer considering her li Autobiographies are always a reflection on the past and reliant on the untrustworthy servant of memory. Although the reader is always aware of Lessing the writer considering her life, the raw emotions and descriptions come from the younger woman and child. The sharpness of the memories is explained in part by her consideration of time as actually experienced. She notes that the story of a life written in these terms would result in seventy percent of the book taking you to age ten and ninety-five percent to age thirty, after which there is the "rush towards eternity. Although she was only starting her career as a novellist at that time, these years were clearly of crucial importance to her view of the world and future development. Feb 05, Maeve rated it it was ok Shelves: two-stars , reads. Doris Lessing is a good writer, but I don't think I would have liked her very much. Some parts of this were super boring, and others interesting. This was required reading in one of my classes. Jun 12, Abigail Smith rated it liked it. A very grudging 3 stars, as I couldn't help but admire her writing style, while increasingly disliking her character as it was portrayed. Mar 23, Gabriel Perlin rated it it was amazing. An excellent autobiography by a strong and fascinating author. Mar 27, Sy DeMaya added it. Apr 20, Barbara Phi rated it it was amazing Shelves: books-read-in A fascinating journey into the life, and under the skin of a fascinating life. Feb 18, Skye rated it really liked it. My interest was piqued when a writer mentioned that Doris Lessing was one of the authors she read when she was young. This book was interesting from the start. But shit got real when she became a Communist. I have never read about non-asian people becoming communist, the process and the reasoning behind it all. Needless to say I was fascinated from there on. Definitely going to check out more of her work, and also more about the experience of communism etc. She also writes beautifully, her storie My interest was piqued when a writer mentioned that Doris Lessing was one of the authors she read when she was young. She also writes beautifully, her stories poetic and poignant. Like many writers, she was a voracious reader and wrote religiously. It would be interesting to seek out what she mentioned reading and read them on my own. These include Keats poetry, Viriginia Woolfe whom I adore and more. Apr 25, Callie rated it it was amazing. Doris Lessing is one of my favorite writers. Tippy top of my list. So of course her autobiography did not disappoint. She is quite simply a heavyweight--she writes candidly about her fraught relationship with her mother, her somewhat casual marriages, her affairs. I loved her writing about Communism. So fascinating. Why she joined the Communist party, why she became disaffected. She is always forthright, never pulls any punches and is also able to look outside herself and be fair to those she en Doris Lessing is one of my favorite writers. She is always forthright, never pulls any punches and is also able to look outside herself and be fair to those she encounters--tries to accurately represent their perspective. She is purely British in this autobiography always writing to serve the reader and not herself. There is nothing of the self-aggrandizing, whiny, self-obsessed, navel-gazing writing that characterizes so much of contemporary memoir and biography. Can't wait for volume 2! And now for some quotes: "No writer can come up with anything as merciless as what Life Itself, that savage satirist, does every day. There must be some psychological law that determines this, which has nothing or little to do with reason, with the rational level of a person. I did ordinary undemanding letters, easy documents. Apr 27, Bunny rated it really liked it. Although I felt the narrative of this autobiography was a little dry thus the 4 stars rather an 5 , it is an engrossing history a life spent in Southern Rhodesia. Lessing had the awareness many of us certainly me lack of the many contradictions of British white life in black Africa. From her early life as a child of white Why would an author wish to write her autobiography? Lessing asks this question of herself at a time when she was aware that at least five writers were engaged in searching out aspects of her During her two marriages, she submitted short fiction and poetry for publication. Under My Skin: Volume One of My Autobiography, to by Doris Lessing

Throughout the book, Lessing regularly takes the time to link key people and incidents in her life to the characters and events in her fiction. View all 24 comments. I was reading to save my life. We would leave it at that for some readers to reflect and focus on the next one which looks simple. However, we could not help wondering how with a possible gesture of doubt or disbelief. Thus, we should have a look at what and how she read from this excerpt: … I was reading poetry, chanting — silently as it were under my breath — lines of Eliot, of Yeats, like mantra. I read Proust, who sustained me because his world was so utterly unlike anything around me. Reading could be our consolation to the mind from those who know, that is, they keep encouraging us calmly without any harsh word or tone. Whenever we become tired of reading, we naturally leave it anywhere we want and continue as soon as we wish. These sentences are quite rarely heard or read anywhere, we can accept them for granted, at face value, and think they look simple with their own meanings. Therefore, reading for some unique sentences or even words would be satisfactorily sufficient for those who love reading. Arranged chronologically, there are twelve pages of thirty black-and-white photographs in which, I think, its readers would not help admiring them since each of them could rightly and aptly supplement her narratives with our understanding and imagination. View all 15 comments. Sep 29, Eleanor rated it really liked it Shelves: books , biography-memoir. She sees herself and others so clearly and is so honest about herself, that it is hard to see much point in someone writing her biography. Early in the book she discusses the problems of telling the truth about other people in her life: "I have known not a few of the famous, and even one or two of the great, but I do not believe it is the duty of friends, lovers, comrades, to tell all. The older I get the more secrets I have, never to be revealed and this, I know, is a common condition of people She sees herself and others so clearly and is so honest about herself, that it is hard to see much point in someone writing her biography. The older I get the more secrets I have, never to be revealed and this, I know, is a common condition of people my age. She has lived a rich, complex, creative and fulfilling life, which is fascinating for itself, and also for how she wove her experiences into her novels. And beside all that, I just liked Doris Lessing so much! View all 22 comments. Jan 27, Deea rated it really liked it Shelves: nobel. View 2 comments. Feb 03, Scott rated it it was amazing. After Lessing won her Nobel, I began reading her work, as well as whatever interviews and videos were available. I loved the straightforward way she told her stories, I liked the intelligence she put into them, and I appreciated the scope and breadth of her oeuvre. When I learned that she had a two-volume autobiography published I pick it up immediately. It is as frank and enjoyable as you would ever hope it to be. It was fascinating for me to read the story of a proper young girl who would late After Lessing won her Nobel, I began reading her work, as well as whatever interviews and videos were available. It was fascinating for me to read the story of a proper young girl who would later grow up to be a world-renowned author and Nobel laureate. Lessing always tells her story with honesty and candor, sparing no details and taking no victims. I haven't started on her second volume yet, but after the first one I feel like I know her quite well, and have infinite respect for her as an artist. She writes with a non-nonsense intellectualism that stands out in world literature. Read her. Jun 05, Will rated it it was amazing Shelves: favorites , britain , memoir. It's indicative of how over-stuffed and self-indulgent this book is that chapter nine, page , begins: "My fourteenth was a make or break year. And yet Doris Lessing is always interesting, never boring, though she certainly takes her time remembering everything she ever did or said over her entire childhood. Jan 04, Vi rated it it was amazing Shelves: biography. One of the best biographies I've ever read. Lessing is not only one of the great writers in English of the 20th century, she is certainly also one of the most vivid. Highly recommended, and especially if you don't usually read autobiographies. Jul 14, Rachel Hirstwood rated it it was amazing. This autobiography feels very honest by the Nobel Laureate author, Doris Lessing. I have only read one book by Lessing before - the Golden Notebook - which I absolutely loved. And I remember as I read that, I thought, I bet this woman has had a life that is really interesting. It seems my prediction was right. I am amazed how often I read something that made me think - that's just how I felt as a child, as a teenager and as a young adult. While my life is in no way especially similar to Lessing's This autobiography feels very honest by the Nobel Laureate author, Doris Lessing. While my life is in no way especially similar to Lessing's, I really identified with her. I wish I could sit down and have a really long chat with her, as she wishes she could chat with Granny Fisher not sure I've got the name right. A couple of lines really rang out loud and clear to me: "Is there such a thing as a gene for the condition, being born with a skin too few" p I totally know that feeling! And almost at the end of the book she talks of how life would have been different if she had been alone in London's Soho: ""I can too easily see myself, again drinking too much, as I had hardly done at all since and the end of my first marriage. And then I would be in love with one of those painters and poets. Not beecause they were glamerous, but because they were lost souls. I recommend this for anyone interested in the post WW1 period, in Africa's history, communism in the forties or who has been impressed by Lessing's work and status as Nobel Laureate. And everyone else may find something in there too View 1 comment. Nov 24, Bryan Murphy rated it it was amazing. It was a happy chance that this came into my hands, [thanks again to the splendid municipal libraries of Turin, Italy], for I am rarely tempted by autobiographies or biographies. Usually, the single subject gets boring. Lessing is different: there is not a dull moment in this book. For anybody who has lived in post-colonial Africa, her portrayal of colonial Africa is a revelation: an evoca It was a happy chance that this came into my hands, [thanks again to the splendid municipal libraries of Turin, Italy], for I am rarely tempted by autobiographies or biographies. For anybody who has lived in post-colonial Africa, her portrayal of colonial Africa is a revelation: an evocation of a lost world that will make you both sick and sympathetic to the people, not to their pretensions. The book is marvellously written; it offers a stream of insights into life, the universe s and everyone; but it suffers from a flaw built into the medium of autobiography: the writer acts as judge, jury and presenter of all the evidence. Lessing attempts a brutal frankness; at times she seems too harsh on her young self for not having had the hindsight and maturity of the grown woman. But when she explains how she abandoned her first two children in a vain search for freedom and her self, and when she states that she later deliberately got pregnant again to pass the time before divorcing her second husband, you cannot but wonder about the judgements you have been endorsing with a kind of delight for hundreds of pages. Nevertheless, this is a book that anyone who lived in the midth century, or is curious about it, will be glad to have read. Nov 22, O. Melling rated it it was amazing. Brilliant, as to be expected from such a writer. I was enthralled by her childhood, her battles with her mother, her tragic memories of her father and WWI, her general statements on life et al. Like others who have commented here, I found the least interesting part to be her political activities with the Communist Party in south Africa. What a basically useless group of intellectuals, doing so little to protest apartheid itself and thinking they were of importance! And no mention of black radica Brilliant, as to be expected from such a writer. And no mention of black radicalism or leaders. Pretty shocked by her abandonment of her first two children, but not surprising given her own emotionally fraught beginnings. It's interesting that the kind of people who would have castigated her brutally for this are able to accept men doing the same thing with much less if any criticism. In many ways, she behaved like a man throughout her life, fighting to be true to herself as opposed to giving in to the demands of others. Daughters, wives and mothers are under constant pressure to put their own needs second. She battled that inequity from start to finish. A life well lived. Mar 23, Laura rated it it was amazing. I've been in a Doris Lessing state of mind since fall , and thankfully I have plenty of work still ahead of me. I read her out loud to Andy. And I wrestle with the decisions she made in her young life in Southern Rhodesia; abandoning her two young children to join the Communist Party, blithely entering into another loveless marriage, having a child with that man while continuing to have affairs, and then leaving with that child for Britain. I fear that she had to do those things to escape a society that was intellectually barren and oppressively racist. And what does that say about the choices we must make now? Apr 18, Lynne rated it liked it Shelves: , biography. I wish I were more familiar with Lessing's many other works. She won the Nobel Prize in It would be useful to see how the raw material of one's life is crafted into art. In this autobiography, she frequently notes which stories or novels are based on certain episodes or people she knew growing up in Rhodesia. She is writing this as an older woman, so either she kept a good journal of her early years as a writer, Communist, mother, and free thinker, part of a white minority in the country t I wish I were more familiar with Lessing's many other works. She is writing this as an older woman, so either she kept a good journal of her early years as a writer, Communist, mother, and free thinker, part of a white minority in the country that would be come Zimbabwe I really wished for more of a story. As Lessing herself observed, "Every novel is a story, but a life isn't one, more of a sprawl of incidents. Dec 09, Andrea rated it really liked it Shelves: africa , memoir. I don't agree with Lessing about everything, nor do I like everything she has written. With that disclaimer, I feel free to say that this is a great memoir. From her early life as a child of white immigrants to "Northern Rhodesia" to her life in South Africa first as a fairly conventional wife and mother and later as a divorced, remarried communist activist, Lessing is honest, witty and thoughtful. Interesting insights into the time period and also into the life of an extraordinary woman. Sep 16, Dierdre Milin rated it it was amazing. Doris Lessing is brutally honest and tells her story with anger, pride, and great wit. I have loved her writtings for so long and was taken aback at the decisions she has made in her life. I was almost disappointed in her but years after reading the book can look back and think wow what a couragous woman for telling her tale. The great strength of the first volume of Lessing's autobiography is that she's reflecting from 60 years on, and brings substantial perspective to the historical currents she lived through in midth-century Africa Rhodesia. She's uber-dark, and very critical. Really interesting person. It bogs down a bit in the second half Mar 15, Keith rated it really liked it. Mar 14, Jane added it. Found the first three quarters fascinating. The profound effects of WWI on multiple generations. The build up to WWII resonates with present political and cultural events. Got a bit bored during her communist phase towards the end. Feb 02, What Possessed Me rated it it was ok. Terrifying woman. Angry, angry. Feb 06, Cheryll rated it it was ok. I like Doris Lessing's novels but this memoir was disappointing. Aug 23, Uli Vogel rated it it was amazing. I recommend any woman should read this. It's amazing how Doris Lessing steps into the mind and motivations of her younger self at any stage of her life. Autobiographies are always a reflection on the past and reliant on the untrustworthy servant of memory. Lessing takes advantage of her skill as a novellist to enter the mind of herself as she was when a child and then a young woman. There can be few accounts that are so vivid of a time between the two world wars of the twentieth century and during the second one long past and place southern Rhodesia changed forever. Although the reader is always aware of Lessing the writer considering her li Autobiographies are always a reflection on the past and reliant on the untrustworthy servant of memory. Although the reader is always aware of Lessing the writer considering her life, the raw emotions and descriptions come from the younger woman and child. The sharpness of the memories is explained in part by her consideration of time as actually experienced. She notes that the story of a life written in these terms would result in seventy percent of the book taking you to age ten and ninety-five percent to age thirty, after which there is the "rush towards eternity. Although she was only starting her career as a novellist at that time, these years were clearly of crucial importance to her view of the world and future development. Feb 05, Maeve rated it it was ok Shelves: two-stars , reads. Doris Lessing is a good writer, but I don't think I would have liked her very much. Some parts of this were super boring, and others interesting. This was required reading in one of my classes. Jun 12, Abigail Smith rated it liked it. A very grudging 3 stars, as I couldn't help but admire her writing style, while increasingly disliking her character as it was portrayed. Mar 23, Gabriel Perlin rated it it was amazing. An excellent autobiography by a strong and fascinating author. Works by Doris Lessing. Under My Skin Alfred and Emily. Hidden categories: Use dmy dates from December Articles with short description Short description is different from Wikidata Articles needing additional references from March All articles needing additional references All stub articles. Namespaces Article Talk. Views Read Edit View history. Help Learn to edit Community portal Recent changes Upload file. Download as PDF Printable version. Add links. Under My Skin (book) - Wikipedia

Lessing asks this question of herself at a time when she was aware that at least five writers were engaged in searching out aspects of her During her two marriages, she submitted short fiction and poetry for publication. She died on November 17, at the age of Doris Lessing. This first part of Doris Lessing's autobiography covers her African childhood and youth, her involvement in communist politics, and her departure for England and a new life. It is a self-portrait of a woman who lived through an extraordinary time, the end of the British Empire in Africa. A decade older than Lessing, Frank was a member of a sports club she frequented, and he, too, was involved in the progressive political scene that attracted her. Her eldest son, John Wisdom, would later tell her that although he understood the reasons for her leaving, he nevertheless resented her having done so. Lessing supplies a number of explanations for this second marriage. The two were the only unpaired members in their political circle, so they more or less fell together by default, she says. She describes the rigid and orderly Gottfried dispassionately, as she would a character in one of her novels. Lessing acknowledges that he was a generous and mostly reasonable man, albeit one with little tolerance for the subjects that engaged her: psychology, psychoanalysis, and the world of dreams, myths, and fairy tales. He sounds like quite a trial: a humourless, dry stick of a man, a number of whose traits might have placed him on the autism spectrum were he alive today. Whatever led to the marriage, both Gottfried and Doris knew going in that they would eventually divorce. I do, too. Looking back, Lessing concludes that she was more or less fulfilling a biological imperative. Ultimately, though, she had her tubes tied, which she acknowledges was one of the smartest things she ever did. I felt that I got only an impressionistic sense of her thinking during that period. Possibly she could not clearly recall what she was thinking as a young woman. Perhaps she felt her fiction, especially the novels in the Children of Violence series and The Golden Notebook, had already done an adequate job exploring or exposing the truth of those times. Throughout the book, Lessing regularly takes the time to link key people and incidents in her life to the characters and events in her fiction. View all 24 comments. I was reading to save my life. We would leave it at that for some readers to reflect and focus on the next one which looks simple. However, we could not help wondering how with a possible gesture of doubt or disbelief. Thus, we should have a look at what and how she read from this excerpt: … I was reading poetry, chanting — silently as it were under my breath — lines of Eliot, of Yeats, like mantra. I read Proust, who sustained me because his world was so utterly unlike anything around me. Reading could be our consolation to the mind from those who know, that is, they keep encouraging us calmly without any harsh word or tone. Whenever we become tired of reading, we naturally leave it anywhere we want and continue as soon as we wish. These sentences are quite rarely heard or read anywhere, we can accept them for granted, at face value, and think they look simple with their own meanings. Therefore, reading for some unique sentences or even words would be satisfactorily sufficient for those who love reading. Arranged chronologically, there are twelve pages of thirty black-and-white photographs in which, I think, its readers would not help admiring them since each of them could rightly and aptly supplement her narratives with our understanding and imagination. View all 15 comments. Sep 29, Eleanor rated it really liked it Shelves: books , biography-memoir. She sees herself and others so clearly and is so honest about herself, that it is hard to see much point in someone writing her biography. Early in the book she discusses the problems of telling the truth about other people in her life: "I have known not a few of the famous, and even one or two of the great, but I do not believe it is the duty of friends, lovers, comrades, to tell all. The older I get the more secrets I have, never to be revealed and this, I know, is a common condition of people She sees herself and others so clearly and is so honest about herself, that it is hard to see much point in someone writing her biography. The older I get the more secrets I have, never to be revealed and this, I know, is a common condition of people my age. She has lived a rich, complex, creative and fulfilling life, which is fascinating for itself, and also for how she wove her experiences into her novels. And beside all that, I just liked Doris Lessing so much! View all 22 comments. Jan 27, Deea rated it really liked it Shelves: nobel. View 2 comments. Feb 03, Scott rated it it was amazing. After Lessing won her Nobel, I began reading her work, as well as whatever interviews and videos were available. I loved the straightforward way she told her stories, I liked the intelligence she put into them, and I appreciated the scope and breadth of her oeuvre. When I learned that she had a two-volume autobiography published I pick it up immediately. It is as frank and enjoyable as you would ever hope it to be. It was fascinating for me to read the story of a proper young girl who would late After Lessing won her Nobel, I began reading her work, as well as whatever interviews and videos were available. It was fascinating for me to read the story of a proper young girl who would later grow up to be a world-renowned author and Nobel laureate. Lessing always tells her story with honesty and candor, sparing no details and taking no victims. I haven't started on her second volume yet, but after the first one I feel like I know her quite well, and have infinite respect for her as an artist. She writes with a non-nonsense intellectualism that stands out in world literature. Read her. Jun 05, Will rated it it was amazing Shelves: favorites , britain , memoir. It's indicative of how over-stuffed and self-indulgent this book is that chapter nine, page , begins: "My fourteenth was a make or break year. And yet Doris Lessing is always interesting, never boring, though she certainly takes her time remembering everything she ever did or said over her entire childhood. Jan 04, Vi rated it it was amazing Shelves: biography. One of the best biographies I've ever read. Lessing is not only one of the great writers in English of the 20th century, she is certainly also one of the most vivid. Highly recommended, and especially if you don't usually read autobiographies. Jul 14, Rachel Hirstwood rated it it was amazing. This autobiography feels very honest by the Nobel Laureate author, Doris Lessing. I have only read one book by Lessing before - the Golden Notebook - which I absolutely loved. And I remember as I read that, I thought, I bet this woman has had a life that is really interesting. It seems my prediction was right. I am amazed how often I read something that made me think - that's just how I felt as a child, as a teenager and as a young adult. While my life is in no way especially similar to Lessing's This autobiography feels very honest by the Nobel Laureate author, Doris Lessing. While my life is in no way especially similar to Lessing's, I really identified with her. I wish I could sit down and have a really long chat with her, as she wishes she could chat with Granny Fisher not sure I've got the name right. A couple of lines really rang out loud and clear to me: "Is there such a thing as a gene for the condition, being born with a skin too few" p I totally know that feeling! And almost at the end of the book she talks of how life would have been different if she had been alone in London's Soho: ""I can too easily see myself, again drinking too much, as I had hardly done at all since and the end of my first marriage. And then I would be in love with one of those painters and poets. Not beecause they were glamerous, but because they were lost souls. I recommend this for anyone interested in the post WW1 period, in Africa's history, communism in the forties or who has been impressed by Lessing's work and status as Nobel Laureate. And everyone else may find something in there too View 1 comment. Nov 24, Bryan Murphy rated it it was amazing. It was a happy chance that this came into my hands, [thanks again to the splendid municipal libraries of Turin, Italy], for I am rarely tempted by autobiographies or biographies. Usually, the single subject gets boring. Lessing is different: there is not a dull moment in this book. For anybody who has lived in post-colonial Africa, her portrayal of colonial Africa is a revelation: an evoca It was a happy chance that this came into my hands, [thanks again to the splendid municipal libraries of Turin, Italy], for I am rarely tempted by autobiographies or biographies. For anybody who has lived in post-colonial Africa, her portrayal of colonial Africa is a revelation: an evocation of a lost world that will make you both sick and sympathetic to the people, not to their pretensions. The book is marvellously written; it offers a stream of insights into life, the universe s and everyone; but it suffers from a flaw built into the medium of autobiography: the writer acts as judge, jury and presenter of all the evidence. Lessing attempts a brutal frankness; at times she seems too harsh on her young self for not having had the hindsight and maturity of the grown woman. But when she explains how she abandoned her first two children in a vain search for freedom and her self, and when she states that she later deliberately got pregnant again to pass the time before divorcing her second husband, you cannot but wonder about the judgements you have been endorsing with a kind of delight for hundreds of pages. Nevertheless, this is a book that anyone who lived in the midth century, or is curious about it, will be glad to have read. Nov 22, O. Melling rated it it was amazing. Brilliant, as to be expected from such a writer. I was enthralled by her childhood, her battles with her mother, her tragic memories of her father and WWI, her general statements on life et al. Like others who have commented here, I found the least interesting part to be her political activities with the Communist Party in south Africa. What a basically useless group of intellectuals, doing so little to protest apartheid itself and thinking they were of importance! And no mention of black radica Brilliant, as to be expected from such a writer. And no mention of black radicalism or leaders. Pretty shocked by her abandonment of her first two children, but not surprising given her own emotionally fraught beginnings. It's interesting that the kind of people who would have castigated her brutally for this are able to accept men doing the same thing with much less if any criticism. In many ways, she behaved like a man throughout her life, fighting to be true to herself as opposed to giving in to the demands of others. Daughters, wives and mothers are under constant pressure to put their own needs second. She battled that inequity from start to finish. A life well lived. Mar 23, Laura rated it it was amazing. I've been in a Doris Lessing state of mind since fall , and thankfully I have plenty of work still ahead of me. I read her out loud to Andy. And I wrestle with the decisions she made in her young life in Southern Rhodesia; abandoning her two young children to join the Communist Party, blithely entering into another loveless marriage, having a child with that man while continuing to have affairs, and then leaving with that child for Britain. I fear that she had to do those things to escape a society that was intellectually barren and oppressively racist. And what does that say about the choices we must make now? Apr 18, Lynne rated it liked it Shelves: , biography. I wish I were more familiar with Lessing's many other works. She won the Nobel Prize in It would be useful to see how the raw material of one's life is crafted into art. In this autobiography, she frequently notes which stories or novels are based on certain episodes or people she knew growing up in Rhodesia. She is writing this as an older woman, so either she kept a good journal of her early years as a writer, Communist, mother, and free thinker, part of a white minority in the country t I wish I were more familiar with Lessing's many other works. She is writing this as an older woman, so either she kept a good journal of her early years as a writer, Communist, mother, and free thinker, part of a white minority in the country that would be come Zimbabwe I really wished for more of a story. As Lessing herself observed, "Every novel is a story, but a life isn't one, more of a sprawl of incidents. Dec 09, Andrea rated it really liked it Shelves: africa , memoir. I don't agree with Lessing about everything, nor do I like everything she has written. With that disclaimer, I feel free to say that this is a great memoir. From her early life as a child of white immigrants to "Northern Rhodesia" to her life in South Africa first as a fairly conventional wife and mother and later as a divorced, remarried communist activist, Lessing is honest, witty and thoughtful. Interesting insights into the time period and also into the life of an extraordinary woman. Sep 16, Dierdre Milin rated it it was amazing. Doris Lessing is brutally honest and tells her story with anger, pride, and great wit. I have loved her writtings for so long and was taken aback at the decisions she has made in her life. I was almost disappointed in her but years after reading the book can look back and think wow what a couragous woman for telling her tale. The great strength of the first volume of Lessing's autobiography is that she's reflecting from 60 years on, and brings substantial perspective to the historical currents she lived through in midth-century Africa Rhodesia. She's uber-dark, and very critical. Really interesting person. It bogs down a bit in the second half Mar 15, Keith rated it really liked it. Mar 14, Jane added it. Found the first three quarters fascinating. The profound effects of WWI on multiple generations. The build up to WWII resonates with present political and cultural events. Got a bit bored during her communist phase towards the end. Feb 02, What Possessed Me rated it it was ok. Terrifying woman. Angry, angry. Feb 06, Cheryll rated it it was ok. I like Doris Lessing's novels but this memoir was disappointing. Aug 23, Uli Vogel rated it it was amazing. I recommend any woman should read this. It's amazing how Doris Lessing steps into the mind and motivations of her younger self at any stage of her life. Autobiographies are always a reflection on the past and reliant on the untrustworthy servant of memory. Lessing takes advantage of her skill as a novellist to enter the mind of herself as she was when a child and then a young woman.

An Unfashionable Woman

Lessing is a remarkable novelist; the good stuff is there. It is not here. This is autobiography by reluctant extraction. No wonder. There is not much left for it. It is the slurry after the gold is panned; a clothes closet containing hangers, most of the garments having been taken out and worn out. She narrates with frequent elegance and pervading emptiness. Certainly there is material, and once in a while a phrase or a passage lights it up. Lessing was born in Persia, where her father worked for a British-owned bank. It was a life of some luxury, followed by a far more rigorous struggle homesteading on a Rhodesian farm. He married his nurse, an expansive woman with a love of books and music. Lessing wore himself out trying to make the farm pay; in a society of hard-bitten settlers, his wife missed the gentilities of the English middle class. From her early life as a child of white Why would an author wish to write her autobiography? Lessing asks this question of herself at a time when she was aware that at least five writers were engaged in searching out aspects of her During her two marriages, she submitted short fiction and poetry for publication. Namespaces Article Talk. Views Read Edit View history. Help Learn to edit Community portal Recent changes Upload file. Download as PDF Printable version. Add links.

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