Author(s): Lessing, Doris
Label: Naxos AudioBooks
Genre: Classic Fiction
Period: 20th Century
Catalogue No: NAX15812
Barcode: 9789626341582
Release Date: 01/2010

LESSING, D.: Golden Notebook (The) (Unabridged)

Everything is falling apart. The atmosphere is heavy with the threat of war; the sexual freedoms promised by a new generation are fraught with emotional traps; the proud belief in a changed world order is being shattered.

In London, in the late 1950s, Anna is a novelist and a single mother. Liberated from the stereotypes of her time, she is struggling to cope as her personal life, her political certainties and her own sanity collapse around her. The Golden Notebook weaves together Anna’s story and her notebooks, exploring the lives and loves of a generation formed by the aftermath of war.

The breakthrough novel of the 2007 Nobel Laureate for Literature, The Golden Notebook is a brilliantly realised narrative of fragmentation—social, political, personal and sexual.

Tracklist

Disc 1
Lessing, Doris - Author
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
1Free Women 1 – Anna meets her friend Molly in the summer…06:06
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
2Anna, in the face of this unspoken but clear determination…06:28
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
3There was a note of humorous, even childish pleading in this.07:57
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
4Now Anna could not reply…05:19
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
5Richard came into the room.06:24
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
6Meanwhile Molly, talented in so many directions…06:12
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
7Molly promptly went to the door, opened it, listened.05:32
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
8Molly ignored Anna and attacked.07:13
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
9Richard was on the point of exploding out of his chair…05:48
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
10Richard made a movement as if to get up and go…04:46
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
11Molly sighed, histrionically…05:48
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
12There was another sound, like a cough…05:36
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
13Tommy allowed them both a tolerant smile…06:20
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
Disc 2
1For the first time Tommy showed a touch of humour.06:00
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
2Anna closed her eyes a moment, smiling painfully.07:42
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
3Anna held herself quiet, with effort.07:38
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
4But at this Molly got up, and said quickly…06:05
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
5'But I think I'll mention three of the comrades…'06:02
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
6'And there's your friend de Silva.'05:39
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
7They kissed, briskly.04:12
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
8The Notebooks – The Black Notebook07:49
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
9(Opposite this was written:)05:30
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
10Yet I am incapable of writing the only kind of novel…06:44
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
11When I think back to that time…06:46
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
12For us, then…08:14
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
Disc 3
1About then I met Willi Rodde and got involved with politics.05:58
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
2But I don't want to write Willi's history…06:47
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
3The most striking of the three…06:39
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
4In this he was different from Jimmy McGrath…05:13
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
5Ted Brown was the most original.06:58
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
6The Gainsborough Hotel was really a boarding-house…06:09
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
7Willi ran a cheap fifth-hand car.06:50
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
8The main block of the hotel stood directly by the main road…08:16
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
9We were all very tired.08:24
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
10We did not return for a month.06:12
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
11June spent most of her time on the verandah…06:04
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
12Now it was Mrs. Boothby…05:13
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
Disc 4
1George Hounslow, a roads man, lived a hundred miles…05:34
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
2In parenthesis I must say that this is exactly what happened…05:30
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
3At about midnight, the glare of a lorry's headlights…06:45
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
4I've thought about that often since.06:23
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
5George looked at Willi, waiting for him to protest.07:23
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
6I remember George's long puzzled look at Willi.05:26
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
7At last we managed to get Jimmy on his feet.08:03
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
8We walked up to the big room through the hot sunlight…06:16
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
9On this morning Stanley had stacked the top of the piano…07:54
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
10Paul turned his head with his characteristic indolent charm…06:07
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
11'Anna?' appealed George, looking at me.06:09
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
12George looked at me again…07:14
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
Disc 5
1He shut his eyes.07:33
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
2It must have been about six or eight months…06:11
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
3And then there was the affair of George's son.05:51
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
4All this time we'd been making jokes…07:02
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
5Next day bad temper prickled through the hotel.05:33
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
6It was nearly midnight when Paul remarked…06:15
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
7I left Willi in the bedroom and stood on the verandah.05:55
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
8Paul left me and I went into the bedroom.05:49
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
9The Red Notebook – The second notebook, the red one…03:32
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
10The next day.05:11
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
115th Feb., 195005:09
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
123rd Jan., 195205:50
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
13I see that I wrote yesterday, I would leave the Party.08:51
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
Disc 6
1I went up to canvass, three afternoons.07:13
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
2Jean Barker. Wife oF Minor Party official.03:39
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
3The Yellow Notebook – The yellow notebook looked like…05:36
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
4Julia's last remark had struck a familiar note.06:13
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
5The idea for this novel had come to Ella…07:02
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
6Here was Dr. West's house…07:06
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
7Now the talk began again…06:05
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
8Meanwhile she was restless to get away from him…05:26
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
9It was time to go home.07:16
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
10Paul was late…07:48
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
11This was so personal, that it was her turn to glance…05:32
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
12Later – and not so much later, he would say…06:46
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
13They did not speak again until they reached the main road…03:45
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
Disc 7
1From the feeling of the house she knew it was still empty.05:54
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
2Being with Paul Tanner that night…07:15
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
3That night Paul was humorous and very tender.07:39
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
4The next evening they met full of defences on either side.04:12
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
5Five years.06:44
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
6The motif of Paul's attitude to his profession.06:56
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
7The end of the affair.07:10
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
8As for me, Anna, it was a remarkable fact…08:23
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
9They ate, and he looked over at her and said…04:05
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
10One day she went with him to his home.07:55
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
11Later that evening he said, laughing…05:47
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
12Ella had a dream which was unpleasant and disturbing.07:26
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
Disc 8
1The Blue Notebook – The blue notebook began with a sentence…05:43
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
29th October, 194606:37
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
3Jan. 19th, 195006:50
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
4Jan. 31st, 195007:42
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
515th March, 195006:00
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
69th June, 5106:02
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
728th June, 5206:22
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
8December 3rd, 5207:55
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
99th April, 195406:22
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
10Free Women 2 – Two visits, some telephone calls…06:56
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
11He sat down, arranged himself neatly…06:35
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
12Tommy lowered his head, sat frowning.05:49
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
Disc 9
1Tommy said: 'After I went to my father's office…'05:40
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
2This shock reached Anna's diaphragm…07:35
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
3She said at last: 'I know what you've come here for.'06:25
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
4Some time later, perhaps as long as an hour…06:03
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
5Now he came and sat down opposite her…05:31
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
6Marion, when she came in, smiled…06:05
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
7'Why don't you go to bed?'07:09
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
8The Notebooks – The black notebook continued empty…06:31
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
9'Oh, my dear, you are so marvellous…'05:12
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
10'Do you remember the excitement you talked about?'05:36
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
11Letter from Mrs. Edwina Wright…07:54
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
12'Anna, I liked your book so much.'08:59
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
Disc 10
1Now we are suddenly both very angry.04:41
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
2The Red Notebook – August 28th 195404:29
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
3I dreamed marvellously.05:08
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
4Here were pasted in some scribbled sheets…06:29
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
5The talk became desultory…05:11
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
6'I often wonder if I am getting the correct advice…'05:20
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
7The Yellow Notebook continues – The Shadow of the Third05:26
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
8Next morning she slept too long…06:02
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
9His face, his full eyes, were momentarily immobilised…07:38
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
10And now she made a decision.05:56
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
11Near her a man was sitting, absorbed in magazines…08:44
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
12Her son woke her two hours later…08:17
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
13He had a bed-sitting room and a bath in an expensive hotel.05:32
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
Disc 11
1She thought this one out slowly…07:00
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
2Ella spent the following evening with him.08:23
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
3The Blue Notebook continued – 15th September 195406:35
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
4It must be about six o'clock.08:54
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
5Now it is nearly eight o'clock...06:49
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
6And now I must hurry.06:59
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
7I ought really to be thinking over the coming encounter…05:48
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
8When I get off the bus…06:41
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
9Meanwhile Comrade Butte sits waiting.04:10
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
10There is a startled silence…04:51
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
11I read magazines and periodicals published in English…05:11
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
12Before I start on the 'welfare work'…08:07
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
Disc 12
1About eighteen months ago…06:42
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
2For a year I have been answering these letters…05:47
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
3I say 'Jack, when I leave, will there be anyone…'04:42
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
4And now I see his face has put on a stubborn closed look…04:22
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
5It is raining again, a small tedious drizzle.07:17
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
6And now the cooking for Michael.03:51
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
7I realise it is getting late.07:22
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
8Free Women Three – Tommy adjusts himself to being blind…07:07
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
9There never was a moment at which Tommy broke down.07:14
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
10It was expressed by the single fact…06:41
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
11A few days later Molly telephoned…07:16
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
12Richard's lips actually trembled…05:32
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
13Refusing to help him, not only out of dislike for him…05:36
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
Disc 13
1Richard with an effort took himself to his desk…07:09
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
2She opened her eyes, giddy and afraid…06:42
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
3Anna reached the cleanliness of her own flat…07:44
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
4Marion said: 'I'm sorry if I gave you a fright…'05:48
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
5She sat staring, serious, ironical.07:08
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
6'Do you remember that black leader…'05:27
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
7Marion left, creeping downstairs…05:44
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
8With which she went to the bathroom, to get ready for bed.08:59
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
9That was the dream she woke with in the morning…05:03
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
10The Notebooks – The black notebook now fulfilled…05:48
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
1112th November05:59
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
12In every direction, all around us, were the insects, coupling.07:19
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
Disc 14
1Suddenly Paul sprang over and trod deliberately…06:36
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
2We prepared for a lazy interval.07:12
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
3There was again an intense silence.06:41
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
4Time passed. We smoked. We waited.07:28
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
5Maryrose closed her eyes again.05:50
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
6'Look,' said Jimmy.06:17
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
7The right side of the black notebook, under the heading…05:28
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
8Came to know the young American writer James Schaffer.08:23
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
9Easter Sunday03:03
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
10Blood on the Banana Leaves08:48
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
11Here was pinned to the page a review…05:35
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
12The Red Notebook continued – 13th November 195508:07
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
Disc 15
1The Yellow Notebook continued – The Shadow of the Third06:51
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
2A few weeks later, Ella sees Julia, tells her…07:41
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
3Next day she telephones Julia…08:22
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
4That evening Ella goes to Julia's house…05:56
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
5Ella finds this story inside herself…03:53
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
6About this time Ella pays a visit to her father.08:21
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
7Ella, alone in her room, looks into her private pool…06:47
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
8For something like eighteen months, the blue notebook…06:51
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
9I remember how she sat opposite me…06:47
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
10'What do you want me to say then?'05:47
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
11At this point, another thick black line across the page.07:05
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
12Telling Mother Sugar of this dream…04:12
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
Disc 16
1What is happening is something new in my life.07:13
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
2Another heavy black line.06:06
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
3Within a week of my having gone to bed with Nelson…06:42
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
4Well, from the moment Nelson came in…06:01
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
5It was quite late, as I've said, about midnight…06:44
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
6But now, suddenly, the tiny blonde woman…07:44
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
7He went off, shouting and screaming at me – at women.06:08
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
8I suddenly had a telephone call from him…06:16
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
9Later on in the evening he told me the following story.04:39
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
10In the morning I gave him breakfast.06:50
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
11Free Women 4 – Anna and Molly influence Tommy…06:32
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
12Molly telephoned, in a state of near collapse, soon after.07:49
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
Disc 17
1The stairs were narrow and dark.06:58
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
2Anna's voice cracked.07:25
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
3At this moment a sound from the foot of the stairs.07:01
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
4Anna went home slowly.06:37
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
5The Notebooks – The black notebook now abandoned…03:47
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
6The red notebook, like the black notebook…07:17
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
7Meanwhile our old friendship had been restored…07:10
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
8The yellow notebook continued.06:57
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
9*7 A Short Story06:29
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
10*12 A Short Story05:57
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
11*19 The Romantic Tough School of Writing05:52
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
12The blue notebook continued, but without dates.07:33
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
Disc 18
1I put myself back into the state of mind…06:21
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
2The American, Mr. Green, was coming today…05:17
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
3Saul Green came to see the room and to leave his things.05:06
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
4(From this point on in the diary, or chronicle…)08:50
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
5Spent today playing 'the game'.06:57
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
6I felt my stomach clench…05:03
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
7He has a way of being about at the time…06:28
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
8I wrote the last sentence three days ago…05:16
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
9I slept lightly, with terrible dreams.05:33
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
10Then we went to drink coffee, and we talked about politics…06:12
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
11I sat in the kitchen and thought over what I'd just said.07:56
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
12When he came back, I knew I'd been waiting…06:11
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
13Then the delight vanished as I came across an entry…04:02
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
Disc 19
1I've just been up to have another look at the diary…06:24
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
2Today he came in and I knew by instinct…06:04
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
3He gave me a quick, startled look and walked out.06:01
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
4He stopped in his striding walk around the room…07:15
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
5(*17) We have had a week of being happy.05:33
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
6He said: 'Come here' – moving away and gesturing…04:42
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
7Last night, when I had finished writing…07:05
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
8But now, writing it, and reading what I've written…06:32
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
9We began discussing the state of the left in Europe…05:26
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
10Then in front of my eyes I saw the letter…05:36
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
11Saul had not moved.06:56
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
12When he came down it was late…08:10
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
Disc 20
1I said to myself in my sleep…05:28
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
2And then I got up and switched on the lights…07:52
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
3After breakfast I took my shopping basket…06:59
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
4The Golden Notebook06:27
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
5As his feet went down the stairs…07:21
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
6Then the dream, or the sleep, became quite thin…07:39
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
7This voice faded; but already the film had changed.05:14
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
8I woke into the stuffy dark of the room…06:25
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
9I put on some early Armstrong. I sat on the floor.06:50
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
10I rang Molly's number, and I said…06:14
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
11And suddenly he leaped up and off the bed…07:45
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
12He was cold, so I held him in my arms, full of happiness.04:29
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
Disc 21
1I stood and thought…05:05
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
2As soon as the dream came on…06:35
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
3A short story: or a short novel: comic and ironic…08:52
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
4I cooked and we slept.08:46
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
5Free Women 5 – Molly gets married and Anna has an affair05:39
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
6Anna found that she was spending her time in a curious way.05:57
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
7One afternoon she went to sleep and dreamed.06:00
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
8Late that night the bell rang.06:13
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
9He returned to the table and remarked…05:23
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
10At last he said: 'Well, that's fixed. Another soul for sanity.'07:56
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
11In the morning she felt him deadly cold in her arms…04:20
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)
12When Janet came home she found Anna…05:05
Stevenson, Juliet (Reader)

Total Playing Time: 27:32:23