The Golden Notebook
My latest library selection; "The Golden Notebook" by Doris Lessing sat unopened on my desk. I began dreading the daunting task of reading this 500 plus page book. For inspiration, I turned to Amazon and began scanning the reader reviews, only to find them to be just so-so. Many of the reviewers disliked the book so much that they didn’t finish it. I also discovered that many scholars considered this book to be a feminist classic. I began thinking maybe this was not the book for me; I didn’t want to spend my time reading a feminist book from the 60's that was over 500 pages long. Besides the women's movement ended in like the 80's and isn't really relevant to me in my daily life. I decided that there are just too many books on my reading list and too little time in my schedule to read this book.
I had selected this book after reading the following recommendation by Erica Jung in Oprah's magazine: This book was very important to my growth as a novelist because it told the story of a women whose various selves political, psychological and sexual are equally represented. Anna Wulf is a novelist trying to write a novel about contemporary women, but she is blocked. I had never before read a story about a woman who was seeking a way of integrating the disparate parts of her life. The journey of the book is a woman's struggle to harmonize all her passions.
Over the next couple of days I could not stop thinking about this book in relation to a speech I had heard given by Barbara Lawton, Wisconsin’s Lieutenant Governor. Her words would not stop ringing in my ears. She had informed the audience that the Institute for Women’s Policy Research had given Wisconsin a low C- grade for the status of Wisconsin women. Two issues that stood out were the gap between women’s wages in comparison to males and the fact that about a third of single mother families in Wisconsin live in poverty. She then recounted a conversation she had had with a male politician at the democratic convention. He had commented that Wisconsin was a great state that provided many high quality programs for its residents. Barbara responded by saying that may be true but Wisconsin has a lot of work to do to improve the lives of women and began informing him of the low C- grade. To which he responded by saying that he had been referring to issues and programs that mattered.
I have since decided that feminism is relevant in my life, these issues are important and I do need to read Doris Lessing’s daunting novel “The Golden Notebook”.
If you would like to learn more about Wisconsin Women = Prosperity economic development initiative please clicks here: http://wiwep.org/AboutWWP/AboutUs#toc1.
I had selected this book after reading the following recommendation by Erica Jung in Oprah's magazine: This book was very important to my growth as a novelist because it told the story of a women whose various selves political, psychological and sexual are equally represented. Anna Wulf is a novelist trying to write a novel about contemporary women, but she is blocked. I had never before read a story about a woman who was seeking a way of integrating the disparate parts of her life. The journey of the book is a woman's struggle to harmonize all her passions.
Over the next couple of days I could not stop thinking about this book in relation to a speech I had heard given by Barbara Lawton, Wisconsin’s Lieutenant Governor. Her words would not stop ringing in my ears. She had informed the audience that the Institute for Women’s Policy Research had given Wisconsin a low C- grade for the status of Wisconsin women. Two issues that stood out were the gap between women’s wages in comparison to males and the fact that about a third of single mother families in Wisconsin live in poverty. She then recounted a conversation she had had with a male politician at the democratic convention. He had commented that Wisconsin was a great state that provided many high quality programs for its residents. Barbara responded by saying that may be true but Wisconsin has a lot of work to do to improve the lives of women and began informing him of the low C- grade. To which he responded by saying that he had been referring to issues and programs that mattered.
I have since decided that feminism is relevant in my life, these issues are important and I do need to read Doris Lessing’s daunting novel “The Golden Notebook”.
If you would like to learn more about Wisconsin Women = Prosperity economic development initiative please clicks here: http://wiwep.org/AboutWWP/AboutUs#toc1.
posted by Savvyworkinggal @ 2:57 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home