or
Sign in to turn on 1-Click ordering.
 
 
More Buying Choices
25 used & new from £1.13
Have one to sell? Sell yours here
 
   
Shikasta Re: Colonised Planet 5
 
See larger image 
Share your own customer images
Publisher: learn how customers can search inside this book.

Shikasta Re: Colonised Planet 5 (Paperback)

by Doris May Lessing (Author)
4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
RRP: £7.99
Price: £5.97 & this item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions
You Save: £2.02 (25%)
o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o
In stock.
Dispatched from and sold by Amazon.co.uk. Gift-wrap available.

Want guaranteed delivery by Friday, November 13? Choose Express delivery at checkout. See Details
15 new from £2.99 10 used from £1.13
Other Editions: RRP: Our Price: Other Offers:
Hardcover 15 used & new from £1.46
Paperback (New edition) 4 used & new from £11.99

Frequently Bought Together

Shikasta Re: Colonised Planet 5 + The Marriages Between Zones Three, Four and Five (Canopus in Argos: Archives) + The Sirian Experiments
Price For All Three: £17.95

Show availability and shipping details

Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought

The Sirian Experiments

The Sirian Experiments

by Doris May Lessing
5.0 out of 5 stars (2)  £5.99
The Marriages Between Zones Three, Four and Five (Canopus in Argos: Archives)

The Marriages Between Zones Three, Four and Five (Canopus in Argos: Archives)

by Doris May Lessing
4.0 out of 5 stars (1)  £5.99
The Making of the Representative for Planet 8 (Canopus in Argos: Archives)

The Making of the Representative for Planet 8 (Canopus in Argos: Archives)

by Doris May Lessing
4.0 out of 5 stars (1)  £7.19
The Sentimental Agents in the Volyen Empire (Canopus in Argos: Archives)

The Sentimental Agents in the Volyen Empire (Canopus in Argos: Archives)

by Doris May Lessing
5.0 out of 5 stars (1) 
Briefing for a Descent into Hell (Flamingo modern classic)

Briefing for a Descent into Hell (Flamingo modern classic)

by Doris May Lessing
4.0 out of 5 stars (2)  £4.85
› Explore similar items

Product details

  • Paperback: 448 pages
  • Publisher: Flamingo (23 May 1994)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0006547192
  • ISBN-13: 978-0006547198
  • Product Dimensions: 19.6 x 13 x 2.8 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 199,762 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in this category:

    #27 in  Books > Fiction > Authors, A-Z > L > Lessing, Doris

    •  Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?

Product Description

Review

'Magnificent ! an astouding book that sets out to chronicle the whole world of humanity, spirit, earth, stars, soul, virtue, evil, pre-Eden forever' Myrna Blumberg, The Times 'Profound, relevant and daring' Rachel Billington, Financial Times 'Shikasta is a piercing diagnosis of the unease spreading through our civilization. A powerful fable.' W.L. Webb, Guardian 'Shikasta is at once a brief history of the world, a tract against human destructiveness, an ode to the natural beauties of this earth and a hymn to the music of the spheres.' Time


Product Description

Doris Lessing's celebrated space fiction set in an extraordinary cosmos where the fate of the Earth is influenced by the rivalries and interactions of three powerful galactic empires. The story of the final days of our planet is told through the reports of Johor, an emissary sent from Canopus. Twentieth-century Earth, named 'Shikasta, the stricken' by the kindly, paternalistic Canopeans who colonised it many centuries ago, is under the influence of the evil empire of Puttiora. War, famine, disease and environmental disasters ravage the planet. To Johor, mankind is a 'totally crazed species', racing towards annihilation: his orders to save humanity set him what seems to be an impossible task. Blending myth, fable and allegory, Doris Lessing's astonishing visionary creation both reflects and redefines the history of our own world from its earliest beginnings to an inevitable, tragic self-destruction.
See all Product Description

Suggested Tags from Similar Products

 (What's this?)
Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product)
 
women writers
women
literature nobel prize winners
doris lessing
20th century european fiction

Your tags: Add your first tag
 
See most popular tags
 

Customer Reviews

5 Reviews
5 star:
 (4)
4 star:    (0)
3 star:
 (1)
2 star:    (0)
1 star:    (0)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.6 out of 5 stars (5 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
26 of 26 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars An acquired taste, 26 Dec 2003
By A Customer
Lovers of mainstream sci-fi will probably find Shikasta hard going. Many mainstream novels have a vision of the future as being pretty much the same as now, but with better gadgets. In truth, whilst humans will probably always love, lose, fight and seek meaning in their lives, you have to wonder how this will manifest in a thousand years, or a million. Now try to imagine how an alien race would think, given a head start on humanity of a few million years. Here Lessing recounts a spiritual evolution of mankind watched by such an alien race, from our earliest alien-doctored roots until the near future, in which a growing crisis comes to a head. Incarnation is tool for learning and development, and a stricken Earth (the ‘Shikasta’ of the title) is bursting with human souls imprisoned by an astrological accident that has left us at the mercy of our materialism and self-obsession.

Shikasta showed me many things that I had taken for granted were in fact very flimsy in substance. I love in particular the offhand way in which many things we see as important in our civilisation are viewed as trivial – and that we perceive such massive differences amongst our species purely because we have become so highly attuned to spotting those differences. Lessing’s colonial roots may account for the theme of guilt that the Western races are forced to face in this book, but I have to agree with her, and it is handled well. This is no tight, fluid narrative however, and you will find that the journal extracts, letters and reference materials that comprise the book need focus from the reader, but it is worth it.

The spiritual theme does not make it religious as such, so I wouldn’t worry about that if you are a hardened atheist. I would say however that the rest of the series is for committed fans only – if you like Shikasta, you may like the others, but this novel stands alone if that’s as far as you want to take it. For me, this was the Right Book At The Right Time, and not only fitted with the way my mind was going, but pushed it substantially in that direction. If you have a liking for the more exploratory sci-fi that makes you think hard about the now as much as the future, I think you will like Shikasta.

Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)



 
14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars a prophetic work of fiction?, 23 Feb 2002
By A Customer
This is a wonderful book, huge in scope..the story of humanity and our struggle with good and evil, the meanining of life and death, and yet it manages to focus on the lives of individuals and their ability to make a difference against
huge odds. T here is something majestic about this story and aquality of imagination and compassion for the human condition that transcends the narrow margins of the science fiction genre. Her dark vision has been overtaken by reality yet this is a book that must be read, if only to help us see the possibilities of a better future.
Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)



 
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars the saga begins..., 23 Nov 2000
By A Customer
i haven't read much doris lessing before, but this book stands out as one of the best sci-fi books i have ever read. the story is conceptually original, and lessing manages to unite an insightful view on the human race with a galactic struggle between alien races. look out for the rest of the series...
Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)


Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
 
 
 
Most Recent Customer Reviews

3.0 out of 5 stars Ambitious, interesting but incoherent and dated
Shikasta has alot of big ideas. The novel takes in everything from a vision of Eden, several alien civilizations, a retelling of the trial of Socrates and a critique of post-war... Read more
Published 7 months ago by David Weatherall

5.0 out of 5 stars An uncomfortable examination of the state of the world
There have been many excellent reviews of Shikasta in these pages, but I wanted to mention some elements I haven't seen anywhere else. Read more
Published 22 months ago by S. P. Verma

Only search this product's reviews


Customer Discussions

This product's forum
Discussion Replies Latest Post
No discussions yet

Ask questions, Share opinions, Gain insight
Start a new discussion
Topic:
First post:
Prompts for sign-in
 


Active discussions in related forums
   
Related forums

Listmania!

Create a Listmania! list

Look for similar items by category

Look for similar items by subject











i.e., each product must be in subject 1 AND subject 2 AND ...

Feedback

Ad

Your Recent History

 (What's this?)

After viewing product detail pages or search results, look here to find an easy way to navigate back to pages you are interested in.