Lessing - a women's woman?

This week I have mostly been reading… Doris Lessing’s The Golden Notebook. And it’s nothing if not a good door stop. At 575 pages (in my edition at any rate) it’s a whopper of a read, and certainly not one to be undertaken if you’re feeling even a little bit sleepy. That said, it has to be one of my favourite novels; apparently it’s one of Barack Obama’s too, which gives me a certain feeling of superiority when ploughing through its complex narrative layers.

The book’s intricate structure is one of its most original features. The central character, Anna Wulf – single mother, political activist and writer with writer’s block - documents her life in a series of four notebooks. First, the black notebook, written about her experiences living in Africa as World War II began, the events of which inspire a best-selling novel whose royalties she lives off; second, the red notebook, which discusses her involvement with the Communist party and her political life; third, the yellow notebook, which is her ongoing work on a story with its own plot and characters; and finally the blue notebook which serves as a diary for her personal thoughts. These sections are interspersed by sections called ‘Free Women’ (an irony in itself), and it only becomes clear at the end that these parts too are Anna’s voice. The four notebooks are finally brought together in the golden notebook.

Sounds complicated? It is. I found myself constantly referring to previous notebooks in order to work out what was going on. Fortunately, Lessing flawlessly links the different aspects of Anna’s life and presents them as both complimenting and conflicting each other. The entire novel is framed by an undertone of Anna’s dubious sanity, and her visits to her analyst, Mother Sugar, reveal deep-seated problems. Whilst many see The Golden Notebook as a feminist work, there are many aspects of it that are not particularly female-based. There is a very political message too, and Anna’s decision to leave The Party towards the end of the novel symbolises the collapse of the Left at this time. Yes, there are women musing about needing a man, but this shouldn’t be off-putting to any male readers. Lessing’s stark, shocking writing about confronting yourself will appeal to anyone.

This is arguably Lessing’s most revered work, and rightly so. Its dealing with feminine domesticity leading to madness was seen as incredibly revolutionary when it was published in 1962, not to mention Lessing’s almost blasé referencing of periods and the female orgasm at a time when such subjects were taboo. The novel gives a real sense of the political movement in 1950s Britain, along with a brief glimpse of Central Africa in the Forties. Time, place and mood are effortlessly captured, and Anna’s observations of those around her open a reader’s eyes to inevitable social flaws present in all of us. Her destructive relationships finally culminate in her meeting Saul Green, an American with more than a few problems of his own…

It’s very difficult to write a convincing review of such a book in anything less than several thousand words. The Golden Notebook is a marathon of sex, insanity, motherhood, friendships, attempted suicide, an alcoholic wife, war, politics and growing up. I’d thoroughly recommend it, but put aside a week.