After carefully reading cautionary reviews on LivingSocial (Facebook), I surmised that Mara and Dann would be slow and rewarding.  After reading the book, I agree with the many reviewers who describe the book as slow.  But rewarding?  How can a book filled with so many implausible actions and two-dimensional characters be rewarding?

For quite a while (150 pages?) I was hooked.  I loved the landscape and characters Lessing created.  I was swept away into a new world, with intriguing cultures and a vivid landscape.  I was curious to know Mara's thoughts and what would become of her.  But as the characters journey northward, the story loses coherence.

We move through several areas of Ifrik (Africa) and survey their societies.  But the journey itself has very little to compel us--we want to get north, because of some vague notion that things are better.  Other than that, there is precious little to pull us through the pages.  The book feels like a clump of settings tossed together.  At each stop, our protagonists get heavily involved, have intense relationships, lose each other, find each other, ditch everything, and move on.  At times the novel feels slapped together, with unlikely little moments to solve its own connundrums.

Worst of all is the goofy presence of Kulik, who somehow lurks in a variety of settings, all across the continent, only to end up in a comic book battle at the novel's end.  In her finale, as Lessing rushes to patch together and finish her increasingly silly story, she magically waves in a couple of long lost romantic interests.

I don't doubt that Lessing deserved the Nobel: I've heard that some of her other work is sublime.  But this novel, despite its promising start, reads more like a trinket: Lessing played with it for a while, then left it to be kicked around in the dust.
After carefully reading cautionary reviews on LivingSocial (Facebook), I surmised that Mara and Dann would be slow and rewarding. After reading the book, I agree with the many reviewers who describe the book as slow. But rewarding? How can a book filled with so many implausible actions and two-dimensional characters be rewarding? For quite a while (150 pages? ) I was hooked. I loved the landscape and characters Lessing created. I was swept away into a new world, with intriguing cultures and a vivid landscape. I was curious to know Mara's thoughts and what would become of her. But as the characters journey northward, the story loses coherence. We move through several areas of Ifrik (Africa) and survey their societies. But the journey itself has very little to compel us--we want to get north, because of some vague notion that things are better. Other than that, there is precious little to pull us through the pages. The book feels like a clump of settings tossed together. At each stop, our protagonists get heavily involved, have intense relationships, lose each other, find each other, ditch everything, and move on. At times the novel feels slapped together, with unlikely little moments to solve its own connundrums. Worst of all is the goofy presence of Kulik, who somehow lurks in a variety of settings, all across the continent, only to end up in a comic book battle at the novel's end. In her finale, as Lessing rushes to patch together and finish her increasingly silly story, she magically waves in a couple of long lost romantic interests. I don't doubt that Lessing deserved the Nobel: I've heard that some of her other work is sublime. But this novel, despite its promising start, reads more like a trinket: Lessing played with it for a while, then left it to be kicked around in the dust.