Mara and Dann: An Adventure

This is an ancient story told in a post apocalyptic setting. I find it interesting and really like the characters

I've read quite a few of Doris Lessing's books over the years, The Good Terrorist, Memoirs of a Survivor, to name a couple,and this book is every bit as exceptional as those. I first read Mara and Dann when it came out, but I was working then, bogged down with mental "noise" and I don't think I read it deeply enough. I just finished reading it for the 2nd time, and I thought it was wonderful, though not without a few minor flaws. About three quarters of the way through the book began to drag, seemed repetitious. It seemed a bit contrived, too, that after many separations, various characters always seemed to find each other, just suddenly come upon them somewhere else. And the ending seemed surprisingly pat given the unique nature of the story. Some read this book as an inditement of humanity today, of its destruction of our global environment. But I don't get that from this book, although Lessing does wax political at times. The characters talk about eons of ice ages; you can't blame every ice age from the beginning of time on human behavior.That said, the characters of both Mara and Dann were intriguing to me. Most of the time, Mara seems like Dann's "moral compass." While he saved her life, cared enough to return to the rock village to get her, he often treats her brutally, such as when he is gambling, puts her up as collateral, and loses her. Mara's love for him never falters and she seems to understand his good and bad personalities. The fact that this brother and sister edge up very close to having an incestuous relationship is very interesting - made me ask, is it our strong social taboo alone that keeps the vast majority of us from having sex with a sibling? Maybe so. Maybe we are not wired to resist the attraction of a sister or brother any more than we'd resist it with a non sibling. Mara and the woman who took care of her and Dann in the Rock village are the most admirable characters in this story. They are solid, never waver. You have to ask, who am I in this modern American civilization with all my comforts, plenty of food, a nice place to live; who would I be in a brutal, semi or non civilized world where survival is a moment to moment challenge. Do we really believe we are so good and moral that we would not behave as they do in Mara and Dann's world? Civilization advanced as survival became more secure. This story offers a wealth of ideas to contemplate.

This is the tale of the survival and adventures of two interesting characters in the distant future after much of civilization has declined on the earth. At every point, the reader could cynically question the believability of the details of what happens, but it is much more fun to be carried along for the ride. This is an adult "Chronicles of Narnia" with themes about loyalty and hope. Lessing carries the story energetically along, and there is always something new. The most difficult character is Dann. I am guessing that his mercurial changeability is meant to result from his early abuse, but it does get a bit tiresome, and you wonder why someone doesn't suggest he try to do better. Lessing is a "big" author. She just seems to have stories spout from her as from a spring, and they tumble down the hillside in somewhat unruly manner. If you want perfection of plot and style, she may not be your cup of tea. If you want a boundless and sympathetic exposition of human frailties and human efforts at goodness, you will find her wonderful

I loved this novel. It's a real page turner, for one thing. You can't wait to read on to the next chapter to see what will happen. I found myself really caring about the main characters, and thinking about them during the day when I wasn't reading the book.The future setting is fascinating. It's fun to see our time through the eyes of people walking around in the ruins of our civilization.Lessing does not hesitate to make her characters suffer - the book is not for the faint of heart - but it's all to good end, and she rescues them very pleasingly when you think they can't take it any more.Finally, the book (without preaching, except a tiny bit at the very end) has given me a real appreciation of basic necessities like water and food and safety that we take for granted, and what it would be like to do without them. I swear, I am taking shorter showers since reading it!

I loved this book. The story evolves like the journey the main characters take, with each page revealing more detail, background and character. Action is well-paced and also becomes more complex through the book. The theme of moving from drought to abundance is reflected in the structure of the book, the development of the characters, the richness of the content. A masterful example of this Nobel Prize-winning author's ability to build a world into which readers escape in order to face real issues like climate change, power struggles, technology, and more. Fascinating especially for us today facing climate change choices.

When this book was first published, in 1999, the issue of global warming was, if not exactly fringe, certainly not the accepted concept that it is today. Doris Lessing, who has written visionary works before, has done it again here. With a compelling story taking place thousands of years in Earth's future, she has created a horrifying scene of what may be our climate in the not too distant future. Although we and our offspring may not see the extremes depicted in the book, Lessing may have overestimated the number of years it will take to have abysmal conditions on Earth by several thousand years.Read it and you may have nightmares. I did.

Many times while reading this book, I felt as though I were at a "story telling". The book reads more like someone sitting across from you telling a story than you sitting and reading another novel. It felt like a personal encounter with the author. Also, I felt as if the book was really, really long in some places but found myself reading and captivated by every word. People who liked "The Handmaids Tale" by Margaret Atwood, although a completely different type of story and writing, might like this book. Enjoy!

This imaginative story is a straightforward adventure, set in the distant future in Ifrik (Africa) when climactic change has marooned remnant human societies, which have reverted to a pre-industrial culture.Unlike the ecstatic reviewers quoted on the back of the book, I did not find great depth or wisdom - but there is a certain compelling toughness. The characters are fairly wooden, though Mara, from whose perspective the story is told, becomes more complex.The narrative is episodic, as Mara and her brother Dann flee north (from southern Africa) to escape overwhelming drought. They stay or are enslaved in feudalistic townships, whose culture and peoples vary greatly and sometimes bizarrely.As the story progresses, I felt that each new scenario was less fully imagined or real than the one before. But the opening chapters in the desiccated and hostile village of the Rock People were very effective, notably the harsh landscape and the threatening, strange animals and people.The close relationship between Mara and Dann is at the heart of the story. Their mutual dependency and love, threatened by Dann's wild egotism, holds one's interest. At the end, incestuous desires almost take the story in a radical direction, but a somewhat perfunctory happy ending (at least for Mara) closes off this more dangerous avenue.

I normally don't enjoy science fiction at all but this was amazing. It had sufficient references to current reality, in terms of African geography and world events, for me to be able to handle it well. The two main characters were a great thread to hang the novel on. I really loved Mara, even though I was cross with her at times. I would like to read the sequel. Doris Lessing is a very clever author. I have read two other books by her and would like to read a lot more.

Lessing is one great writer imagining and reflecting the very concerns of today's and tomorrow's world in 1999. A truly gripping novel dealing with environmental and human issues all the same.

Very perceptive and original storytelling. But I wouldn't have expected less from Doris Lessing. I've already read the sequel and thought it outstanding.

good condition