Rating: 
Summary: In the Shade, again
Review: After mentioning this book several times, and keeping us waiting, that she would fictionalize the whole theme and characters... came as a surprise. But then when you see how her series, Canopus in Argos, developed in a science fiction setting, you tend to understand that her best work , sometimes needs to come from a distance. That being said, this novel is a fulfillment of many loose threads, and themes that she, and we all, struggle and deal with in our own ways. Throughout her body of work, a life's work, she continues to keep her eyes open and focused on both the future, AND the past.
Rating: 
Summary: cumbersome is a good word
Review: but I wanted to finish it- I liked the characters - the comings and goings that politicals tend to attract. I wanted more development of some of the characters- this book has a huge cast! I really liked the idea of these homeless, wandering young people and the idea that there are people who would open their homes to them. good character studies here I think
Rating:
Summary: cumbersome is a good word
Review: but I wanted to finish it- I liked the characters - the comings and goings that politicals tend to attract. I wanted more development of some of the characters- this book has a huge cast! I really liked the idea of these homeless, wandering young people and the idea that there are people who would open their homes to them. good character studies here I think
Rating: 
Summary: Bloody Awful
Review: I found this novel to be cumbersome and uninspiring. There was not one likable character. I wanted to take Frances by the shoulders and shake some sense into her.
Rating:
Summary: Dreck From Doris
Review: I gave The Sweetest Dream ifour stars only because, compared to most fiction, it deserves it. But compared to the body of Lessing's work, it really rates a 2, or even a 1. Doris Lessing is my writing guru: for me, no other writer, past or present, comes as close to telling the truth about life and the universe as she does, and in a compelling way that sucks me in from the first paragraph. So for me to say that her latest book isn't so hot is pretty unusual. To tell the truth,
I'm getting the feeling that, since Lessing is getting on (she's in her 80s and not in such great health) her publishers are rummaging thru her files of ideas and character studies, asking her to fix up a transition here, an ending there, and creating books from scraps.It saddens me to watch my beloved Doris capping off a lifetime of superb literary output with this kind of dreck.
Rating: 
Summary: A great book , one of her best.
Review: IN THE SWEETEST DREAM the author creates an irresistible force. She objectively explores the confusion of swinging London`s post-WWII children as they boogie through the night in the 1960s and, exhausted, drift into pot-sweetened dreams before awakening a decade later to clean up the social mess left behind. She demonstrates how this decade was a different experience for men than for women. Lessing`s grasp of the issues and her political thrust prove remarkable. Lessing is 82.Her protoganist Frances Lennox cannot say no. An Earth Mother, she supports an extended family that includes drop-ins and drop-outs, while her loquacious, intellectual ex-husband, a speech leech, avoids family responsibility as he steals their food and lectures them on how to save the world. A journalist, Frances tolerates too much. Through her and Lessing`s other well-crafted characters we see the themes that disturb the author. Action sweeps forward to Africa, and back to the life of Frances`s mother-in-law in the 1930s. All the above is opposite to The American Dream. Doris Lessing unearths the vacuity of dreams that, sad to say, end up mocking us. This provocative novel probes passionately into its subject. Yet, its readability maintains around-the-kitchen-table accessibility.
Rating:
Summary: Should Our Dreams Ever End?
Review: It's the sixties and Frances Lennox and her two sons try to make the best of their situation, which requires that they live with her conservative mother-in-law, who is the German matriarch of this English family. Francis's ex-husband, who is a Communist rabble rouser, dumps his second wife's problem child Sylvia with Frances and she takes charge of the girl as if she were her own in this excellent and dramatic novel that takes you back to the tumultuous sixties. The book moves forward through two decades, reliving the politics of the times through the voices and views of Ms. Lessing's well drawn characters. A super story laced with satire.
Rating:
Summary: Compelling but needs editing
Review: Structured in two sections set in London and Africa, The Sweetest Dream is an interesting chronicle of the turmoil of western ideology in the post-World War era. Lessing bitterly attacks the dogmatic views on communism and justice held by leaderships which were soon forgotten when they rose to power. Instead, her heroines are women (Julia, Frances, Silvia) whose political positions are not so defined but who rise above their circumstances to provide care and support to those around them. The section set in Africa is particularly intense and vivid. On the other hand, plotwise the story meanders too much and often loses focus, specially in the 60's part. I got the feeling that the novel would have improved with better editing.
Rating:
Summary: truly fine, if a bit long-suffering
Review: This is a wonderful novel about an extended, 60s-style household: for one reason or another - damaged families, poverty, even laziness - people congregate to heal and party. There are two strong women at the center of it: a German immigrant and her daughter-in-law, whom her do-nothing, Marxist son abandoned. The reader follows all of their fates over a period of about 40 years, from war-torn London to a fictional developing country near S Africa. It is vivid and moves very swiftly. The characters are extremely well developed and exist in a kind of static balance even as they change and grow: there is always at least one angry and presumptuous taker, one giving and loving soul who is saving someone, one person healing and ready to move into a do-gooder role themselves. Etc. When one leaves the nest, another seems to take her place in rapid succession, and most of them tend to return as if to their own families. The balance of personalities is well thought out and realistic. What distinguishes this novel from those that are similar is that, rather than romanticizing the characters, Lessing is simply relentless in showing their shortcomings and limitations. Fate does not deal kindly with any of the characters, though some (not necessarily the nice ones) do better than others; the evil ones rarely get theirs, though they lead rather sad lives, and the good ones must struggle very hard just to tread water. Lessing is also very hard on all the ideologies that are floating through the plot: she goes after communists, hippies, feminists, the internationalist development elite, journalists, and even Third World leaders. In other words, there are no simple answers; instead, the questions just get tougher. While there is a lot of humor in this, it is very dense, a kind of reverse history of idealism, showcasing the self-serving egotism that underlies the motives of virtually all the characters. What is amazing is how well it succeeds in bringing these ideas to life through the characters, though I found the second half of the book, much of which takes place in Africa, less strong than the first half. Finally, the people are all extremely English. This means that there are many levels to read the book on, with subtexts implied rather than stated outright. Far more tedious than that is the patience of those suffering or being taken advantage of: I wondered what martyr complex led them to tolerate real jerks who turned around and betrayed them in horrendously destructive, cruel, and selfish ways. (I would have kicked them out without a thought.) That is the only tedious bit in this truly fine novel. Warmly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: A great book , one of her best.
Review: This is one of her best books. It's like The Golden Notebook meets The Good Terorrist. Her right-on observations of how people behave has never been more true. Some of the characters are really evil, just like real life. Some of her characters are good, no matter what; like real life. She is one of the best writers ever and this is her best book in years. People who think this is not a good Lessing book simply haven't been paying attention. She is still an astonishing writer.
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