The Fifth Child, 1988 - Comments
- In my opinion the book was alright but a bit boring. First of all I thought that all the corny stuff about the extremely exaggerated love of the two protagonists would make me throw up, even if I am a pretty romantic person. Of course they love each other and everything else is fine, too, but nothing can be so perfect like this relationship and because of this I was pretty satisfied when it came out that the fifth child was kind of a freak ( of course this may sound a BIT strange but that's how it is). Another negative fact is that nothing really happened. I always thought that Ben will do something so horrible that I need to stop reading because I wouldn't be able to sleep anymore but that wasn't happening. All in all it was pretty easy to read and it was fast read and I didn't fall asleep while reading but it could have been a bit more shocking because it really sounded like that when I first heard of the book.
Helen W
Caspar-Vischer-Gymnasium, Germany
March 2010 - "The Fifth Child" surely is no easy reading: Ben, the entitled fifth child, is the incarnation of hell on earth: an uneasy, aggressive und violent child who manages to destroy the life of his whole family. The reader of this book must acknowledge that the last two thirds will take him on a quite painful journey of the life of an outcast. It is the counterpart to a feel-good movie: prepare yourself for emotional torture.
In my opinion, especially the beginning of the book drags on and does not really manage to captivate its readers. Additionally, the topic surely is a quite delicate one and presumably not enjoyable for everybody. However, "The Fifth Child" feels very fresh by the way it deals with the topic of anti-social misfits and family demise. If you are ready for this somewhat special experience, you might find a very valuable reading experience.
Michael Lopin, Casper-Vischer-Gymnasium,Kulmbach,Germany
March 2010 - First of all the book is easy to read and the author gives good descriptions of the scenery for example the house. Furthermore the reader really gets the impression of Ben being a creature of whom you have to be afraid of. Therefore the atmosphere within the family including all members like aunts and uncles as well appears to the reader to be very strained, sometimes hopeless and of course unhappy. By these illustrations he or she can identify him-, or herself completely with the characters. Nevertheless not everybody acquires a taste for the main theme of the book which means before opening the book you should be aware of the fact that this work tackles psychological and sort of genetic problems of human beings. Personally I think that many other books have been written by English speaking authors, which would have deserved awards or effusive praise more than the Fifth Child.
Katharina Kupper, Casper-Vischer-Gymnasium,Kulmbach,Germany
February 2010 - First of all the book is easy to read and the author gives good descriptions of the scenery for example the house. Furthermore the reader really gets the impression of Ben being a creature of whom you have to be afraid of. Therefore the atmosphere within the family including all members like aunts and uncles as well appears to the reader to be very strained, sometimes hopeless and of course unhappy. By these illustrations he or she can identify him-, or herself completely with the characters. Nevertheless not everybody acquires a taste for the main theme of the book which means before opening the book you should be aware of the fact that this work tackles psychological and sort of genetic problems of human beings. Personally I think that many other books have been written by English speaking authors, which would have deserved awards or effusive praise more than the Fifth Child.
Katharina Kupper, Casper-Vischer-Gymnasium,Kulmbach,Germany
February 2010 - Doris Lessing's novel fascinated me due to her arrangement of completely normal characters which may stand as representatives for a model family and their daily life overshadowed by ominous, even abnormal, Ben who is able to ruin his parents' future plans of a big and happy family. Ben's behaviour escalates in the break-up of the family who he seems indirectly to control all the time.
Nevertheless, Doris Lessing seems to arrange the ending of her book in an odd way as Harriett reflects on her son living a new life without his former family and maybe meeting another "being" with the same nature or being arrested by the police because of his disastrous and violent attitude. This ending makes sure that obviously the author intends a sequel. In my opinion this technique is rather poor as the novel lacks to be self-contained which would make me speculate and cogitate more about Ben's and his family's fate.
René Klein, student, Casper-Vischer-Gymnasium,Kulmbach,Germany
February 2010 - Doris Lessing's "The Fifth Child" shows the struggle of two lovers against an intolerant society and of a mother against the rest of her family. The story plays with one of the biggest fears of humanity: the own dark side in our soul. By contrast, there are some reasons why Lessing does not deserve the Nobel Price for her book. The author should rewrite the last 60 pages because every (!) reader got her idea of Ben being evil after him trying to kill pets. In addition, Lessing's obvious plan to write a second novel about Ben and his future life ruins the atmosphere and creates the impression of her not being interested in finishing "The Fifth Child".
Malina Klein, student, Casper-Vischer-Gymnasium,Kulmbach,Germany
February 2010 - The noval "The Fifth Child" is the best book about family affairs I have ever read. In this book the darkest sides of family life are shown and it becomes clear, how cruel family members can be. Who does not know, how unfriendly jealous aunts can be according to unnormal babies. I think it is great that all those problems are named in Doris Lessing's novelle. Because of Ben's character is presented overdrawn, the upcoming problems are bigger than in "normal" families in real life. But considering to all these exaggerations, all the perversion of a cloze family relationshp is shown very detailed.
Furthermore, this novelle shows what society can make out of a human being. Of course, Ben is net a normal child but if he would have been treated in another way since his birth, he perhaps could have had a nearly normal life...
Johanna Feick, student, Casper-Vischer-Gymnasium,Kulmbach,Germany
February 2010 - First of alll, i liked the book a lot. I read it in only one day. I like the different feelings you have of the character Ben.
On the one hand, you are quite scared of him, because he seems dangerous and does a lot of awful things.
On the other hand, you pity him too, because of the fact, that he isn't "normal" like the others.
Moreover, its interesting to see, how Harriet reacts on the evil deeds of Ben. Will she sustain?Will she panic? This creates much tension.
The end was, in my opinion, a bit short and it could have happend something more, for instance something thrilling
Tobias Dieling, student, Casper-Vischer-Gymnasium,Kulmbach,Germany
February 2010 - This book is one of the moste gripping books i ever read.it is horrifying, yet realistic.it is also complex story that is amazingly enjoyable to read.i am really looking forward for the secual.:)
Hibo Samatar, skien vidregående skole, skien, norway
ribba_100@hotmail.no
January 2004 - This book is one of the moste gripping books i ever read.it is horrifying, yet realistic.it is also complex story that is amazingly enjoyable to read.i am really looking forward for the secual.:)
Hibo Samatar, skien vidregående skole, skien, norway
ribba_100@hotmail.no
January 2004 - Ms Lessing,
I am a pupil in a higher English class. I have recently chosen to study your novel for an Individual Study. After reading the book I felt intrigue and sadness towards Ben. Afterall he was a small child who needed love and guidance whether he accepted it or not. I thoroughly enjoyed the text and am looking forward to the sequel.
Deborah Merchant, Aberdeen College, Aberdeen, North-East Scotland
debs100deborah@netscape.net
November 1999