The Cleft 2010-07-14

Reviewer: K.Thompson

I'm not quite sure how many words I want to waste in a review of this utter trash. Doris Lessing clearly is considered one of the greatest authors of the twentieth century, so why she chose to hide her skills in such a complete waste of time is beyond me. Both the title and the synopsis on the back cover imply that the book would have feminist (under)tones. Fine. However, Lessing seemed to combine this feminist style with those of Herodotus, Homer, and William Golding. The result was less than appealing.

While reading this "novel" (a loosely-applied term here), I felt like there was supposed to be all this great symbolism. The act of the Clefts "separating" themselves from the Monsters. The fact that it was the giant eagles (and not some other mythical or prehistoric creature) that befriended the Monsters and later protected the mixed communities of Clefts and Monsters. The evolution of what still are the most basic human urges and fights between the sexes. But quite frankly, these instances were really more laughable than anything else and the story is as deep as a kiddie pool.

In addition, structurally the novel was completely disorganized. First, it seemed to be a general history based on oral tradition. Fine. Then, we learn about the narrator, and the parallels between his experiences and those of the Monsters and Clefts. Weird, but still fine. Then we have these "heroes" of Maire, Horsa (with his Odyssey meets Lord of the Flies sub-plot), and Maronna, with whom I can only guess the reader was supposed to sympathize. And to top it off, there are multiple randomly-spaced freshman philosophy major rants like the following: "If you have had authority all your life, because of your nature, something you never knew you had, and then you lose it, then it is hard even to ask the right questions."

I prefer the concepts of getting teeth pulled without novocaine and sticking needles in my eye over those of reading this book again or recommending it to others. Even people who enjoy reading "bad literature for the sake of its 'bad'-ness" are wasting their time and money. Avoid this book like the plague.

Origin myths 2010-04-26

Reviewer: Joanne Marinelli

I have now had my kindle for more than 6 months, and The Cleft was one of the first roughly contemporary texts on which I took a roll of the dice, and I have to agree with the critical reviews Amazon lists. The Cleft is a bad idea in the hands of a great author, and the juxtapostion between the Imperial Roman life we can all reach back to against this proto-human society isn't enough. I sense, at times, that Lessing wants to radicalize feminist anger to the point of being repulsive, but she never quite overcomes her own limitations through dealing with the creation of pre-civilized humanity. Sample her science fiction, her South African stories, but take a pass on this, because nothing actually happens that makes this worth the effort.

Dull and offensive 2010-02-05

Reviewer: Grace Ann Pokel

I was reading another one star review and laughed out loud- that person got to page 163 and just quit. I made it to page 187, but then I stopped- and I NEVER stop reading a book before I'm finished. While trying to wade through this, I alternated between being bored and being angry. The gender stereotypes in this book are alarming- women are lazy, nagging, and fat; men are adventurous but can't be bothered to keep toddlers alive. Little girls don't become vivacious until they are fathered by men . . . seemingly women are passive in toto unless there is some male element within them. The book also suggests that being raped to death is less offensive than castration. I was shocked the entire time that this book had been written by a woman- seriously, DO NOT READ THIS.

Layers of myth 2009-11-27

Reviewer: Philip Spires

I often wait a day or two before writing a review. I find that my appreciation of a work often changes on reflection, sometimes magnifying the experience, sometimes diminishing it. In the case of Doris Lessing's The Cleft, a little distance has considerably enhanced the initial impression, which was less than favourable.

The Cleft is quite a short novel. It just seems long. The language isn't difficult, likewise neither are setting or plot. Not that there's much of either.

We begin with a society that's entirely female and where procreation just happens. When "monsters" appear, babies with ugly extra bits on the front, they are either killed or mutilated. Killing involves leaving the tiny bundles of flesh on a rock for eagles to take. But the cunning birds aren't always hungry.

A community of squirts - grown-up monsters - begins to thrive and the women find they have to interact. New activities are mutually invented and suddenly all is change. A new race or perhaps merely a new society develops via proto-parents, develops at least twice, in fact. Journeys are made. Promised lands reveal promise. New orders establish themselves.

Meanwhile, we realise that this creation myth is being related by a Roman gentleman who has his own domestic battle of the sexes. At first sight this extra layer of narrative seems redundant. Eventually an elemental force binds the myth to the narrator's present. The link is tenuous and as a plot device, its impact fails. It does, however, conceptually link the narrator with the related myth.

After all, Romans were themselves created, they believed, out of a myth where a pair of lads were nurtured by an animal. The military tradition (equals male) by which Rome prospered was founded on the social control of Sparta, not the demos of Athens. Sparta was probably the ultimate macho male society, where the old were revered and women were chattel, though they could own property. Doris Lessing at one point refers to Spartan youth being separated from their families at the age of seven to hone military and combat skills via camaraderie. Such an exile the monsters of The Cleft invent for themselves.

Galling at first reading and later informative were the repeated gender stereotypes that dominate Doris Lessing's narrative. The repeated use of these bludgeoning concepts had more than an air of artifice. Looking back, I now see that this actually enhanced what emerged as the book's overarching idea, which is our need for myth and the necessity of reducing it to the level of populist fairy tale.

The eagles who nurtured the monsters play god. The way we organise our society demands certain role models, while ceremony, often barbaric, such as genital mutilation, allies us to ideals and ideas we prefer not to question. In the end we have to explain elemental forces beyond our control and myth is our refuge.

Stick with The Cleft. It's a tortuous journey, but it is worth it in the end, an end whose only solace may only be found in myth.

enjoyable 2009-10-12

Reviewer: Ingrid I. Roze

the story line is well described by other reviewers. this is a simple book, a simple story, and there is enough there to make it intriguing and generally enjoyable. it presents an interesting idea, and perspective. not a great literary work but a good yarn told by a master writer. a story attempting to get at the ongoing struggles between men and women, and while not greatly successful, successful enough to be worth reading. i would definitely recommend this book.