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keegan_leech's review against another edition
challenging
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
A very interesting read, don't get me wrong! It's just... maybe this is one of those "better in theory" kind of ideas. There are many interesting moments and ideas, but the novel seems like one that would have worked better as a collection of much condensed short stories, with its weaker sections cut entirely.
Shikasta especially drags in the middle, although to explain why, it's necessary to discuss the central conceit and themes of the novel. If you want to avoid all spoilers and go in blind, skip the rest of this review. Just know that I found this interesting, but not enough to recommend it unless you're really curious about Doris Lessing's Strange Science Fiction Experiment, and won't be put off by poor execution.
Let the essay begin! Major spoilers will still be tagged. Since the novel can be quite naturally divided into three major parts, that's how I'll structure this review.
Shikasta especially drags in the middle, although to explain why, it's necessary to discuss the central conceit and themes of the novel. If you want to avoid all spoilers and go in blind, skip the rest of this review. Just know that I found this interesting, but not enough to recommend it unless you're really curious about Doris Lessing's Strange Science Fiction Experiment, and won't be put off by poor execution.
Let the essay begin! Major spoilers will still be tagged. Since the novel can be quite naturally divided into three major parts, that's how I'll structure this review.
Part One — God is a Little Green Man
Shikasta is a fictional planet which—it quickly becomes apparent—is simply one of the names given to Earth by the aliens that colonise it and oversee its development. In this first part, we're given a brief history of Shikasta, and an introduction to the setting. One thing that's also clear very quickly is that this first part is essentially a reinterpretation of several Old Testament stories: the Fall of Man, the Flood, etc. All are reimagined with benevolent, paternalistic aliens—the Canopeans—taking on the roles of God, angels, prophets, and so on.
This puts an interesting spin on the stories. The Canopeans are powerful and intelligent, but not all-powerful. The Flood in Shikasta is not deliberate, but an ecological accident which they cannot prevent. Similarly, the utopian version of Shikasta that substitutes for Eden collapses because of a quirk of planetary mis-alignment, not because humanity is cast out of the Garden for its sins.
The Canopeans are not the only aliens to colonise Shikasta. Another group, the Sirians, perform ecological experiments in the Southern hemisphere of the planet (apparently detailed in a sequel). Then there's the Shammat, who essentially play Satan, devils, evil influence, and so on in opposition to the influence of the Canopeans.
This first part of the novel is interesting. I enjoyed exploring its religious themes and inspirations through Lessing's somewhat mystical science-fiction lens. But it does start to feel a little... arbitrary after a time. No one in the novel really seems to be in control of their actions. The people of Shikasta behave as the alignment of the heavens dictates. The Canopeans, while they have a sort of strict, paternalistic idea of how things should operate on Shikasta, don't seem to have much free will either. It is unclear to what degree they can affect the world, and to what degree they are passive observers just like the Shikastans. But this is at least an interesting approach to role as deity/deities in the novel.
Part Two — We Know Every Great Moral Truth and We're Not Sharing
This is where the paternalistic, omniscient overlord vibes really become irritating. The second part of the novel is essentially several characters sketches set on 20th century Earth. It is mostly setup for the final part, but Lessing also uses this part to comment on human nature, colonisation, racism, class, and global politics in the 20th century (less insightfully, in my opinion, than she does in the final part).
Throughout this section, the Canopean narrator constantly looks down upon Shikasta. He essentially says, in many more words, "Look at these poor, confused people squabbling over their petty politics, messy emotions, and self-imposed divisions." There is some cutting and well-directed criticism of humanity, but for the most part it is written from such a condescending, detached point of view that it loses what impact it should have.
Often, Lessing will make jabs at the stubborn ideological divisions of Cold War politics, which start out well but end in a kind of milquetoast "No one is right, though we enlightened Canopeans can see clearly the true way of things, which are obvious to anyone not as simple as these humans". But what use is that to a reader? It doesn't suggest solutions to social or political issues, just a kind of blanket pity for humanity. Humanity which—in the setting of Shikasta—is guided by the motion of the heavens more so than individual moral choices or beliefs.
The first two parts of the novel are almost in direct thematic opposition to one another. In the first, it is the character of the Canopeans which holds the most interest. After all, humanity seems practically incapable of directing itself, and while Canopean interference seems to have some impact on the course of events on Shikasta, it sits in tension with the fallibility and limitations of the Canopeans. In the second part, the Canopeans are simultaneously all-knowing but distant observers with nothing insightful to say about events on Shikasta, or (sent to the planet as envoys in the form of humans) subject to the same lack of free will, moral failings, and corruption as the rest of Shikasta. They are omniscient beings with no specific moral philosophy looking down on short-sighted humans with no apparent capability for ethical decision-making.
Part three is only able to regain interest by abandoning the omniscience of the Canopeans that has been present throughout the first two parts.
Part Three — The Good Bit
In the final part of the novel, the Canopean narrator is sent to Shikasta with a plan to direct the planet back onto its proper moral course. He is born into the body of a normal human being, and the events of his life are narrated by several other people who encounter him.
Finally, with no idea of how the Canopeans think events on Shikasta should unfold, the actions and moral choices of the characters have some kind of weight to them. The narrator takes the name George Sherban
This part extends well into what was, for Lessing, the future. She imagines ecological, economic, and political catastrophe. And the combination of this speculative future with a focus on the thoughts and motivations of individual people (made more complex by the lack of an omniscient narrator) makes the novel much more engaging. I found this final part engrossing and it really flew by.
Actions and events are no longer reduced to either "A good thing which happens thanks to the successful influence of Canopus" or "A bad thing caused by planetary alignment/Shammat's influence/Shikastan short-sightedness". Does the climax of the novel represent some moral triumph brought on by the successful efforts of Canopus, or is is an example of their efforts being corrupted by human politicking? Has George Sherban carried out his mission as intended, or has he brought about undue emotional and physical distress in the process? Because there's no omniscient beings to answer these questions for us, finally you the reader get to have some of your own thoughts about the novel.
Conclusion — TL;DR
At the end of it all, I was glad to have read Shikasta, and I'm even tempted by the sequels. But I don't think I'm tempted enough. The book just went on too long and said too little to be really worth the time (and I wrote this review! I will put up with a really unforgivable degree of waffling!) It is interesting to read unusual and experimental science fiction, especially from an author known for her literary fiction, but I can get the same thing elsewhere, with greater thematic depth and more satisfying results.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Colonisation
Minor: Genocide, Racial slurs, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Toxic relationship, War, Death of parent, Classism, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Addiction, Child death, Emotional abuse, and Xenophobia
Most things I CW'd are mentioned only in passing, and not focused on heavily or for extended periods. Just about all of the potentially triggering content is described in a neutral, detatched way. It is typically on par with the kind of brief description you might find in a history textbook or news report. Even more personal content is often described with some degree of remove or detatchment.jwells's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Strong character development? No
I can see from other reviews that this book can be polarizing, but so far I don't believe it deserves either the five star reviews or the pans. It's interesting for what it is, a 70s literary author trying out the tropes of science fiction in service of her own non-genre vision. I had issues with it, but sometimes I enjoy a book that makes me argue with the author.
I sometimes think it's pretentious when a literary writer refuses to call her work science fiction, no matter that it is full of aliens and spaceships. (Like they think they are special. Guys, genre writers also use the trope toolbox to comment on the real world. Read some books.) But Lessing speaks respectfully of her SF writer colleagues, and refers to her own work as "space fiction," which makes me think she isn't being a genre snob. Perhaps she is taking note of the inaptness of the label "science fiction" for soft SF writers such as herself. Lessing is a humanist interested in religion, not in the hard sciences.
This book, I take it, is a religious allegory, in which the aliens from Canopus play the role of God. I found this mix of genre with religion a bit uneasy. It's one thing to suggest that the glory of every human accomplishment is due to God. (Whether one believes this or not, I at least understand why people believe it.) It's another thing entirely to imagine that everything humans have ever done has been due to well-intentioned, meddling, paternalistic aliens. They are far from all-powerful or all-knowing. In fact, they are constantly battling enemies for control of the fate of humanity, with no guarantee that they will win.
This made me feel somewhat resentful, to be honest. LOL. So Canopeans make us humans smart, give us technology, but can't stop the evil forces from warping it into pollution, and nuclear weapons, until we are in danger of destroying ourselves. Why the heck didn't they leave us alone? Weren't we doing just fine as a bunch of apes sleeping in trees and cracking nuts with rocks? Either get better at playing God or quit! Ugh.
But I guess we got stuck with them (in this story). The space fiction tropes allow Lessing to talk about a lot of topics, and I thought the book aged well in that respect, unfortunately because we are still dealing with the same BS, 40+ years later: racism and colonialism, pollution and environmental exploitation, endless wars, politicians who are professionally required to be shallow and dishonest. Young people who think they will live forever, and old people who regret that they never lived how they wanted.
At times the book can be slow (at the start) and/or gratingly educational (that trial), but there are also many places where it shines with love of humanity (the story of Shireen and Fatima, for example). And Lessing's vision of how humanity could be (once free of the evil influence) is very beautiful. It makes me almost wish that reality was so clear cut as to contain good and evil aliens fighting over us. I fear we aren't so important. lol
mgreenbe's review
5.0
A beautiful, impossible scifi novel from a master of literature.
It starts very slow---I mean, it begins by covering the entire history of the Earth, so you have to be a bit patient. Excellent plot, rich characters, intriguing ideas (without being a burdensome 'philosophical novel').
A top 5 book for me.
It starts very slow---I mean, it begins by covering the entire history of the Earth, so you have to be a bit patient. Excellent plot, rich characters, intriguing ideas (without being a burdensome 'philosophical novel').
A top 5 book for me.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Suicide, Xenophobia, Violence, and War
a_sullivan16's review
2.0
I really can’t finish it. If you’re taken by the first 20 pages, you’ll enjoy it through to the end, I imagine. But the style and pacing never change (the latter may get slower, actually) and if truly read like a textbook. I did my best. I don’t think it deserves the ire of some of these reviews, however.
alleeme's review against another edition
4.0
I found a old copy of this on the shelf of a hostel in Guatemala. It is a collection of correspondences, files, and encyclopedic-like entries on the planet, Shikasta, aka Earth. Really fantastic glimpse into a mythology that Lessing keeps rather vague, but that works well for this novel. There are continuations of the narrative of Shikata that Lessing also wrote, but I hear they have a different approach.
joncperson's review
3.0
I really enjoyed the format and I thought the way the story was told was incredibly creative. I didn't particularly like the content though and found this far too cynical and not completely realized.
narzibenoucdel's review against another edition
challenging
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5