When I read Doris Lessing's 'Prisons We Choose to Live Inside' years ago, I thought it was brilliant, and I wanted to read everything Lessing had written. I've since read several of her novels: 'Mara and Dann', which was okay (just okay), 'The Story of General Dann and Mara's Daughter, Griot and the Snow Dog', which was bad, and this, which was also bad. I already have 'The Golden Notebook', so I plan to give her one more try, and if it's equally dreadful I will give up on Lessing completely. Her novels are always based on an interesting tale, but are told in such a dry, repetitive, meandering and slow-moving fashion that any hope for the story is lost. I wanted to like this one because the story could have been so good, but it became tedious and in the end I didn't finish it.

WILD RELEASE NOTES:

To be released on the book-exchange shelf at Hillhurst-Sunnyside Community Centre, around 2pm.

I didn't know that the Hillhurst-Sunnyside Community Center had a community book shelf until I saw your release notes. I picked up this one and The Treehouse by Naomi Wolf and left 3 other books on the shelf in exchange.
Thank you ifyouknew!!

I enjoyed this book :)
I read it yesterday in one sitting. I agree with ifyouknew that Doris Lessing's style can be somewhat repetitive, but what is so interesting about that is with all the different ways she seems to restate the same information you are able to garner different perspective or points of view from it.
This story was a refreshing 'creation' story from a matriachal perspective.
I am going to take this book to the Joshua Tree today for the BC meeting to see if any fellow bookcrossers would like to read this.

I gave this book to rureading at the BC meeting today at the Joshua Tree cafe. I am interested to hear what she thinks :) Happy Reading!!

I have tried hunting for one of your wild releases, ifyouknew, but haven't had any luck, so I am happy to have a controlled release courtesy of Minerva101. I am curious to know what my interpretation of Lessing's story will be. Thanks ifyouknew and thanks Minerva101 for bringing the book along to the meeting.

I think the Nobel Prize for Literature Committee honoured Lessing for a lifetime of work and not for this insipid tale. The repetition to mimic oral history became a punishment to me as I tried to follow Lessing's odd combination of an abbreviated history of the start of the human race and feminism. I reached the end of the book and the end of my interest in reading any other books by Lessing.

I'm really interested to see how I like this one. I'm trying to read something from each Nobel winning author, so I snapped this one up immediatly. I tried to read Lessing's Shikasta but could barely get into it before I gave up, so here's hoping!

I devoured this little book and continued to think about it afterwards (to the point where I would put down the next book I was reading to think about this one.) I think the part that was most satisfying (but not in a positive sense) was the realistic consequesnces that Lessing gave to the group of adventourous young boys in the 2nd half of the novel: it was like the impulses behind other stories like peter pan or lord of the flies finally came to their logical conclusion. I may need copy of this book for my permanaent collection.

To be released at the January meeting, either swapped or put on the shelves.

To the finder:
Calgary has an active group of BookCrossers that meet to swap books and discuss book crossing every second Saturday of the month at 11am at the Joshua Tree Cafe on Edmonton Trail. We always love to meet new crossers, so please join us any time you like!

Picked up at the Calgary BookCrossing Meet-up at Joshua Tree Café.

I was curious when I'd heard about such a wild range of reviews. I'm putting this on Mt. TBR and will add my thoughts to the conversation.

This book has been on Mt. TBR for months! I thought I'd better tackle it.

I picked it up, read a bit, put it down.... Repeated several times, but I just couldn't get into it. Made it to about page 75, but other books on my self kept calling to me.

Will be taking it to the October Calgary meet-up, where I hope it will find a new reader.

Released at the October meet-up of Calgary BookCrossers at the Joshua Tree Café.

This book came back to me at the BC meeting today. I am going to mail it to someone who has it on her wishlist :)

Mailing this off to lauraloo29 in Edmonton as her very, very, very, very late Canada Sweeps gift/prize from me - I am soooooooooo sorry this one slipped through the cracks on me, but, hey, better late than never :)
Enjoy!

Ohhhhh I love wishlist books! Thank you!

Sadly, I could not get into this book. Found it odd, hard to read.

Sending as part of the 2018 Holiday Gift Giving. Enjoy!

THANK YOU, lauraloo29...for the Surprise HGG Gift of a book written by an apparently world-famous author I have never heard of (not even as her Pseudonym...Jane Somers!!!) with a FABulous Eagle book jacket illustration by Richard Bravery that I am look forward to reading...HOPEfully...THIS YEAR!!! ; )

elizardbreath's 2018 HGG (my FIRST!!!)
https://www.bookcrossing.com/forum/10/554970

2018 HGG THANK YOU thread...
https://www.bookcrossing.com/forum/10/554971/9238907

Reserved for booklady331's Already Book Crossed Bookbox (ABC VBB) Round 19
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Winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature.

From Amazon...

In the last years of his life, a Roman senator embarks on one final epic endeavor, a retelling of the history of human creation. The story he relates is the little-known saga of the Clefts, an ancient community of women with no knowledge of nor need for men. Childbirth was controlled through the cycles of the moon, and only female offspring were born—until the unanticipated event that jeopardized the harmony of their close-knit society: the strange, unheralded birth of a boy.

In this fascinating and beguiling novel, Lessing confronts the themes that inspired much of her early writing: how men and women manage to live side by side in the world and how the troublesome particulars of gender affect every aspect of our existence.

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Round 19 of booklady's ABC VBB is complete, and no one selected this book. Judging by some of the previous Journal Entries, the opinions are divided, but it wasn't my cup of tea...so as part of my participation in mysteriousmummy's 12 Days of Christmas Exchange 2019 https://www.bookcrossing.com/forum/10/564728, I'm sending it as a RABCK to another BCer who may appreciate its abstract metaphysical visionary alternative history aspect, as her BC Bookshelf information (2018 Bio) indicates that for pleasure she enjoys reading paranormal series...enJOY!!! : )

Sending as a SURPRISE RABCK to another BCer whose BC Bookshelf Profile Wishlist includes..."YA Books"...and..."Books from my wishlist or similar"...as part of my participation in mysteriousmummy's 12 Days of Christmas Exchange 2019. https://www.bookcrossing.com/forum/10/564728


HAPPY READING! : )