The Grass is Singing - Rated 
A truly superb novel with a distinctive human insight into the psyche of the characters. I was lured right from the first sentence. When I finished it, I turned to the beginning and started again.
This book is inspired and probably the best novel I've read to date.
**Highly recommended**
Portrayal of a married woman's malaise - Rated
This work got wide acclaim for its portrayal of the dynamics of apartheid in South Africa by exploring the relationship between a white farmer couple and their man servant. However, I found the development of the relationship between Mary and her husband Dick far more interesting to the point where she has to surrender herself and suffer the consequences. Ifound the plot intriguing, the portrayal of relationship dynamics and of race perceptions interesting and the language easy to read. Lessing is a powerful writer indeed, she keeps things simple and is still able to portray the complexity behind them. No wonder she won the Nobel Prize in 2007!
Gripping, Harrowing, Amazing - Rated
Well you certainly feel exhausted at the end. It is awful and you know it is going to be because the end is in the beginning. The sense of suspense and foreboding threads through the book, and the searing African heat burns off the pages. So why put yourself through all this? Because it is so very well written, the psychology and description is superb. It is a short book, so the pain is over quite quickly, and you can't put it down! Enjoy!
If you read only one Lessing novel in your life, you should read The Grass Is Singing - Rated
The Grass Is Singing was my first Doris Lessing novel, and I loved it!
As you could have already read the synospsis, in this book Lessing tells the story of a farmer husband, Dick Turner, and his wife Mary, their life and struggles on their farm in South Africa, while portraying the fragile and unstable state of the balance of forces between the whites and the blacks.
During the first 2 chapters I was a bit surprised and not sure if I would enjoy it (her realistic racist description shocked me), but wow, her evocative and yet simple descriptions of the African landscape, the scorching hot and the reality of the farms and sweaty hard work were very realistic and made me feel as if I was seeing it. And her storytelling! it was so painful and saddening to read the story of these 2(-3) people, who are so different and wanted so different things from life and witness as their differences and inability to understand each other (and their lack of ability to communicate) ruin their lives. Beautiful and very powerful book, it was a wonderful read, I will definitely read more by her. Someone once told me that if I read only one Lessing novel in my life, I should read The Grass Is Singing, and having read it, I can definitely second that opinion, this novel is one you definitely have to read.
The Grass Is Singing - Rated 
Excellent evocation of a time and place and good to see that books with this subject matter were being written in the '50's. The writing doesn't feel dated or particularly compromised. I felt the author was too detached from the characters, making this an uninvolving read. For all the African heat I was left cold by the characters and what they went through.
|
