Shikasta: Re, Colonised Planet 5

by Doris Lessing

Book Overview

The first volume in the Canopus in Argos: Archives series is presented as a compilation of documents, reports, letters, speeches and journal entries, and purports to be a general study of the planet Shikasta-clearly the planet Earth-to be used by history students of the higher planet Canopus and to be stored in the Canopian archives.

For eons, galactic empires have struggled against one another, and Shikasta is one of the main...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0394749774
• ISBN13: 9780394749778
• Release Date: August 1981
• Publisher: Vintage
• Length: 384 Pages
• Weight: 0.90 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.1" x 7.9"

Customer Reviews

far away so close

I don't read a whole lot of novels, and truth be told I've never been able to read anything else of Lessing's. Yet this book remains indelible and forever in my heart. Lessing herself said that this work felt born through her as much as from her, and considering the discrimination and intellect of the woman, I take that as a powerful statement. And truly visionary this work is- it's able to zoom into the heart and process of darkness in our contemporary world without comprimise, then give the reader a view from above without sentiment or easy platitudes, with compassion and true insight. This is a true work of spirituality- that is bringing the heart and the intellect together, without resorting to easy answers. May each one of us aspire to the dedication and tireless compassion as does Johor in order to benefit beings.

The best in socio-cultural sci-fi

Shikasta is my all-time favorite sci-fi book -- and I've been reading sci-fi for over 40 years! If you like Ursula LeGuin's work, you'll love Shikasta, by Doris Lessing. It is a gripping, visionary tale. Written over 20 years ago, the story seems prophetic, as it describes much that is happening on our planet today. But it's not a sociological treatise. Far from it! The story revolves around the lives of three siblings, and the agony of trying to remember and then fulfil the reason they decided to reincarnate on Earth during a time of global crisis.Shikasta ties together the very personal, the immediate global, and the cosmic at the heart level. While there is plenty of action, this is not Buck Rogers. The story of Shikasta is the story of real people, human and non, struggling with the issue of how an individual can make a difference.I'm buying another copy because I lent my tattered one to someone who kept it!

a visionary marvel

Shikasta is one of those rare creations that defies classification, a gripping novel which through the medium of fantasy reveals deep truth. For its rich humanity, its scope and its uncanny perceptions of the human condition, this work is sure to last forever.

One of the most influential books in my life

I've read this book so many times over the years that by now I'm quite astonished to find it never loses its impact. It seems very much alive and growing to the challenge of a better understanding on my part. You may not like the perspective. However, accurate observation and a profound knowledge of human behavior and aim will disregard the wrapping they are delivered in. To call this a "Science Fiction" book is misleading. It is easier to read a newspaper at a certain distance from your face - and so it is perhaps easier to accept and digest the most uncomfortable facts about human society (and yourself) if the author goes about her business describing those from an outer-space-view. It's too close for comfort - and a most exciting and rewarding read.

A Compassionate and Brilliant Look at the Nature of Evil

This is a luminously compassionate and brilliant novel that on some intuitive level (the novel is multileveled) rings "true." It endeavors to explain the phenomenon of "evil," and, from where I stand, it is more "inclusive" in its vision than most anything else I've been exposed to in this life. At times, Lessing's images sing. At times they stumble and bog down, becoming overly concrete. But Lessing does not need to be forgiven as an author. One needs sunglasses and sunscreen just to read her. She's a modern day Cassandra holding a lightning rod for us: The ensuing flash illuminates the landscape all around us even as we inexorably move from one Age to the next.