[The Story of Non-Marrying man and other Stories] by Doris Lessing
This collection of short stories was published in 1972 and like many such collections some stories are better than others or as readers we like some stories better than others. The copyright of the stories range from 1963 to 1972 and there had been other collections published during this time and so it is possible that some of the stories had been left on the stocks as it were, perhaps not quite good enough to be collected.

There are thirteen stories and they start with “Out of the Fountain” which is a fable like story about a businessman/diamond cutter who is headhunted to cut a diamond for a very rich Egyptian man. The diamond cutter is attracted to one of the Egyptians daughter and politely makes her a present of a pearl; the pearl changes her life and Lessing explores the power that precious gems can hold for people in a charming story. The stories that follow are a mixed bag, with a few being little more than descriptive essays; for example “A year in Regents Park” is just that as the Author takes us through the year with her observations from her home nearby, ‘Spies I have known” is just a collection of anecdotes from the time that Lessing was involved in politics in South Rhodesia and “The Other Garden” is a description of a sort of hidden garden.

Then there are a couple of stories that appear to be very similar to other stories I have read, almost rewrites and so by the time I got to the last two stories I was thinking that this was perhaps her weakest collection. However the last two stories changed all that and as they take up nearly a third of the book length I have revised my opinion considerably. The Title Story is set in South Rhodesia and is the only one apart from “Spies I have Known” to be set in what has previously been fertile ground for Lessing. It is a good story with an element of mystery. The final story is ‘The Temptation of Jack Orkney and is a superb character study of a man coming to terms with the death of his father and the generation gap that exists with his son. It is worth getting a collection of Lessings short stories where this one is included. “Report on the Threatened City” is Lessings first completely science fiction story and feels in tone like a practice run for [Shikasta]. All in all a four star read. ( )

Lessing har altid skrevet om meget forskellige tematikker, og mange af dem er repræsenteret i denne novellesamling. Den blev først udgivet i 1972, men opsamler historier fra de foregående ti år. Der er science fiction, diskussion af venstrefløjen og dens problemer, ungdomsoprør, historier fra Rhodesia, hvor Lessing voksede op, og skildringer af parforholdet og dets mysterier.

Med så stor spredning mellem novellerne kan det være svært at pege på fællestræk – udover at de som sagt meget fint afspejler Lessings interesser. I stedet vil jeg give et par eksempler på de bedste historier.

Jeg var fascineret af ’Report on the Threatened City’, hvor en mission fra en anden civilisation prøver at hjælpe indbyggerne i San Francisco med at undgå en nært forestående katastrofe. Det bliver en fiasko, for der er ikke noget overraskende i, at byen er truet af jordskælv – der er bare alt for mange andre hensyn at tage til at den rationelle løsning, nemlig at flytte byen og menneskene til et sikkert sted, kan blive til noget. Det bliver til en skarp kritik af menneskets evne til at gentage gamle fejltagelser, og selvom San Francisco stadig står, så viser klimadebatten med al ønskelig tydelighed, at videnskabelige argumenter ikke i selv er nok til at få os til at ændre opførsel.

Titelnovellen var også interessant. En mand gifter sig med og forlader en hel stribe kvinder Sydafrika og Rhodesia. Hvorfor? På den ene side kan han tydeligvis ikke undvære kvindeligt selskab, på den anden side kan han ikke blive hos dem. Er det forpligtelserne, han flygter fra? Eller drømmer han bare om et simpelt liv, hvor han ikke skal bruge tiden å at tjene penge til kone og børn?

Andre historier handler om parforhold. Der er skuespillerinden, der bruger andre mennesker i sit arbejde, men holder sig for god til at sende en kærlighedserklæring til den gifte mand, hun er faldet for. Der er firkantsdramaet i ’Not a Nice Story’, hvor to vennepar lever side om side, og hvor den ene kvinde og den ene mand er utro med hinanden i årevis. Men er det egentlig forkert, når ingen bemærker noget, og alle er lykkelige?

De fleste historier er fyldt med rigtige mennesker og stærke dramaer. Jeg kunne genkende mange temaer fra andre Lessing-bøger, men novellerne uddybede dem frem for at gentage dem. Jeg fik faktisk vældig lyst til at læse videre i hendes romaner – ikke mindst science fiction fortællingerne. ( )