We used to run book auctions and one day a man left a bid on a volume of Doris Lessing's autobiography. Before the auction started, he called to retract it. He'd found out something about her in the meantime and decided she was so awful he would never read the book.

I must say, the title story of this book does nothing to soften that impression. The characters are ghastly, the writing style matches. Somehow it does not reflect well upon the author.

This is the first Lessing I have tried and I suspect it will remain unfinished.

-----------------------

Later: I stand corrected. Every evening for weeks I went to bed, already irritated because I knew I was about to read a few more pages of this book and that it would irritate me. More.

Yet the fact is, I kept reading it. And even as it irritated me, I was reluctant to put it down. I don't pretend to understand why. ( )

We used to run book auctions and one day a man left a bid on a volume of Doris Lessing's autobiography. Before the auction started, he called to retract it. He'd found out something about her in the meantime and decided she was so awful he would never read the book.

I must say, the title story of this book does nothing to soften that impression. The characters are ghastly, the writing style matches. Somehow it does not reflect well upon the author.

This is the first Lessing I have tried and I suspect it will remain unfinished.

-----------------------

Later: I stand corrected. Every evening for weeks I went to bed, already irritated because I knew I was about to read a few more pages of this book and that it would irritate me. More.

Yet the fact is, I kept reading it. And even as it irritated me, I was reluctant to put it down. I don't pretend to understand why. ( )

We used to run book auctions and one day a man left a bid on a volume of Doris Lessing's autobiography. Before the auction started, he called to retract it. He'd found out something about her in the meantime and decided she was so awful he would never read the book.

I must say, the title story of this book does nothing to soften that impression. The characters are ghastly, the writing style matches. Somehow it does not reflect well upon the author.

This is the first Lessing I have tried and I suspect it will remain unfinished.

-----------------------

Later: I stand corrected. Every evening for weeks I went to bed, already irritated because I knew I was about to read a few more pages of this book and that it would irritate me. More.

Yet the fact is, I kept reading it. And even as it irritated me, I was reluctant to put it down. I don't pretend to understand why. ( )

> UN ENFANT DE L'AMOUR, de Doris Lessing - Ed. Flammarion, 186 p. — « Vous voyez, articula-t-il, je ne vis pas ma vie. Ce n'est pas ma vraie vie. Je ne devrais pas vivre comme je le fais. » Ce terrible aveu résume la vie gâchée de James, le personnage au centre du nouveau roman de Doris Lessing. Timide, introverti, aimant la poésie, il est enrôlé en 1938. Un an plus tard, le ministère de la Guerre l’envoie en Inde, avec un arrêt au Cap. Il y rencontre Daphné, Anglaise d'origine, mariée à un officier sud-africain. Le drame de James se joue en quatre jours, à peine : le coup de foudre, une passion violente. En Inde, il lui écrit des lettres d'amour qu'il ne pourra lui envoyer sans mettre en danger le mariage de l'aimée. Le hasard lui apprend que Daphné a eu un fils. Dès cet instant, James ne vit que dans l'attente de le retrouver, malgré son mariage avec Helen, la naissance d’une fille, sa vie de bourgeois respectable. Cet amour fulgurant jette une ombre sur chacun de ses gestes. Chaque matin, il se lève en sachant l’âge de son fils, au jour près.
Vous croyez avoir tout lu sur l’amour? Ce livre nous est offert de la part d'une romancière qui sait exactement quand et où donner du répit au lecteur. Elle dispose les événements comme des blocs (la mer et le bateau, le Cap, l’Inde, l'Angleterre) auxquels elle confère une parfaite transparence quant à leur rôle. Mais, surtout : la peinture de l'âme du protagoniste – celle de Daphné tient en quelques répliques percutantes, résumant toute sa pensée –, son rêve de l'amour, son refus d'y renoncer, sa volonté obtuse de récupérer le passé par le truchement de son « enfant de l'amour», entreprise absurde puisque les amants sont condamnés à occuper des pôles opposés : le bateau et la mer sont les ennemis de James, alors qu’ils apportent le bonheur à Daphné. Mais James n’apprend rien, reste figé dans le passé, tandis que Daphné construit sa vie.
C'est du Doris Lessing à son meilleur. Si vous ne la connaissez pas, commencez par ce livre, incontournable. Vous deviendrez son adepte. Vous l’adorerez. Ses romans occuperont une place d’honneur parmi vos livres préférés. Et vous comprendrez pourquoi elle a mérité le Prix Nobel de la littérature cette année. Garanti. Flammarion, 186 p.
—Hans-Jürgen GREIF, (Lauréate du Prix Nobel de la littérature, 2007)
In: Entre les lignes, Vol. 4, no. 2, hiver 2008, p. 42.

« L'amour fait une courte mais sublime escale en pleine guerre. »
--Le Figaro ( )

Ho apprezzato il modo di scrivere della Lessing. Probabilmente non è stato, per me, il libro giusto da cui iniziare..
Si tratta di tre racconti lunghi. Il primo, "Le nonne",da cui è tratto il film "Two mother" di Anne Fontaine, l' ho trovato incalzante, a tratti frettoloso ma comunque piacevole. Il secondo molto più descrittivo e al terzo non sono riuscita ad appassionarmi, racconto lento, per raccontare una storia d'amore come tante.. ( )