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“Novel set in London in the Eighties. A group of young communists move into a squat and start preparing for terrorism. Told from the point of view of Alice, a seemingly competent but unstable woman who acts as a surrogate mother for the group.
TheophileEscargot wrote this review Monday, June 29 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
This time, Lessing reminds me a little bit of John Updike in the fascinating details of setting up the house, how to clear a concreted-up toilet bowl, and the claustrophobic relationships between the characters.
Acutely observed. A compelling read despite the lack of action, as the tension builds, and the consquences of Alice's actions unfold.
Seems to have become a minor classic: well worth reading.
”
“A novel not about a terrorist but someone desparately trying to find relevance and meaning in her life. I first read this when it was part of the short-lived Book Club of the Air on Talk of the Nation.”
Amy M wrote this review Wednesday, October 29 2008. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
1 of 1 members found this review helpful“Doris Lessing has just won the Nobel Prize for literature. Curious, I decided to give this book a try (I don't believe it is the one that won the prize, but it caught my eye).
Robert H wrote this review Tuesday, August 26 2008. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
Having read it, there are a couple of observations:
First: Don't read the back cover. It tells you everything that happens, and nothing about the book. The entire book loses any chance to surprise if you read the back cover summary first.
Second: I can see why Doris Lessing is highly acclaimed.
And third: ... But I don't think I'll be reading any other of her books.
The characters she creates feel completely, utterly, and unquestionably real. In fact, having read the book, I am half convinced that some people I know must have been squatters once. She certainly manages to capture a very complete, rich and genuine atmosphere in her writing, down to the smallest character details. Perhaps because they are so real, the story does not have a set plot, and develops sometimes in surprising directions, never quite leaving the characters to be in full control of their own fate.
That said, I could not stand a single one of the characters, and wanted them all to die horribly. Not because they were communist, nor even because they were self-contradictory communists. No, it's their mixture of arrogance, selective blindness and prejudice that makes these characters so difficult to bear. Sure, they are all messed up and not quite right in the head. But they are also willingly stupid.
In amongst these arrogant, hypocritical wannabe-revolutionaries lives Alice, hero of the story. 30 years old, but having the mental maturity of a 14-year-old, she has talents for organising stuff / making things work, and single-handedly turns a hellhole of a house into something even middle class people can imagine themselves living in. She also has almost supernatural abilities to read people and body language. Which makes her easily the most competent person in this book, if it weren't for her selective memory and tendency to self-delude, along with almost inexplicable rage and hatred that overwhelms her frequently.
For the vast majority of its pages, this book deals with Alice slowly transforming the house, and with the strange, changing community that inhabits it. Clearly, this book is not written for thriller readers or light reading on a holiday.
All in all, a masterly writing effort, which is almost unreadable for me because there is only so much time I'm willing to spend in the imaginary company of these vile people that inhabit the pages, and because it is too real to be entertaining. Well, and because the cover promised humour, wit, and a dramatic plot, when the actual story has nothing I could find funny, and nothing that entertained me. ”
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