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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
The Persistent Clutch of Family, April 17, 2002
By A Customer
Doris Lessings's 24th novel, "The Sweetest Dream" concerns itself with people from whom we never seem to find escape, even if we want to...family members. This is a book that many people may not like. It's fairly long, not divided into chapters and, for the most part, lacks a plot. Rather than plot, Lessing chooses to concentrate of the needs of family members instead...immediate family members and extended family members. This is a book filled with "issues" and each character seems to have his or her opinion on each and every one of them. If the book seems too long, consider this: the pages are filled with so much dialogue during the discussion of these "issues" that they (the pages) simply fly by. It really doesn't take long to read "The Sweetest Dream." I wouldn't say that this book is "about" anyone in particular, although its heart and soul is Frances Lennox a British actress and writer, who, at a very young age, made the mistake of marrying Johnny, a devout communist. Although she attempted to correct that mistake, she seems to only become mired even more deeply in Johnny's troubled life and times. Frances and her two teenaged boys are at home much of the time while Johnny cavorts in various parts of the world. He only seems to light long enough to deposit yet another person on Frances' doorstep for her to take care of. (The latest being Johnny's current wife.) Frances finally finds a little peace and solace in the home of Johnny's widowed mother, Julia. This is a house filled with misfits: Frances' and Johnny's sons' friends and Sylvia, the troubled, anorxic daughter of Johnny's current wife. Although Frances dreams of the theatre, the need for cash seems to trap her in the world of journalism instead. Meantime, she's become the "family" caretaker and caregiver, much to Julia's distress. Why doesn't Frances tell the selfish and self-centered Johnny when to quit? After all, his own mother thinks he's a cad, a brute, a loser. Frances, though, just keeps on lavishing love while her dreams of the theatre and a real man by her side seem to be slipping away. To find out whether they really do or not, you'll have to read the book. While "The Sweetest Dream" is a very well-written novel with a premise that seems to have all the requirements, as I read, I realized that something was missing from the narrative. It is passion, fire. The characters seem almost defeated from the start. While believable, they are somewhat flat. I think Lessing needed to delve more deeply into their hearts and souls. It is only in the book's final development that Lessing really lets us care. And no, it isn't too late. In the final analysis, however, "The Sweetest Dream," though a little flat, is still a wonderful book and one any fan of Doris Lessing absolutely should not miss.
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15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great Social Commentary, April 27, 2002
While there are many critiques of the radical left written by conservatives (often as dogmatic and out of touch with reality as their targets), this is a critique from a liberal/moderate left viewpoint that should touch a chord to people who are concerned about the injustices in the world while knowing that there are no simple solutions. The title of the book refers to the dream world that will come after the "glorious revolution." This book is in the form of a narrative about a group of people from the sixties until our time. The plot is rather weak and several of the characters are extreme stereotypes but they and the story serve as a vehicle to chronicle the social evolutions of the last 40 years and it is there where Lessing is at her best giving wonderful snapshots of the times while providing her sharp social commentary. The story takes place in London and a fictional African country that seems to stand for Zimbabwe. There are strong sketches of the suffering of the African people, emphasizing the role of the local corrupt despots in contributing to their misery. Lessing does not use the term, but I have heard Africans describing their new elite as the "black British". Her descriptions do justice to the term. She provides devastating pictures of the radical left, both of the old time Communists and of the "new" left. Comrade Johnny is as irresponsible a husband and father as one can possibly imagine and at the same time an unrepentant Stalinist who completely disregards reality. His dogmatism may seem unreal but I had the misfortune of knowing such people when I was growing up (outside the U.S.) and they are indeed as dogmatic as Lessing describes them (and often almost as irresponsible as comrade Johnny). The main sympathetic characters are three women, unselfish in the extreme. Johnny's mother Julia, his first wife Frances, and his stepdaughter Sylvia provide the models for women who keep families and societies together in each of three generations. There is also an African woman, Rebecca, who plays a similar role in a mission and eventually she dies from AIDs transmitted to her by her husband. Sylvia works as a doctor in an African mission hospital and she provides the main link between the two geographical locales. Most of the male characters are unsympathetic, from the corrupt African officials to the globe trotting agents of "philanthropic" organizations that tend to do more harm than good. However, there are several female villains as well. One of them, Rose, is a vitriolic yellow journalist as self-centered and irresponsible as the male villains. Lessing provides devastating and funny sketches of her and other extreme feminists. With all her feminism Rose complains that "political correctness" is plot of the American imperialists to take over the world. Another ultra-feminist comes across the statement that the "female mosquito transmits malaria" and rails against the "fascist" establishment that she thinks is responsible for the statement. Because political and social commentary is a big (and the strongest) component of this book the reader's own political orientation will affect the enjoyment of the book. If you think that Stalin has been misunderstood, or if you think that social problems will be solved by posting the ten commandments in schools, this is not a book for you.
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14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
truly fine, if a bit long-suffering, July 8, 2002
This is a wonderful novel about an extended, 60s-style household: for one reason or another - damaged families, poverty, even laziness - people congregate to heal and party. There are two strong women at the center of it: a German immigrant and her daughter-in-law, whom the former's do-nothing, Marxist son abandoned with two young grandchildren. The reader follows all of their fates over a period of about 40 years, from war-torn London to a fictional developing country near S Africa. It is vivid and moves very swiftly.
The characters are extremely well developed and exist in a kind of static balance even as they change and grow: there is always at least one angry and presumptuous taker, one giving and loving soul who is saving someone, one person healing and ready to move into a do-gooder role themselves. Etc. When one leaves the nest, another seems to take her place in rapid succession, and most of them tend to return as if to their own families. The balance of personalities is well thought out and realistic.
What distinguishes this novel from those that are similar is that, rather than romanticizing the characters in some two-dimensional way, Lessing is simply relentless in showing their shortcomings and limitations. Fate does not deal kindly with any of the characters, though some (not necessarily the nice ones) do better than others; the evil ones rarely get theirs, though they lead rather sad lives, and the good ones must struggle very hard just to tread water.
Lessing is also very hard on all the ideologies that are floating through the plot: she goes after communists, hippies, feminists, the internationalist development elite, journalists, and even Third World leaders. In other words, there are no simple answers; instead, the questions just get tougher. While there is a lot of humor in this, it is very dense, a kind of reverse history of idealism, showcasing the self-serving egotism that underlies the motives of virtually all the characters. What is amazing is how well it succeeds in bringing these ideas to life through the characters, though I found the second half of the book, much of which takes place in Africa, less strong than the first half.
Finally, the people are all extremely English. This means that there are many levels to read the book on, with subtexts implied rather than stated outright. Far more tedious than that is the patience of those suffering or being taken advantage of: I wondered what martyr complex led them to tolerate real jerks who turned around and betrayed them in horrendously destructive, cruel, and selfish ways. (I would have kicked them out without a thought, but then I am only married to a Brit and far less tolerant than she.) That is the only tedious bit in this truly fine novel.
Warmly recommended.
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