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ameliasbooks's review against another edition
Quirky characters, but didn't age well.
raulbime's review
3.0
Reading this book I was disappointed in myself that I hadn't seen the connections between Jane Somers, the protagonist of this book, and Miranda Priestly, the iconic character played by Meryl Streep in . Then I tried to imagine Miranda caring for old people and concerned with other societal problems and I understood why I missed it at first. But like Miranda, Jane in the office is a cold but formidable professional woman with great taste and of course running a popular women's magazine. Which makes me wonder if there's been some kind of template or requirements for upper middle-class white British women running magazines given these books were published before Anna Wintour (who Miranda Priestly was supposedly based off of) had risen to the ranks she had/has.
To the story itself, this is the second and final book of the Jane Somers books Lessing wrote under a pseudonym. Jane has fallen in love and taken in her young niece, and unlike the first book which focused on old age, this one focuses more on the relations and misunderstandings between the young and middle-aged. With the exception of sharp observations made now and then by the protagonist, I found this second book duller than the first one. Jane is a confusing and bewildering character, incredibly smart and discerning of certain issues yet terribly ignorant and even racist on others. I know that was Lessing's intention and it is a true reflection on how a lot of people are. I just wish I liked this one as much as I did the first book.
With this being the end of the books I had to ask myself whether I would have enjoyed them if a Jane Somers and not Doris Lessing had written them and I still don't know. Lessing's experiment on the difficulties of new writers gaining commercial success and readership was a success. She got the response she knew she would publishing under a pseudonym as a new writer (condescending reviews, comparatively fewer sales). I must admit to myself that I too have prejudices, and that the books I read are mostly from reviews and lists and friends' recommendations, I can't remember the last time I read a book without those and simply found a new writer spontaneously. I'm now horrified wondering what that means about how reading experiences are formed, and the good and even great writers that slip through the cracks along with their great stories we might never read.
To the story itself, this is the second and final book of the Jane Somers books Lessing wrote under a pseudonym. Jane has fallen in love and taken in her young niece, and unlike the first book which focused on old age, this one focuses more on the relations and misunderstandings between the young and middle-aged. With the exception of sharp observations made now and then by the protagonist, I found this second book duller than the first one. Jane is a confusing and bewildering character, incredibly smart and discerning of certain issues yet terribly ignorant and even racist on others. I know that was Lessing's intention and it is a true reflection on how a lot of people are. I just wish I liked this one as much as I did the first book.
With this being the end of the books I had to ask myself whether I would have enjoyed them if a Jane Somers and not Doris Lessing had written them and I still don't know. Lessing's experiment on the difficulties of new writers gaining commercial success and readership was a success. She got the response she knew she would publishing under a pseudonym as a new writer (condescending reviews, comparatively fewer sales). I must admit to myself that I too have prejudices, and that the books I read are mostly from reviews and lists and friends' recommendations, I can't remember the last time I read a book without those and simply found a new writer spontaneously. I'm now horrified wondering what that means about how reading experiences are formed, and the good and even great writers that slip through the cracks along with their great stories we might never read.
sarahreadsaverylot's review
4.0
What are our personal limits? Where do our responsibilities lie? How much do we owe to others and to ourselves? Jane Somers wants to know.
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