Doris Lessing's The Golden Notebook - Page 292

Page 292

admin — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 10:24:22 -0500

This thread is for discussions about Page 292 of the online edition of The Golden Notebook, and the readers' comments. Please show a courteous regard for the presence of other voices in the discussion. We reserve the right to edit or delete comments that do not adhere to this standard.

Page 292

marthaquest — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 10:25:04 -0500

'an awful black whirling chaos is just outside me, waiting to move into me''

Page 292

Kirsten — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 10:48:52 -0500

I understood this section to be a rewriting of the earlier day. Throughout the text, Anna struggles with what she ought to leave in and what she ought to leave out - she battles with bringing order to chaos, which for her is writing from a certain perspective (she can't even choose one Anna to hold it all together, she divides herself into many Annas and many notebooks). This is a section where (I think) she was appalled by the way she had portrayed the course of events - perhaps she was too honest? Perhaps she saw it too many ways for a single one to be true? - and she decided to rewrite it in a linear, orderly way leaving many things out. I like that the layers of writing and rewriting are exposed so we can see how she reconciles the events and emotions in this draft.

Page 292

Sandra Singer — Sun, 03 Feb 2013 20:10:02 -0500

It would seem this page should be dated 17th September, 1954, since Anna writes it after she's "scored through" the previous entry from 17th September, 1954.