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Rating: 
Summary: Very insightful view of ~20 yrs aft. 1945-people,politics,+
Review: For me, incredibly deep view of life in England approx 1945-mid 60's and the future. One of the books I would take to a desert island - I have read and reread it. I so appreciate her insights on politics, both left and right, families, relationships, schizophrenia and the mental health professions, growing up, peace movement, writers, and more. I've read it over 6 times, I would guess, and I keep finding fascinating insights. It is the 5th of a series, but stands on its own, tho reading the others is worthwhile and does add to your understanding of the main character. I recommend reading them spaced out, not one after the other, as she is a bit longwinded.
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Summary: Inspiring, liberating end to what is a heart rending series
Review: I don't know why Doris Lessing is classified as a feminist. Apparently, she didn't understand that herself. I view her as one of the greatest authors of the 20th Century and the best from the 2nd half. At the end of this book I attained a deep sense of liberation.
Rating:
Summary: Inspiring, liberating end to what is a heart rending series
Review: I don't know why Doris Lessing is classified as a feminist. Apparently, she didn't understand that herself. I view her as one of the greatest authors of the 20th Century and the best from the 2nd half. At the end of this book I attained a deep sense of liberation.
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Summary: My favorite of all of Lessing's works
Review: I liked this book best of all of her work and I've liked her work a lot. The first 4 books were all written well and Martha's story is worth the read. This was enjoyable to me because of her explorations of mental illness, the effect of the red scare on leftists, and the changes over time of those political trends, the evolution of Mark's family and how his Tory backround affected him and those around him. Really, this was very entertaining and full of insights into a difficult time and and has Lessing's usual acute knowledge of human nature.
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Summary: Very insightful view of ~20 yrs aft. 1945-people,politics,+
Review: I recently finished reading The Four-Gated City for the second time. It took a long time and was difficult to get through the novel this time. I found myself reluctant to throw myself into the experience, and this must reflect changes that have occurred in me since I read it the first time. The Four-Gated City is no facile 1960s novel that seems dated or naïve in retrospect. Although the world has managed to avoid the Apocalypse Lessing describes in the novel's appendix, as individuals, we do not manage to avoid falling into patterns that once seemed repulsive to us. Every middle-aged person is his or her own private Apocalypse. As Martha Quest discovers, it is often more appealing simply to watch television than to delve into the depths, especially since we all remember where the depths led when we tried to explore them when we were younger. As a passionate reader in my 20s, this novel offered a warning for what would happen if I did not remain committed (who knows to what?) above all costs. It was an invitation to nihilism: the act of commitment was always more important than the content or the cause. Like Martha, I fought against what I saw as reactionary elements in the environment as if fighting for my life. Any tool or tactic was fair. I was comforted when Doris Lessing seemed to understand the nature of these battles and what was at stake. As a reader now in my 40s, forces that seemed environmental have come home, as they do for Martha, to the place they belong-inner, not outer; part of the self, not part of the environment. In Lessing's view, crisis is growth, and mental illness is a symptom of our collective appalling lack of imagination. In the end, "we" is both individual and collective, just as Jung said it was. In The Four-Gated City, left politics does not save us, psychoanalysis does not save us, fortune-telling does not save us. Lessing only tells us, Zen-like, that the time is now and the place is here. However, it seems that that cannot possibly be true. Unlike ! the post-Apocalypse children, we have no capacity to know that things sometimes should be one way and sometimes another way. I do not know if I will read The Four-Gated City again; somehow, I do not think that I will. But the book will always stand somewhat sternly on my bookshelf to remind me what is possible and to urge me towards what is necessary.
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Summary: One of the best books I have ever read
Review: This book is the last (and the best) in The Children of Violence series. Doris Lessing is my favourite author and this book is a difficult (and big) one, but it is one of her best works. It changed my opinion about mental health, politics and science fiction. If you like Lessing you will love it.
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