Here's some perspective on Doris Lessing and her Nobel win.
Unlike various pop stars, I am not well-read in Lessing. I did *The Golden Notebook* and that's pretty much it. I admire her contrarianism, her much-quoted "Oh christ, I couldn't care less" when told of her win. (And at 88, who can blame her?) Arguing against the idea of a literary canon, she wrote (I'm paraphrasing from memory), "The only reason to read a book is because you want to." She lived by a similar philosophy on the writing side, exploring critically-reviled genres like science fiction and fantasy in the face of the implicit pressure on her to write more "serious," "literary" works like TGN.
I did read an essay or an interview she gave quite a while ago, in which she spoke of saying goodbye to her children to go save the world. "I was absolutely sincere. There isn't much to be said for sincerity, in itself."
Doris Lessing *would*, in fact, be responsible for making the world a significantly better place, if we all would take that to heart.
