not bad, but forgettable. ( )

I was reading this book when I heard Doris Lessing had been awarded the Nobel prize in literature. As a science fiction fan I think Lessing was an excellent choice: she's both an interesting author and her bibliography includes science fiction - including some elements in this book.

Briefing for a Descent is about a man, who is found wandering around in London. He's taken into a psych ward for treatment and it soon turns out he has lost his memory. He sleeps a lot, dreaming intense and interesting dreams. Eventually he wakes up and the hospital staff find out his identity - then begins the task of making the man and the identity meet.

The book starts slowly and I'm fairly sure many people have started, but not finished. My recommendation is to skim through the early parts about floating in oceans - the book gets a bit more solid about halfway through and is actually quite interesting. Worth reading, definitely, if not the best one I've read from Lessing. (Review based on the Finnish translation.)

(Original review at my review blog.) ( )

...starts out rather slowly, and I was actually in danger of putting it down unfinished (something I almost never do); but I trudged through the early rough spots - in part out of commitment to this very blog - and finished it. And I'm very glad I did so.

Read the rest of my review of Briefing For a Descent Into Hell on my blog, The Nerd is the Word.

http://nerdword.blogspot.com/2006/01/... ( )