Welcome to Litsy!

Catching up on some reviews of recent books. This is an older CBC Massey Lecture from 1985 that is just as relevant today. Lessing addresses our human tendency to fall prey to political rhetoric and unquestioning belief. She also examines our own personal responsibility for those “prisons” of unquestioning belief that we choose to live in. Thought provoking and timely.

I loved these five essays/lectures - Doris Lessing usually speaks a language that I fully understand. I especially loved the lectures on mass movements, and on the power of thinking for yourself. It's amazing (and maybe terrifying?) that something written so many decades ago still reflects the society we live in today. She sure was a perceptive woman.

While Lessing's argument for the importance of individualism in questioning received wisdom and avoiding conformity with dogmatic groups is as important now as it was in the 1980s it is so much a product of its time that there were several aspects I found very problematic. I've been thinking about it all day which inevitably led to a long Goodreads review! http://ow.ly/Pdev309WPvm

This book is only 79 pages long. I wish it were a bit longer and went more in depth though. However, it is an insightful and accurate exploration of how we choose to act within society and the limitations we place on ourselves living in groups. A good read for someone with an independent mind or someone who wants to have one.

The books are trying to tell me something today.