Reviews with content warning for Suicide attempt - The Golden Notebook

The Golden Notebook is a 1962 novel by Nobel prize winner Doris Lessing. It has a unique, slightly convoluted structure. At it’s heart is a novel title Free Women about Anna Wulf, her friend Molly, their children and the various men in their lives. Interspersed with this are excerpts from four (differently coloured) notebooks that Anna has kept, detailing different aspects of her life, and the fifth, the titular golden notebook, where Anna finally tries to draw all the disparate threads together. We see colonialsim play out via Anna’s time in Rhodesia. We learn plenty about the machinations of the British Communist Party are a privy to Anna’s lengthy soul searching about whether or not to continue her membership. I will say I found this thread tiresome and far too lengthy to hold my interest. Through Anna’s personal life and her often fraught relationships with different men we can see the gains wrought by women’s liberation - and also it’s limitations and contradictions. We’re privy to all sorts of mundane daily details - what she is cooking her daughter for dinner, details of her period and how it impacts her day - as well as plenty of intellectual and philosophical thoughts and discussions. Anna’s struggle as an author and her eventual ability to write again is another interesting strand, with much to mull over about the line between fact and fiction. The chaos of a mental breakdown was well-depicted, albeit difficult to read about.

I read this book quite some time ago but left it to sit for a while before attempting to put my thoughts into words. While I can appreciate it at an intellectual level and admire what Lessing achieved, I struggled to connect with this book emotionally. It felt dated and very much a product of its time and the background it it’s author, which made aspects of it jarring today.

Content Warnings

waybeyondblue's review

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challenging dark emotional funny reflective tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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josi1911's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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despicabledisa's review

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Admittedly it has been a few months since I read this now but I finally feel of sound mind to review it.
This book is one of the most challenging and difficult books I have ever had the pleasure to read. Truly a book where you have to think while reading. Am I following this? Is she talking about herself or one of her fictional characters? Both? Devastating in some parts but never forgettable or unnecessary. Many people would probably dislike this book very much and for reasons that are both understandable and true, however, I really, really liked it. As well as a fantastic exploration into sex and family dynamics The Golden Notebook is a incredible snapshot of an era. The exploration of communism was insane! So nuanced! It felt incredibly personal and of its era yet relevant to me and my own political identity today. (Communism is maybe the ideology with the most complicated history and this is a beautiful exploration of that.)
So no, this is not only for middle-aged women but also, apparently, for 18 year old girls :)

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helensreads's review against another edition

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challenging reflective slow-paced

4.0

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oksi's review

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challenging informative reflective sad slow-paced

Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Content Warnings

oksi's review against another edition

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challenging informative reflective slow-paced

Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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