This is the first volume in the series of novels Doris Lessing calls collectively Canopus in Argos: Archives. Presented as a compilation of documents, reports, letters, speeches and journal entries, this purports to be a general study of the planet Shikasta–clearly the planet Earth–to be used by history students of the higher planet Canopus and to be stored in the Canopian archives. For eons, galactic empires have struggled against one another, and Shikasta is one of the main battlegrounds.Johar, an emissary from Canopus and the primary contributor to the archives, visits Shikasta over the millennia from the time of the giants and the biblical great flood up to the present. With every visit he tries to distract Shikastans from the evil influences of the planet Shammat but notes with dismay the ever-growing chaos and destruction of Shikasta as its people hurl themselves towards World War III and annihilation.
Shikasta: Re, Colonised Planet 5 (Vintage International)
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Editorial Reviews
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“An audacious and disturbing work from one of the world’s great living writers.” –Paul Gray, Time“A stunning book…. Read it, read Lessing like a message of hope in dark times…read her for a winter’s evening entertainment; read her to nourish your soul.” –Frank Pierson, Los Angeles Times“If the subsequent novels sustain the power of Shikasta…this series may well be a masterpiece.” –The Atlantic
About the Author
Doris Lessing was born of British parents in Persia, in 1919, and moved with her family to Southern Rhodesia when she was five years old. She went to England in 1949 and has lived there ever since. She is the author of more than thirty books—novels, stories, reportage, poems, and plays. In 2007, she was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature.
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45 of 46 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Last and first men,
This review is from: Shikasta: Re, Colonised Planet 5 (Vintage International) (Paperback)
Shikasta is the first, the largest (in bulk and in scope) and the most epic of the quintet collectively titled Canopus in Argos: Archives. It's a stunning work, one of the very few science-fiction novels to show any awareness of the cosmic perspective of Olaf Stapledon (Last and First Men, Star Maker), let alone adapt it into another, wholly independent vision. Shikasta is the name Canopus use for Earth; the word means broken, wounded, suffering. The book falls into two parts. The first is a science-fiction revision of the Old Testament, an astounding overview of the Canopean Empire's colonising efforts over vast forgotten tracts of time which have come down to us as fossilised, distorted myths. It makes for a breathtaking two hundred pages, rivalled for sheer dizzying cosmicism only by Stapledon, the best of Lovecraft and some of Stanislaw Lem. The second part of the book is the story of the Sherban family during the last days of Western civilisation; and particularly the story of George Sherban, an agent of Canopus who (as many times before) has taken on human shape in order to guide the evolution of the human race. Sherban's efforts, observed through the bewildered but movingly sympathetic eyes of his sister Rachel, and later by a thoughtful and humane Chinese colonial administrator, culminate in a vast show trial of the white races (the natives of what the Canopeans, with a fine sense of perspective, call "the Northwest fringes") for thousands of years of horrific oppression. Despite the glorious writing, admirable originality and a total refusal to settle for easy answers, I'm not altogether sure this second part quite comes off - after the merciless dissection of human frailties in Part One, it just doesn't seem credible for Sherban's scheme to work. And the ending comes perilously close to suggesting that if we could only kill off nine-tenths of the population and live in geometrically perfect cities, all our problems would be over. That said, however, Shikasta remains a great and compelling work, always fascinating and often deeply moving - an amazing synthesis of the cosmic perspective with the political and the personal. Small wonder that it took Lessing four more books to work out the implications as fully as she wished.
18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
One of the most influential books in my life,
By A Customer
This review is from: Shikasta: Re, Colonised Planet 5 (Vintage International) (Paperback)
I've read this book so many times over the years that by now I'm quite astonished to find it never loses its impact. It seems very much alive and growing to the challenge of a better understanding on my part. You may not like the perspective. However, accurate observation and a profound knowledge of human behavior and aim will disregard the wrapping they are delivered in. To call this a "Science Fiction" book is misleading. It is easier to read a newspaper at a certain distance from your face - and so it is perhaps easier to accept and digest the most uncomfortable facts about human society (and yourself) if the author goes about her business describing those from an outer-space-view. It's too close for comfort - and a most exciting and rewarding read.
23 of 26 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Like the series, but ...,
By wiredweird "wiredweird" (Earth, or somewhere nearby) - See all my reviews (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER) (TOP 500 REVIEWER)
This review is from: Shikasta: Re, Colonised Planet 5 (Vintage International) (Paperback)
Lessing's criticism of the twentieth century is pointed, somtimes funny, and ultimately hopeful. The other four books in her 'Canopus' series are much stronger, though.
Shikasta - the outsider's name for Earth - is presented in a series of vingettes, case studies, and partial exchanges of letters. Perhaps the intent was to create a mosaic from those many pieces. I just found it fragmentary; somehow, it never formed a whole, coherent image for me. Also, this book is longer than the others in the set. In those, Lessing makes her points concisely; this book's increased length just gave more of the poor organization. I recently re-read the other four books (not the proper order of the set of five), and came away more impressed than ever. Singly and as a set, they are wonderful. I'm glad I read this one last. If I had read this before the others I might not have bothered with them - that would have been a true loss on my part. I recommend the Canopus series most highly. The other books are among the finest literature I know. It is unfortunate that Shikasta does not rise to their standards, and it would be sad if a new reader judged the series by it's first member. //wiredweird
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