Customer Reviews

Canopus in Argos: Archives

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I am afraid this book may turn out to have a limited audience: too literary and "unrealistic" for science-fiction fans, and too fantastic for literary types. Too bad, because this is a stupendous book, or rather, series of novels. Some may think it strange that an author with as high-brow a reputation as Doris Lessing would stoop to writing "space fiction" (her term), but she has been incorporating sci-fi elements in her fiction as far back as The Four-Gated City, and maybe farther, depending on your definitions. What is science fiction if not the use of extreme and imaginative settings to point out truths invisible in our crowded world? Science fiction encourages "thinking outside the box," a concept that Lessing has explored in a lifetime of ground-breaking work. What are we? What does it mean to be human? Is there more? Lessing hits these questions with a courageous mind and an arsenal of experience and imagination.

These 5 novels are difficult reading but well worth the effort. Doris Lessing has taken her uncanny observation of the treachery of mankind and translated it into a narrative as presented by beings from Canopus. What they think of us, how they've influenced us. "Shikasta..." is the most harsh, and the most accurate and my favourite of the set. "The Marriages..." is a beautiful fairy tale. "The Sirian Experiments..." is an alternative view of "Shikasta" and a brilliant depiction of humankind. "The Representative..." is a beautifully written fantasy of a dying planet. "The Sentimental Agents" is a scathing, excellent commentary on the arrogance of rhetoric. Ours, of course... While these novels appear to be science fiction, they really are not. They are "Space Fiction" and are a thought-provoking, sometimes beautiful, but always brilliant view of our world and possible others...

Many who read this book would be shocked to learn that Doris Lessing dropped out of school at the age of 14, considering the breadth of knowledge she displays. Maybe they would be less surprised to learn that this series was written shortly after she began studying Sufism. This series not only presents a clever way of providing some persective on human affairs, it also give to us a mythology of prehistory as valid as any other I've come across. The Canopean view of Shammat as not necessarily "evil" and the idea of "forced evolution" were especially valuable to me.
Some parts may be difficult but I found it all highly stimulating and obviously it is very well written. If you're unfamiliar with Chinese culture or have no background knowledge, a book on Chinese history may seem terribly boring to you. Similarly, these books may bore you if you haven't any interest in pre-history or spiritual dimensions. This is a work of science fiction and those who appreciate the genre should enjoy it, however, it is one of those pieces with a broader appeal, perhaps comparable to some of Vonnegut's work.
Robert Anton Wilson's introduction to his illustrated screenplay, Reality is What You Can Get Away With, is an homage to this book and confirmed a feeling I had that this should be added to the Discordian Canon. I know very few who have read this marvel and none who were disappointed. I keep my volumes in a place of honor.

One of the most rewarding and thought-provoking series of books you are likely to ever read in your life. By all means go and get them. Of particular interest to me over the years have been "Shikasta" (which I have come to think of as a fascinating parable about the directions you are going to take with your own life and why) and "The Marriages Between Zones Three, Four And Five" (a gut-wrenching "fairy tale" about relationships between women and men). Both of those books beautifully show how conditioning cripples our abilities to perceive and evolve. To do this from a space fiction point of view was highly unusual (to say the least) at the point in time the books were written, but with regard to today's smudging of the borders between genres, this seems more commonplace. Anyone interested in the concepts related to the description of Zone 6 (Shikasta), might also enjoy reading "The Active Side Of Infinity" by Carlos Castaneda, whereas women wrestling with the relationship-related kind of conditioning (Marriages), may find "The Sorcerer's Crossing" by Taisha Abelar as interesting as I did.

I think that it is fascinating that Ms. Lessing resorts to science (she calls it 'space')fiction to tell her story. It is really several stories and I think each book can be read on its own. They are better read as a whole. I particularly liked the story of the bureaucrat from Sirius. That book is a terrific analysis of a conscientious and pragmatic official who is completely in the dark and how life is gradually illuminated for her. It is a very well written book and I recommend all for any readers but particularly the first, Shikasta, and the Sirius Experiments. ( It has been 10 years since I read these)

I admit that my taste in literature is not typical, so I will list my favorite novelists in English here so you can get an idea of whether my review might be relevant for you: Sherman Alexie, William S. Burroughs, James Branch Cabell, Stephen Crane, Robertson Davies, Ralph Ellison, Joseph Heller, Jack Kerouac, George Orwell, Thomas Love Peacock, Laurence Sterne, Jonathan Swift, Mark Twain, Kurt Vonnegut, Nathanael West.

I think that Canopus in Argos is an incredible achievement. Five novels, all different, all stand alone classics, yet interwoven in such a way that reading all five in order enriches each one. The novels are all set more or less in the same "science-fictiony" milieu (though the second book is only tangentially related to the others), a galactic world dominated by three main powers: Shammat of Puttiora, which seeks largely to disrupt and create havoc; Sirius, which seeks to control and reorder; and Canopus, which strives for a harmonious balance of forces over the very long run. The first book was written over a long period when Lessing was laid up with a badly-broken leg. Its downcast description of an Earth-like (possibly Earth itself) planet's experiences with global economic and ecological deprivation is just the sort of thing that a cranky house-bound person might come up with. The second book is the most unlike the others, basically a fantasy exploring spiritual development through social evolution, especially related to gender. The third book further develops the identities of the three competing major galactic empires, especially from the perspective of the bureaucratic Sirians. The fourth book, my personal favorite, is a story of incredible sadness and despair that evolves at the very end into joy and triumph, one of the most cathartic experiences I have ever had through literature. The final book focuses more on the theme of the competing historical worldviews of the three empires from a Canopean perspective, and with more attention to Shammat than any of the previous books.

If you enjoy serious and subtle explorations of large historical and spiritual themes then I believe that you will enjoy Canopus In Argos: Archives.

she has some very cool ideas here and there
but for the most part, these books just drag on and on and on serving only to make some personal moral/philosophical statement that i think could have been saved for interviews or personal discussion

This entire series is deplorable. The second book held slight interest, but as far as I could tell, had nothing to do with the rest of the series. The ideas are insipid, overused, and uninspired. Long and not worth the effort.