The Golden Notebook Group at eNotes

One of the central themes in The Golden Notebook by Doris Lessing is...

Fri, 27 Nov 2009 00:53:47 PST

One of the central themes in The Golden Notebook by Doris Lessing is identity and how trying to define it in terms of one's own personality is fraught with tricky problems. A person's identity depends on so many things such as personality, personal history and baggage and background and education. Anna realises that she has not been precise or accurate enough in trying to define hers, and that her efforts to do so,particulary through her...

What is the theme of The Golden Notebook?

Fri, 27 Nov 2009 00:30:55 PST

What is the theme of The Golden Notebook?

No, I don't think Golden Notebook is appropriate for high school girls...

Thu, 11 Oct 2007 17:28:06 PST

No, I don't think Golden Notebook is appropriate for high school girls to read--if that's what you mean by "girls." Practically, it's too long, and thematically it is too complex, the search for self too deep. For college students, however, it is very appropriate, yet I wonder how frequently it is taught. I taught it 100 years ago in a women studies course (college sophomore level), and it was not easy to get through but worth...

Nobel for Lessing

Thu, 11 Oct 2007 17:09:06 PST

Doris Lessing, one of the pioneers of the feminist novel, has 'just been awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature. The New York Times has said that The Golden Notebook is a "model for the path to liberation through political struggle and self-scrutiny."

In your opinion, how does Lessing's novel accomplish this feat? How can we make the struggles of the '60s still relevant to girls growing up and...