 The Good Terrorist divided reviewers , with some being impressed by the book 's insight and characterization , and others complaining about the novel 's style and the character 's lack of depth . One critic complimented Lessing 's " strong descriptive prose and her precise and realistic <unk> " , but another called the book 's text " surprisingly bland " , and described the characters as " trivial or two @-@ dimensional or crippled by self @-@ <unk> " . The Good Terrorist was shortlisted for the Booker Prize , and won the <unk> Prize and the <unk> Smith Literary Award . 
