‘The Golden Notebook’ by Doris Lessing

I'm not sure what prompted me to pick up this particular novel, perhaps it was that it has been featuring in numerous high fashion magazines of late, or alternatively I may have been attracted by the sheer size of it - it weighs in at a hefty 576 pages, not including the introduction or appendices, in squint-inducingly small print.

The Golden Notebook, which is considered by many to be Nobel Prize-winning nonagenarian Doris May Lessing's finest work, follows Anna Wulf, a young single mother and author grappling with writer's block in 1950s London. Wulf separates her writing between four different notebooks, each one colour-coded according to whether it details her writing life, political life, emotional life, or assorted everyday events. Eventually she learns not to bracket herself off in this way, and writes exclusively in the titular golden notebook.

I must admit that I am unsure how I should respond to this one. There is no denying the novel's ambition, which remains considerable throughout, and Lessing's abrasive wit is evident on every page. But did I really enjoy this book? In all honesty I'm not at all sure that I did. I certainly appreciate the boldness of it, in terms both structural and ideological, and it is important to acknowledge that when it was first published in 1962 it must have seemed all the more daring. There is a great deal to admire, particularly Lessing's searing honesty and numerous political and philosophical insights. However, more often than not the pages turned because I felt that I ought to be turning them rather than because I was legitimately enjoying every word. I'm not sure what I was expecting exactly, but when I turned the final page I did not feel in any way different.

The Golden Notebook is an accomplished work, learned and precisely written. But what it boasts of in head it seems to lack in heart. It has certainly given me a lot to think about in terms of philosophy and politics, but I do not feel that it affected me on any personal level. It is a rather dry book, if you will, but not a bad one.

This piece was originally published on alisonlaurabell.tumblr.com in October 2011.