more photos (4)

Doris Lessing’s Followers (2,843)

Doris Lessing

Born

in Kermanshah, Iran

October 22, 1919

Died

November 17, 2013

Website

http://www.dorislessing.org

Genre

Fiction

Influences

Virginia Woolf, Idries Shah, Simone de Beauvoir, Olive Schreiner, Jean ...more

edit data

Both of her parents were British: her father, who had been crippled in World War I, was a clerk in the Imperial Bank of Persia; her mother had been a nurse. In 1925, lured by the promise of getting rich through maize farming, the family moved to the British colony in Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe). Like other women writers from southern African who did not graduate from high school (such as Olive Schreiner and Nadine Gordimer), Lessing made herself into a self-educated intellectual.

In 1937 she moved to Salisbury, where she worked as a telephone operator for a year. At nineteen, she married Frank Wisdom, and later had two children. A few years later, feeling trapped in a persona that she feared would destroy her, she left her family, rema Both of her parents were British: her father, who had been crippled in World War I, was a clerk in the Imperial Bank of Persia; her mother had been a nurse. In 1925, lured by the promise of getting rich through maize farming, the family moved to the British colony in Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe). Like other women writers from southern African who did not graduate from high school (such as Olive Schreiner and Nadine Gordimer), Lessing made herself into a self-educated intellectual.

In 1937 she moved to Salisbury, where she worked as a telephone operator for a year. At nineteen, she married Frank Wisdom, and later had two children. A few years later, feeling trapped in a persona that she feared would destroy her, she left her family, remaining in Salisbury. Soon she was drawn to the like-minded members of the Left Book Club, a group of Communists "who read everything, and who did not think it remarkable to read." Gottfried Lessing was a central member of the group; shortly after she joined, they married and had a son.

During the postwar years, Lessing became increasingly disillusioned with the Communist movement, which she left altogether in 1954. By 1949, Lessing had moved to London with her young son. That year, she also published her first novel, The Grass Is Singing, and began her career as a professional writer.

In June 1995 she received an Honorary Degree from Harvard University. Also in 1995, she visited South Africa to see her daughter and grandchildren, and to promote her autobiography. It was her first visit since being forcibly removed in 1956 for her political views. Ironically, she is welcomed now as a writer acclaimed for the very topics for which she was banished 40 years ago.

In 2001 she was awarded the Prince of Asturias Prize in Literature, one of Spain's most important distinctions, for her brilliant literary works in defense of freedom and Third World causes. She also received the David Cohen British Literature Prize.

She was on the shortlist for the first Man Booker International Prize in 2005. In 2007 she was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature.

(Extracted from the pamphlet: A Reader's Guide to The Golden Notebook & Under My Skin, HarperPerennial, 1995. Full text available on www.dorislessing.org). ...more

Combine Editions
Doris Lessing’s books

Average rating: 3.68 · 197,286 ratings · 16,400 reviews · 487 distinct works • Similar authors

	The Golden Notebook 3.77 avg rating — 23,288 ratings — published 1962 — 216 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Fifth Child 3.62 avg rating — 21,535 ratings — published 1988 — 144 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Grass Is Singing 3.83 avg rating — 13,959 ratings — published 1950 — 138 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Good Terrorist 3.68 avg rating — 4,220 ratings — published 1985 — 77 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Memoirs of a Survivor 3.59 avg rating — 3,382 ratings — published 1974 — 82 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Cleft 2.92 avg rating — 3,500 ratings — published 2007 — 50 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Prisons We Choose to Live Inside 3.91 avg rating — 2,598 ratings — published 1986 — 45 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Re: Colonised Planet 5, Shikasta (Canopus in Argos, #1) 3.65 avg rating — 2,659 ratings — published 1979 — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Martha Quest (Children of Violence, #1) 3.79 avg rating — 2,525 ratings — published 1952 — 74 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Summer Before the Dark 3.60 avg rating — 2,595 ratings — published 1973 — 90 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

More books by Doris Lessing…

Series by Doris Lessing

Ben Lovatt (2 books)
by

Doris Lessing

3.59 avg rating — 23,626 ratings

Canopus in Argos (5 books)
by

Doris Lessing

3.83 avg rating — 6,267 ratings

Children of Violence (5 books)
by

Doris Lessing

3.92 avg rating — 5,865 ratings

Mara and Dann (2 books)
by

Doris Lessing

3.79 avg rating — 2,283 ratings

Doris Lessing's autobiography (2 books)
by

Doris Lessing

4.06 avg rating — 1,222 ratings

More series by Doris Lessing…

Hanya Yanagihara’s latest novel is actually three tales of New York. In To Paradise, the highly acclaimed author of A Little Life and The...

Polls

2nd Quarter 2018 (April-June) Long Read Poll

David Copperfield by Charles Dickens, 1849, 882 pages

63 votes, 15.8%

Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray, 1847, 867 pages

62 votes, 15.6%

The Arabian Nights, 800, 1049 pages

43 votes, 10.8%

Roots: The Saga of an American Family by Alex Haley, 1976, 729 pages

35 votes, 8.8%

The Tale of Genji by Murasaki Shikibu, 1008, 1182 pages

29 votes, 7.3%

Wives and Daughters by Elizabeth Gaskell, 1866, 679 pages

28 votes, 7.0%

The Thorn Birds by Colleen McCullough, 1977, 692 pages

23 votes, 5.8%

Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace, 1996, 1088 pages

22 votes, 5.5%

Buddenbrooks: The Decline of a Family by Thomas Mann, 1901, 731 pages

20 votes, 5.0%

The Decameron by Giovanni Boccaccio, 1353, 909 pages

20 votes, 5.0%

The Golden Notebook by Doris Lessing, 1962, 640 pages

15 votes, 3.8%

An American Tragedy by Theodore Dreiser, 1925, 859 pages

11 votes, 2.8%

The Histories by Herodotus, 400 BCE, 716 pages

9 votes, 2.3%

Daniel Deronda by George Eliot, 1865, 796 pages

6 votes, 1.5%

The Golden Bough by James George Frazer, 1890, 880 pages

5 votes, 1.3%

The Sunne in Splendour by Sharon Kay Penman, 1982, 936 pages

4 votes, 1.0%

Five Smooth Stones by Ann Fairbairn, 1966, 933 pages

3 votes, 0.8%

398 total votes

comments and details

More...

Topics Mentioning This Author

topics	posts	views	last activity
Bright Young Things: The Grass is Singing by Doris Lessing - February 2010 (Spoilers Likely)	12	175	Feb 17, 2010 01:13PM
Chicks On Lit: A to Z world wide travel through books.	45	125	Mar 24, 2010 12:00PM
Every one's Choice: A Tie for April	57	46	Apr 02, 2010 11:55PM
Book lovers : A-Z Challenge	48	268	Apr 14, 2010 09:59AM
The Sword and Laser: Books to avoid	37	328	Apr 30, 2010 11:30AM
The Book Challenge: Kuutar's challenges for 2010	24	85	Aug 31, 2010 09:33AM
SA Book & Challen...: 2010 A-Z Author Challenge	11	105	Sep 15, 2010 08:48AM
Knight-Reading: Reading Log Week of 9/27/10	3	12	Oct 03, 2010 08:48PM

More…

Doris Lessing’s Followers (2,843)

Doris Lessing

Combine EditionsDoris Lessing’s books

Series by Doris Lessing

Related News

Polls

Topics Mentioning This Author

Combine Editions
Doris Lessing’s books