Lessing Doris: biography and list of books

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

One of the recognized classics of feminist literature is the British writer Doris Lessing. Many books published by her are significant in world literature. What was her path to fame?

Childhood

Doris May Lessing was born in the family of a military man and a nurse from England - but, oddly enough, not in Britain, but … in Iran: it was there that the parents of the future writer met. His father was in the hospital after being wounded and had his leg amputated, and his mother took care of him. Doris was born in October 1919, and six years later the little family left Iran, this time for Africa. There, in Zimbabwe, Doris Lessing spent her childhood, and then several years of adulthood.

In Africa, the father served, the girl's mother stubbornly and tirelessly tried to bridge the gap between the local peoples and European culture, trying to instill her traditions in them, and Doris was forced to attend a Catholic school. Later, however, she changed the educational institution - she began to go to a special women's school, where she studied until the age of fourteen, but she never graduated. Then no one knew, but later it turns out that thiswas the only education of the future writer in her entire life.

Youth

From the age of fourteen, Doris began to earn money. The girl tried many speci alties: she worked as a nurse, journalist, telephone operator and others. Nowhere did she particularly linger, because she did not particularly like anywhere. She was, as they say, “searching for herself.”

On a personal front

Doris Lessing married twice, both times during her life in Africa. The first marriage happened at the age of twenty, Frank Wisdom became her chosen one. The couple had two children - a daughter, Jean, and a son, John. Unfortunately, their union did not last long - just four years later, Doris and Frank divorced. The children then stayed with their father.

Two years later, Doris went down the aisle for the second time - now for Gottfried Lessing, a German who emigrated from his native country. She gave birth to his son Peter, but this marriage was short-lived - ironically, he also lasted four years. In 1949, the couple broke up, Doris kept the name of her ex-husband and little son, left the African continent together with him. With such baggage, she arrived in London, the city where a new round of her life began.

Doris Lessing: the beginning of a literary career

It was in England that Doris first tried herself in the literary field. Being an active supporter of the feminist movement, she joined the Communist Party - all this is reflected in her work. The first time the girl workedexclusively in social topics.

The writer published her debut work in 1949. The novel "The Grass Sings", the main character of which is a young girl, tells about her life and social views, which strongly influence the heroine. Doris Lessing demonstrated in the book how, under the influence of society, because of its condemnation, a person (in particular, a woman), who was previously quite happy and satisfied with her own fate, can abruptly change it. And it's not always for the best. The novel immediately brought sufficient fame to the aspiring writer.

First works

From that moment on, Doris Lessing began to actively publish. Works from under her pen appeared one after another - fortunately, she always had something to say. So, for example, in the early fifties, she released the novel Witchcraft Is Not for Sale, in which she described many autobiographical moments from her African life. She generally composed many works of small size - "It was the story of an old leader", "The habit of love", "A man and two women" and so on.

For almost seventeen years - until the end of the seventies - the writer published a semi-autobiographical cycle of five books. During this period, a psychological one was added to the social orientation of her work. It was at that time that Doris Lessing's The Golden Notebook, which is still considered a model among feminist literature, saw the light of day. At the same time, the writer herself always emphasized thatthe main thing in her work is not the rights of a woman at all, but the rights of a person in general.

Fiction in creativity

Since the seventies, a new stage has begun in the work of Doris Lessing. She became interested in Sufism, which was reflected in her next works. Having previously written exclusively about acute social and psychological issues, the writer now turned to fantastic ideas. In a three-year period - from 1979 to 1982 - she created five novels, which she combined into one cycle ("Canopus in Argos"). All of Doris Lessing's books in this series tell the story of a utopian future where light is zoned and inhabited by archetypes.

This cycle has received a mixed reception, with both positive and negative reviews. However, Doris herself did not consider the above works to be the best among her works. Both critics and she herself recognized the novel "The Fifth Child" as one of the most significant in her work. Doris Lessing even advised in an interview to start acquaintance with her books from this work, which tells about the life of an unusual child in an ordinary family and how others perceive him.

Recent years

At the beginning of the twenty-first century, Doris Lessing was as active as she had been in the last century. She released the novel "Ben among the people", which is a continuation of the sensational "The Fifth Child". Also, Doris Lessing's book The Cleft, written by her during these years and offering readers a different version of reality, gained great popularity: firstthere were only women, and men appeared much later.

Perhaps she would have written something else - this elderly woman had more than enough energy. However, in November 2013, Doris Lessing passed away. It happened in London. The writer lived for nearly a hundred years.

Recognition

In the mid-nineties of the last century, Doris Lessing became a doctor at Harvard University. In the last year of the last century, she received the Knights of Honor, and two years later, the David Cohen Award.

In addition, Doris Lessing is the recipient of many other awards, one of which deserves special mention - her 2007 Nobel Prize in Literature.

Legacy

The legacy of the British writer includes many works in various genres. Doris Lessing's collection "Grandmothers" deserves special mention, which includes four short stories, including the one of the same name. It can be attributed to feminist literature, since all four stories in the book are about women, about their passions and desires, and about the society that limits them. Reception of the book has been mixed. The title novella of the collection was filmed four years ago (in Russia the film was released under the name "Secret Attraction").

In addition to these short stories and the above-mentioned books, one can single out such works as "Memories of a Survivor", "Great Dreams", a collection of short stories "The Real" and many other works.

Interesting facts

1. I considered my early yearsunhappy, she did not like the African continent. There is an opinion that it was because of this that she began to write.
2. During Lessing's life in Africa, Zimbabwe was an English colony.
3. The writer's maiden name is Taylor.
4. Criticized the policy of apartheid.
5. During the eighties she created two works under the pseudonym Jane Somers.
6. He is the author of four plays staged in various theaters in Britain.
7. For many decades, more and more works about the work of the British writer have appeared.
8. Her portrait was exhibited at the National Portrait Gallery in the British capital.
9. Wrote scientific papers.
10. Refused the title of Lady of the British Empire.
11. First to win the Nobel Prize for work in science fiction.

Perhaps Doris Lessing is not the most popular and famous writer in reading circles these days. However, her legacy is so great and diverse that anyone who loves literature should familiarize themselves with at least part of it.