Doris Lessing Versus Her Readers: The Case of 'The Golden Notebook'

Abstract

Doris Lessing is a major force in contemporary English literature, holding a unique position as an iconoclastic, outspoken critic of society and politics with a sage-like, almost magisterial status. However, she has not always been content with the ways her books have been read, and has expressed her disquiet in interviews, essays and other publications. Her struggle to deal with her readers’ interpretations of her work is well illustrated by the case of The Golden Notebook. In this paper, the Preface to the Golden Notebook, written ten years after the novel was first published, is examined to show the inconsistencies in Lessing's attitudes and beliefs about the rights of readers to make their own interpretation of her work.