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daja57's review
5.0
It's 1985ish. Alice and her friend Jasper join a squat; it's an old house with no plumbing facilities (so there are buckets full of shit on the top floor), no water, no gas or electricity. The squat is run by fellow comrades in a communist group who want to affiliate to the IRA.
Alice, despite her rabid denunciations of her fascist parents (on whom she sponges, from whom she steals), is, at heart, a nest-maker and one-by-one she solves the problems of the house, taking on the council and the police and burying the shit in a pit in the garden. Some of her comrades help her, others take advantage. Meanwhile she has a complicated non-sexual relationship with her boyfriend (who takes money from her so he can go cruising). Gradually the story evolves from a manual on how to run a squat into a novel chronicling the manoeuvres of splintered extreme left wing groups and how they are used by foreign governments. The climax of the book is the planning of an act of terrorism.
It is a brilliant read. It evokes the political atmosphere of the 1980s when there were (usually IRA-inspired) acts of terrorism on Britain's streets and when the Soviet Union still existed so that it was possible to believe in the leftist rhetoric of proletarian revolution and fascist reaction. But most of all, the characters in the squat are so well-drawn in all their complexities: the hysterical Faye and her lesbian partner Roberta (who is fundamentally Faye's keeper), the physically and psychologically fragile Philip, Jim who is always so happy except when he is utterly depressed, and, of course, Alice, whose complex relationship with her parents provides a compelling backdrop to her fundamental innocence.
But it is also a portrait of inadequacy and hopelessness.
It is written as a more-or-less continuous narrative, unchaptered (but it is paced perfectly, with the major turning-point almost exactly half way through), in the third person but almost entirely from Alice's point of view (though she is very good at reading the verbal cues and body language of others and inferring motives).
Alice, despite her rabid denunciations of her fascist parents (on whom she sponges, from whom she steals), is, at heart, a nest-maker and one-by-one she solves the problems of the house, taking on the council and the police and burying the shit in a pit in the garden. Some of her comrades help her, others take advantage. Meanwhile she has a complicated non-sexual relationship with her boyfriend (who takes money from her so he can go cruising). Gradually the story evolves from a manual on how to run a squat into a novel chronicling the manoeuvres of splintered extreme left wing groups and how they are used by foreign governments. The climax of the book is the planning of an act of terrorism.
It is a brilliant read. It evokes the political atmosphere of the 1980s when there were (usually IRA-inspired) acts of terrorism on Britain's streets and when the Soviet Union still existed so that it was possible to believe in the leftist rhetoric of proletarian revolution and fascist reaction. But most of all, the characters in the squat are so well-drawn in all their complexities: the hysterical Faye and her lesbian partner Roberta (who is fundamentally Faye's keeper), the physically and psychologically fragile Philip, Jim who is always so happy except when he is utterly depressed, and, of course, Alice, whose complex relationship with her parents provides a compelling backdrop to her fundamental innocence.
But it is also a portrait of inadequacy and hopelessness.
It is written as a more-or-less continuous narrative, unchaptered (but it is paced perfectly, with the major turning-point almost exactly half way through), in the third person but almost entirely from Alice's point of view (though she is very good at reading the verbal cues and body language of others and inferring motives).
savaging's review against another edition
4.0
Doris Lessing is always hanging out the Left's dirty laundry. This time she does it with young London IRA-aligned communists in the 80s. It can be hard to read a book where everyone is awful to each other and there is nothing to hope for. But Lessing also has this delicious insight, this genius for the tiny 'tells' of interpersonal dynamics. And though she maybe doesn't have the whole truth about the Left, she has enough of the truth that you recognize these characters from a squat or some self-important cadre of Marxist-Leninists.
The truth is I could read this all day.
The truth is I could read this all day.
mairhannahjones's review against another edition
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Just thought the character writing was amazing!
A lot of quite subtle things she does towards the end (small gaps in the story, briefly taking the focus away from Alice's perspective) are genuinely disorientating to read in a way I found really impressive.
A lot of quite subtle things she does towards the end (small gaps in the story, briefly taking the focus away from Alice's perspective) are genuinely disorientating to read in a way I found really impressive.
elliehamilton38's review
challenging
dark
informative
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
cemoses's review against another edition
3.0
My rating is 3.5. The book does go into some issues in about modern terrorists. Also the book was able to combine both some horrors of terrorism with humor.
However, I had some problems with the heroine. I found it hard to believe that Alice could be thirty-six and not know certain things; She seems like a very young girl not an almost middle age woman. Even if she were not very bright I think she would have obtained more wisdom. Also she is shown as being older than most of the other radicals. The author failed to explain why she was so much older than the others and why she stayed with Jasper so long.
However, I had some problems with the heroine. I found it hard to believe that Alice could be thirty-six and not know certain things; She seems like a very young girl not an almost middle age woman. Even if she were not very bright I think she would have obtained more wisdom. Also she is shown as being older than most of the other radicals. The author failed to explain why she was so much older than the others and why she stayed with Jasper so long.
izzy_reads7's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
everyonespal's review against another edition
challenging
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.25
Kinda of drag tbh.
jon288's review against another edition
2.0
Leant to me by Naomi. I wanted to like it more, but found it a bit dull. I don't know what point it was trying to make exactly, but it didn't hit home for me
hasegawataizo's review against another edition
3.0
One of my favorite parts of reading novels is seeing how someone else, someone different see the world. It was a satisfactory reading.