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ISBN:0060530103
Doris Lessing Genre Fiction English
Author: Doris Lessing
ISBN13: 978-0060530105
Title: The Grandmothers: Four Short Novels
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ePUB size: 1527 kb
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Language: English
Category: Genre Fiction
Publisher: Harper; 1 edition (January 6, 2004)
Pages: 320

The Grandmothers: Four Short Novels by Doris Lessing



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The Grandmothers book. The first two short novels contained almost zero character development (seriously, I could have interchanged any character's name with another and it would have been impossible to sense the difference) and both flirted with a type of sick, consensual incest that I have found to exist only in f Wow. I have just had the most unusual reading experience. For the first three novellas of this collection, The Grandmothers, I was huddled over in pain like the woman on the cover of this book.

The four pieces that make up The Grandmothers are masterpieces of artistry and intellect. Stunnin. howing Lessing’s trademark incisiveness. Winner of the 2007 Nobel Prize in Literature, Doris Lessing was one of the most celebrated and distinguished writers of our time, the recipient of a host of international awards. She wrote more than thirty books-among them the novels Martha Quest, The Golden Notebook, and The Fifth Child.

The Grandmothers: Four Short Novels. The Grandmothers - Doris Lessing.

The Grandmothers: Four Short Novels is collection of four short stories published in 2003 by 2007 Nobel laureate Doris Lessing. The 2013 Australian-French film Adore (alternatively known as Adoration; previously known as Two Mothers and Perfect Mothers) is based on the story The Grandmothers. The director Anne Fontaine said Lessing told her when they met, that it was based on a true story that took place in a small community in Australia.

A path wandered up through shrubs, coming to a stop in Baxter’s Gardens, and one afternoon six people were making the gentle ascent, four adults and two little girls, whose shrieks of pleasure echoed the noises of the gulls. Two handsome men came first, not young, but only malice could call them middle-aged. The little girls, clamouring for the beach, which was down a rocky path, were told by their grandmothers, and then their fathers, to behave and play nicely. They squatted and made patterns with fingers and little sticks in the dust. Pretty little girls: so they should be with such good-looking progenitors.

And now surely these four remaining, the women and their sons, should say something, elucidate, make things clear? Not a word. Pinched, diminished, darkened, they sat on, and then at last one spoke.

The grandmothers - Victoria and the Staveneys - The reason for it - A love child. Books for People with Print Disabilities. Internet Archive Books. Uploaded by sf-loadersive. org on August 29, 2011.

Not as wonderful as some of her works, but very enjoyable. LibraryThing members' description.

With the four short novels in this collection, Doris Lessing once again proves that she is unrivalled in her ability to capture the truth of the human condition.

The Grandmothers

Two women, close friends, fall in love with each other's teenage sons, and these passions last for years, until the women end them, promising a respectable old age.

Victoria and the Staveneys

A poor black girl has a baby with the son of a liberal middle-class family and finds that her little girl is slowly being absorbed into the world of white privilege and becoming estranged from her.

The Reason for It

Certain to appeal to fans of Shikasta and Memoirs of a Survivor, it describes the birth, flourishing, and decline of a culture long, long ago, but with many modern echoes.

A Love Child

A soldier in World War II, during the dangerous voyage to India around the Cape, falls in love on shore leave and remains convinced that a love child resulted from the wartime romance.

Reviews: 7
Zulkigis
Recently I re-read "The Reason For It," one of four novellas in The Grandmothers, a collection by Doris Lessing.
It's the only one of the four in the style Lessing began writing later in life, dubbed "space fiction" by her, though most people, of course, call it science fiction. Her first foray into this genre was the five-volume Canopus in Argos series, by which time she'd published dozens of realistic novels and short stories.

In The Reason For It a government representative, the equivalent of one of our senators, realizes as he nears death the mistake that he and his co-representatives made by appointing DeRod their president many years ago. They had believed his amiability signalled great kindness, but now he sees that DeRod is what he calls "feeble minded." As he describes President DeRod who he can, at last, see clearly, he sounds exactly like someone who voted for a president based on his charm, his looks, his affability. Now he sees that the man they chose to rule their region is an incompetent idiot who never understood the senators' complaints, and who was surrounded by people who covered up for his stupidity. During his reign the infrastructure fell into disrepair, schools stopped teaching anything meaningful, resulting in a shortage of labor...and so forth. It's our world, people!

I adore this story, though the style is more emotionally detached than Lessing's realistic fiction. I can see what might make a brilliant author turn to dry story-telling, a "just the facts, ma'am" kind of delivery. Much of Lessing's work centers on upcoming planetary apocalypse, and she may have adopted space fiction out of desparation to get her message through. Perhaps she thought that, ironically, by removing all literary flourishes from her prose, the message would stand out in stark reality more than it does with literary realism.

The Reason For It is brilliant, as are the other three novellas; however, the title novella, The Grandmothers, stands uniquely alone. In it, this ninety-something author explores the sexual relationship between each of two best friends with the other one's adult son. Realistic indeed--and the most radical erotica you're likely to read anywhere.
Qumenalu
I was on a United flight when I happened upon this lovely movie. The book is actually better than the movie I think. Perhaps because some of the movie was a little confusing and maybe even a little hard to understand the relationship between two middle aged women and their sons evolving into a sexual relationship.

The book better explains this part and fills in the holes within the story including what happens next....
Rageseeker
What is interesting about the story (The Grandmothers) compared to the film (Two Mothers) is how sparse the story is. The film makes the sexual relation between the mothers and sons quite explicit, and it also gives more depth of personality to the mother played by Robin Wright in the film. In other words, the personalities are explored a bit more. The story, on the other hand, has a bit more about Australia itself, what this cove might mean to these people. In the movie, you barely realize that the setting is Australia, whereas in the story this seems to me a major point. I have to admit that I found both the film and novella to be engaging and interesting
Macill
Doris Lessing is a gifted and subversive writer. Don't miss the movie version of The Grandmothers called "Adore," with Robin Wright. Women over a certain age with much, much younger men was never more beautifully done.
Bluddefender
This was a shocking book to read. The plot was not run of the mill though quite believable. Her characters, especially the women, are very strong, though the boys hold their own.
Micelhorav
The book was all telling, no showing. I didn't connect with any of the characters in any of the stories. The author has a way of weaving words together that's incredibly beautiful, but they lack the power that comes with emotional connection.
Anen
I found the first story a little hard to believe and rather bizarre. I really enjoyed the others. Ms Lessing really draws me into the story. I am not sure what will happen. Her stories are very compelling. I highly recommend this book
Doris Lessing has always been a fantastic writer. However, this book of novellas, like her other works, show the tedium at which she sometimes writes.
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