The Golden Notebook

By: Doris Lessing

Narrated by: Juliet Stevenson

Length: 27 hrs and 33 mins

Publisher's summary

One of the most important books of the growing feminist movement of the 1950s, The Golden Notebook was brought to the attention of a wider public by the Nobel Prize award to Doris Lessing in 2007.

Author Anna Wulf attempts to overcome writer’s block by writing a comprehensive "golden notebook" that draws together the preoccupations of her life, each of which is examined in a different notebook: sources of her creative inspiration in a black book, communism in a red book, the breakdown of her marriage in a yellow book, and day-to-day emotions and dreams in a blue book. Anna’s struggle to unify the various strands of her life – emotional, political, and professional – amasses into a fascinating encyclopaedia of female experience in the ‘50s.

In this authentic, taboo-breaking novel, Lessing brings the plight of women’s lives from obscurity behind closed doors into broad daylight. The Golden Notebook resonates with the concerns and experiences of a great many women and is a true modern classic, thoroughly deserving of its reputation as a feminist bible. A notoriously long and complex work, it is given a new life by this – its first unabridged recording.

Download the accompanying reference guide.

©1962 Doris Lessing (P)2010 Naxos Audiobook

Critic reviews

" The Golden Notebook is Doris Lessing’s most important work and has left its mark upon the ideas and feelings of a whole generation of women." (Elizabeth Hardwick, New York Times Book Review)

Tough to start

While this book is full of reflection on a plethora of topics it’s hard to get the cadence of it down because there seemingly is no plot line. It’s more a shout out to the social and personal mind and all the troublesome thoughts that live there. I’m glad to have stuck it out as the ending was quite uneventfully satisfying.

Good Book

Would you consider the audio edition of The Golden Notebook to be better than the print version?

yes, the voices and characters that the reader takes on makes it very interesting.

Would you recommend The Golden Notebook to your friends? Why or why not?

Yes, very interesting glimpse in to the era

Which character – as performed by Juliet Stevenson – was your favorite?

Anna

Fantastic Narration

Juliet Stevenson beautifully narrates this complicated novel by Dorris Lessing. Lessing’s The Golden Notebook is full of stories and dreams within stories, an exploration of Anna Wulf’s mind and an attempt to un-fragment her fragmented life.

A great book

A wonderful book that I found to be developmental and maturative for a young man coming of age such as myself. I found this book relatable and generally intelligent. I further highly recommend this book.

Transcendent narration of a masterpiece.

Juliet Stevenson's narration of this classic (which I'd not read since college) is so extraordinary, I have found myself listening to this recording repeatedly, replaying favorite passages, etc. In narrating various characters' dialogue, she maintains consistency of voice and pitch, so the listener (even if somewhat distracted by chores or what have you) is generally able to keep all these lines of narrative straight - no small feat, considering the book's complexity.

I will not only return to this recording again, but I will also seek out additional recordings by the same narrator.

Finally, I will add that the recording is quite well-produced; glitches are nearly non-existent, which seems fantastic given the length of this work.

Flawless!

Except for the tiniest difficulty with North American dialects, Lewis gives a flawless performance. Best I've ever heard Save Robin Sachs performance of The harry Hole novels. The book is a masterpiece, the performance is flawless,: If you like Leading, you cannot go wrong.

Fives across

Juliet Stevenson’s performance is the best Audible performance I have heard—and I use Audible for all my readings. This includes Ms Stevenson’s other performances I have used. This novel is a masterpiece of literature. It is a anthem, a philosophical declaration of feminism. It is an intellectual novel, courageously, gorgeously written. Reading it, one is struck quickly that this is a novel that belongs in that upper echelon of literature. I have only highlighted blocks of text in two works of fiction: The Sound and the Fury, and now, The Golden Notebook. This has to be on one’s list of all time books to read.

genius

The plot was thin but that didn't matter to me. The writing is superb. The telling was superb. Truth is narrated extremely well. No clichés. No self congratulatory prose. Loved it

Really difficult.

Juliet Stevenson is my current favorite reader, and I thought I liked Doris Lessing. This novel is no less difficult now that it was when I first read it 35 years ago. Historical, interesting and terribly close scrutiny of human relationships. And Stevenson never disappoints, but Lessings work is trying.

still as good as years back

read it 50 years ago, still such a great book. and Juliet Stevenson is amazing