London Observed - Softcover

Lessing, Doris

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0586092269 ISBN 13: 9780586092262

Publisher: Flamingo, 1993

Synopsis

Across eighteen short stories, Lessing dissects London and its inhabitants with the power for truth and compassion to be expected of the Nobel Prize for Literature 2007.

'During that first year in England, I had a vision of London I cannot recall now … it was a nightmare city that I lived in for a year. Then, one evening, walking across the park, the light welded buildings, trees and scarlet buses into something familiar and beautiful, and I knew myself to be at home.'

Lessing’s vision of London – a place of nightmares and wonder – underpins this brilliantly multifaceted collection of stories about the city, seen from a cafe table, a hospital bed, the back seat of a taxi, a hospital casualty department; seen, as always, unflinchingly, and compellingly depicted.

About this title

About the Author

Doris Lessing was one of the most important writers of the second half of the 20th-century and was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature 2007. Her novels include The Grass is Singing, The Golden Notebook and The Good Terrorist. In 2001, Lessing was awarded the David Cohen Prize for a lifetime's achievement in British literature. In 2008, The Times ranked her fifth on a list of "The 50 greatest British writers since 1945". She died in 2013.

From the Back Cover

'During that first year in England, I had a vision of London I cannot recall now…it was a nightmare city that I lived in for a year. Then, one evening, walking across the park, the light welded buildings, trees and scarlet buses into something familiar and beautiful, and I knew myself to be at home.'

Doris Lessing wrote those words in 1957, and since then she has continued to observe both London and its inhabitants with the shrewd, sensitive eye of an artist. Representing over three decades of fine writing, 'London Observed: Stories and Sketches' contains eighteen perfect pen-portraits of Londoners and their city.

"Lessing maintains the nice tension between compassion and rather brutal detachment that is a characteristic of her best work."
INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY

"Lessing's vision of London is a brilliant diorama of comedy, tragedy and squalor, lifted by moments of true delight."
COSMOPOLITAN

"This collection is full of fine things."
THE TIMES

"These are intriguing, potent, witty and sometimes macabre tales."
TIME OUT

"She exercises the faculty of observation with an acuity and percipience shared by few other living writers."
HARPERS & QUEEN

"Explicit tenderness is a hallmark of many of these tales. Here's art holding up a mirror to life, to London, and declaring a vision untarnished, clear and steady."
NEW STATESMAN & SOCIETY

Edition details

• Publisher: Flamingo
• Publication date: 1993
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0586092269
• ISBN 13: 9780586092262
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 224