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A review by sam_bizar_wilcox
Re: Colonised Planet 5, Shikasta by Doris Lessing
5.0
There's really nothing else like it. I revisited Shikasta wondering if its unusual structure, its otherworldly framing, and its spiritualist/sufiist undercurrents would hold up now that I'm (marginally) more familiar with postmodern literature. And it still stuns.
Lessing writes a novel that achieves monumental greatness as its colossal scope and ambition allow for rich, profound critique of 20th century culture and society. The novel itself, conceived as an assemblage of artefacts, defies classification. Lessing addresses her contemporary subjects obliquely, the multifold texture of her writing and the speculative fiction aspects of the novel allow refract the angle of her judgment. But judge she does. And often with more aplomb and precision than she is given credit for (a tall order: Lessing was, after all, a Nobel laureate).
In truth, there's no way to fully review or apprehend this novel. It exists as a sort of experiment that upends expectations of serious fiction, science fiction, philosophy, religion, and art. It is a deeply political text - that is clear - but what else it is, well, it's impossible to say. Shikasta is a chimera, a vividly evolving mosiac that can only be experienced...and experienced again.
Lessing writes a novel that achieves monumental greatness as its colossal scope and ambition allow for rich, profound critique of 20th century culture and society. The novel itself, conceived as an assemblage of artefacts, defies classification. Lessing addresses her contemporary subjects obliquely, the multifold texture of her writing and the speculative fiction aspects of the novel allow refract the angle of her judgment. But judge she does. And often with more aplomb and precision than she is given credit for (a tall order: Lessing was, after all, a Nobel laureate).
In truth, there's no way to fully review or apprehend this novel. It exists as a sort of experiment that upends expectations of serious fiction, science fiction, philosophy, religion, and art. It is a deeply political text - that is clear - but what else it is, well, it's impossible to say. Shikasta is a chimera, a vividly evolving mosiac that can only be experienced...and experienced again.