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Ben Lovatt #2
Ben, in the World: The Sequel to "the Fifth Child"
A Review of Ben, in the World
Born in Persia and raised in Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), Doris Lessing made her literary debut in 1950 with a novel about interracial tensions in Africa entitled The Grass Is Singing. Since then, Lessing has delivered more than 30 major works of fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and drama, most notably her massive experimental novel, The Golden Notebook, published in 1962. A common theme threading through her oeuvre, as Lessing herself noted in her 1994 autobiography, Walking in the Shade, is a rejection of "the human condition," which means to "be trapped by circumstances."
Nowhere did she probe the dark contradictions of the human condition more deeply than in The Fifth Child, a short novel about Ben Lovatt, a Neanderthal-like genetic throwback born to "normal" parents in modern-day England. Ben is marked as an outcast from the day of his birth because of his monstrous appearance. "He did not look like a baby at all. He had a heavy-shouldered hunched look, as if he were crouching there as he lay. His forehead sloped from his eyebrows to his crown." Then there is the matter of Ben's equally bestial behavior. He terrorizes siblings and kills family pets. He is automatically assumed to be a demon seed and a scourge to society. Although slight, the novel was a taut springboard for Lessing's most pressing concernsthe insurmountable differences between men and women, the bind between the individual and greater society, and how society both celebrates and castigates "the other."
In Ben, in the World, Lessing again takes up the narrative of Ben's life and unsentimentally depicts his education in the ways of the wider world. At 18 he has grown into a werewolf of sorts, hirsute and homeless, renounced by his family. He barks when happy, grunts when annoyed, and dines on small birds. Gainful employment, let alone romance, has proven a challenge. Ironically, Ben winds up with more caretakers as an adult, including Rita, a prostitute who thrills to his animal ways in bed. But although she means well, Rita is the first in a series of people who manipulate Ben for selfish purposes. Construction foremen rely on him for heavy lifting, then cheat him out of his wages; Rita's pimp gives him money and then uses him to smuggle dope to France; a fledgling filmmaker drags Ben into a movie about prehistoric creatures, then cruelly promises to reunite him with similar-looking people. By the novel's end, Ben predictably flees a group of frenzied scientists.
Lessing's genius here is to embody the otherness of Ben's point of view without condescending to him. In unadorned prose, she dramatizes Ben as he wrestles with his animal nature, his need to inflict harm as well as his desire to repress that impulse. In his travels, she writes, Ben "looked hard at faces for that surprised stare that might turn out to be dangerous."
Ben's humanity stands out in sharp relief. Like his caretakers, who congratulate themselves on shepherding him through the world, Ben gets lonely and hungry, and he misses his family. In the end, like them, he commits desperate acts because he feels the sorrow of consciousness, "the knowledge of his aloneness."
In The Fifth Child, Ben, like the monster of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, reflects the hubris of his creators; in this sequel he becomes, like Edgar Rice Burroughs's Tarzan, a "perpetual exile." And as with Burroughs's apeman, Ben's tragedy is that his caretakers are too busy exploiting him to realize they can learn from his predicament. Thanks to Lessing's deep understanding of Ben's world, however, it will be difficult for readers to make a similar oversight.
John Freeman
About the Author
Doris Lessing was born to British parents in Persia in 1919 and moved with her family to Southern Rhodesia when she was five years old. She went to England in 1949 and has lived there ever since. She is the author of more than 30 booksnovels, short stories, reportage, poems, and playsand is considered among the most important writers of the postwar era.
192 pages, Hardcover
First published March 1, 2000
About the author
Doris Lessing
467 books3,304 followersDoris Lessing was born into a colonial family. both of her parents were British: her father, who had been crippled in World War I, was a clerk in the Imperial Bank of Persia; her mother had been a nurse. In 1925, lured by the promise of getting rich through maize farming, the family moved to the British colony in Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe). Like other women writers from southern African who did not graduate from high school (such as Olive Schreiner and Nadine Gordimer), Lessing made herself into a self-educated intellectual.
In 1937 she moved to Salisbury, where she worked as a telephone operator for a year. At nineteen, she married Frank Wisdom, and later had two children. A few years later, feeling trapped in a persona that she feared would destroy her, she left her family, remaining in Salisbury. Soon she was drawn to the like-minded members of the Left Book Club, a group of Communists "who read everything, and who did not think it remarkable to read." Gottfried Lessing was a central member of the group; shortly after she joined, they married and had a son.
During the postwar years, Lessing became increasingly disillusioned with the Communist movement, which she left altogether in 1954. By 1949, Lessing had moved to London with her young son. That year, she also published her first novel, The Grass Is Singing, and began her career as a professional writer.
In June 1995 she received an Honorary Degree from Harvard University. Also in 1995, she visited South Africa to see her daughter and grandchildren, and to promote her autobiography. It was her first visit since being forcibly removed in 1956 for her political views. Ironically, she is welcomed now as a writer acclaimed for the very topics for which she was banished 40 years ago.
In 2001 she was awarded the Prince of Asturias Prize in Literature, one of Spain's most important distinctions, for her brilliant literary works in defense of freedom and Third World causes. She also received the David Cohen British Literature Prize.
She was on the shortlist for the first Man Booker International Prize in 2005. In 2007 she was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature.
(Extracted from the pamphlet: A Reader's Guide to The Golden Notebook & Under My Skin, HarperPerennial, 1995. Full text available on www.dorislessing.org).
In 1937 she moved to Salisbury, where she worked as a telephone operator for a year. At nineteen, she married Frank Wisdom, and later had two children. A few years later, feeling trapped in a persona that she feared would destroy her, she left her family, remaining in Salisbury. Soon she was drawn to the like-minded members of the Left Book Club, a group of Communists "who read everything, and who did not think it remarkable to read." Gottfried Lessing was a central member of the group; shortly after she joined, they married and had a son.
During the postwar years, Lessing became increasingly disillusioned with the Communist movement, which she left altogether in 1954. By 1949, Lessing had moved to London with her young son. That year, she also published her first novel, The Grass Is Singing, and began her career as a professional writer.
In June 1995 she received an Honorary Degree from Harvard University. Also in 1995, she visited South Africa to see her daughter and grandchildren, and to promote her autobiography. It was her first visit since being forcibly removed in 1956 for her political views. Ironically, she is welcomed now as a writer acclaimed for the very topics for which she was banished 40 years ago.
In 2001 she was awarded the Prince of Asturias Prize in Literature, one of Spain's most important distinctions, for her brilliant literary works in defense of freedom and Third World causes. She also received the David Cohen British Literature Prize.
She was on the shortlist for the first Man Booker International Prize in 2005. In 2007 she was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature.
(Extracted from the pamphlet: A Reader's Guide to The Golden Notebook & Under My Skin, HarperPerennial, 1995. Full text available on www.dorislessing.org).
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December 18, 2025
IL MOSTRO DENTRO E TRA NOI
Briton Riviere: Prometeo incatenato.
Dire che a Ben riusciva difficile abitare la realtà comune, come elabora la dolce Mrs Biggs, è eufemistico. A Ben riesce ben più che difficile, direi impossibile, abitare la realtà comune. Quella degli altri.
Anche se viene da credere che siano soprattutto gli altri a respingerlo, a non volerlo nella loro “realtà comune”. La sua famiglia naturale si è sfasciata alla sua nascita e smembrata quando la mamma è andata a riprenderselo dall’istituto (anche questa è definizione eufemistica). Qui la ritroviamo ricomposta, e Ben non si avvicina, li guarda da lontano, sa che i fratelli lo odiano, e anche lui certo non li ama.
Robert DeNiro/Frankenstein.
Ha solo diciotto anni. Ma non sa quando è nato. Si fida di quello che gli hanno detto. E misura la sua età in base agli inverni trascorsi.
All’inizio del romanzo ottenere uno straccio di documento che attesti la sua data di nascita e quindi la sua età sembra il suo obiettivo massimo.
Il fatto è che Ben ha diciotto anni ma ne dimostra venti di più. Non sono solo le rughe che lo rendono più grande dei suoi anni: è la sua espressione, è la sua stazza, la sua forza, il suo sguardo.
Però, ha l’animo, la conoscenza e l’esperienza di un bimbo. E spesso, molto spesso si comporta proprio come un bambino. È soprattutto l’intuito, affiancato da un olfatto strepitoso – più avanti si capisce che anche il suo udito è particolarmente acuto, e che proprio per questo i rumori e le troppe voci lo disturbano – a dettare il suo comportamento, le sue reazioni. Sensi sviluppati e raffinati, invece intelligenza linguaggio e movimenti ben più semplici e rozzi.
L’enfant sauvage.
Ben è il quinto figlio di cui Doris Lessing ci ha raccontato nascita e crescita nel romanzo omonimo (uscito dodici anni prima di questo). Un colpo al cuore. Un pugno allo stomaco.
Questo si potrebbe definire il sequel, anche se non serve aver letto quell’altro per capire e apprezzare questo qui.
Ben ha lasciato casa ed è andato nel mondo. I primi anni di questa sua vita raminga Lessing li sintetizza in poche illuminanti e pregnanti pagine: per poi dedicarsi per così dire al tempo presente, a seguire Ben nei suoi diciotto anni e nei mesi che seguono.
Durante i quali impara prende il suo primo aereo, va a Nizza e poi in Brasile, dal quale raggiunge le Ande, dove scopre la sua razza, ormai estinta.
Pur se partorito, e non assemblato da parti di corpi umani diversi, Ben è un Frankenstein di fine Novecento. È un Prometeo incatenato. Sarebbe un novello enfant prodige, se non fosse per la sua incredibile forza, più letale che brutale, per i suoi appetiti quasi insaziabili e animaleschi: afferra un piccione vivo con le mani, lo spenna e divora a morsi, lasciando che il sangue fresco gli coli dalla bocca.
Siccome di base ha un animo buono, gentile e generoso, offre al gatto della dolce Mrs Biggs un pezzetto dell’uccello appena ucciso. Il quadrupede domestico gradisce e per un pochino smette di guardare Ben con sospetto.
Nella prefazione la stessa Lessing parla di “gabbie” ed è facile intuire quale sarà il percorso di Ben. Arrivati a quel passaggio, l’emozione e la sorpresa non sono certo smorzati dall’accenno contenuto nella prima pagina dopo i ringraziamenti di rito.
Grandissima storia sulla diversità e la nostra incapacità ad accettarla. Romanzo magistrale nel quale Doris Lessing regala una lezione di narratore onnisciente (una delizia le brevi accelerazioni nelle quali ci viene raccontata la sorte di alcuni personaggi, col narratore che commenta: “questo se non altro andò a finire bene”).
Briton Riviere: Prometeo incatenato.
Dire che a Ben riusciva difficile abitare la realtà comune, come elabora la dolce Mrs Biggs, è eufemistico. A Ben riesce ben più che difficile, direi impossibile, abitare la realtà comune. Quella degli altri.
Anche se viene da credere che siano soprattutto gli altri a respingerlo, a non volerlo nella loro “realtà comune”. La sua famiglia naturale si è sfasciata alla sua nascita e smembrata quando la mamma è andata a riprenderselo dall’istituto (anche questa è definizione eufemistica). Qui la ritroviamo ricomposta, e Ben non si avvicina, li guarda da lontano, sa che i fratelli lo odiano, e anche lui certo non li ama.
Robert DeNiro/Frankenstein.
Ha solo diciotto anni. Ma non sa quando è nato. Si fida di quello che gli hanno detto. E misura la sua età in base agli inverni trascorsi.
All’inizio del romanzo ottenere uno straccio di documento che attesti la sua data di nascita e quindi la sua età sembra il suo obiettivo massimo.
Il fatto è che Ben ha diciotto anni ma ne dimostra venti di più. Non sono solo le rughe che lo rendono più grande dei suoi anni: è la sua espressione, è la sua stazza, la sua forza, il suo sguardo.
Però, ha l’animo, la conoscenza e l’esperienza di un bimbo. E spesso, molto spesso si comporta proprio come un bambino. È soprattutto l’intuito, affiancato da un olfatto strepitoso – più avanti si capisce che anche il suo udito è particolarmente acuto, e che proprio per questo i rumori e le troppe voci lo disturbano – a dettare il suo comportamento, le sue reazioni. Sensi sviluppati e raffinati, invece intelligenza linguaggio e movimenti ben più semplici e rozzi.
L’enfant sauvage.
Ben è il quinto figlio di cui Doris Lessing ci ha raccontato nascita e crescita nel romanzo omonimo (uscito dodici anni prima di questo). Un colpo al cuore. Un pugno allo stomaco.
Questo si potrebbe definire il sequel, anche se non serve aver letto quell’altro per capire e apprezzare questo qui.
Ben ha lasciato casa ed è andato nel mondo. I primi anni di questa sua vita raminga Lessing li sintetizza in poche illuminanti e pregnanti pagine: per poi dedicarsi per così dire al tempo presente, a seguire Ben nei suoi diciotto anni e nei mesi che seguono.
Durante i quali impara prende il suo primo aereo, va a Nizza e poi in Brasile, dal quale raggiunge le Ande, dove scopre la sua razza, ormai estinta.
Pur se partorito, e non assemblato da parti di corpi umani diversi, Ben è un Frankenstein di fine Novecento. È un Prometeo incatenato. Sarebbe un novello enfant prodige, se non fosse per la sua incredibile forza, più letale che brutale, per i suoi appetiti quasi insaziabili e animaleschi: afferra un piccione vivo con le mani, lo spenna e divora a morsi, lasciando che il sangue fresco gli coli dalla bocca.
Siccome di base ha un animo buono, gentile e generoso, offre al gatto della dolce Mrs Biggs un pezzetto dell’uccello appena ucciso. Il quadrupede domestico gradisce e per un pochino smette di guardare Ben con sospetto.
Nella prefazione la stessa Lessing parla di “gabbie” ed è facile intuire quale sarà il percorso di Ben. Arrivati a quel passaggio, l’emozione e la sorpresa non sono certo smorzati dall’accenno contenuto nella prima pagina dopo i ringraziamenti di rito.
Grandissima storia sulla diversità e la nostra incapacità ad accettarla. Romanzo magistrale nel quale Doris Lessing regala una lezione di narratore onnisciente (una delizia le brevi accelerazioni nelle quali ci viene raccontata la sorte di alcuni personaggi, col narratore che commenta: “questo se non altro andò a finire bene”).
July 13, 2023
I wish that this attempt to explain Ben was never written. The Fifth Child was such a great book because of if it's ambiguity. Ben, the fifth child, was unlike his "normal" brothers and sisters. His backwardness, his rage, was unexpected and had dire consequences.
I did enjoy some of the new characters who were introduced, but the whole premise behind the book is wrong in my opinion.
I did enjoy some of the new characters who were introduced, but the whole premise behind the book is wrong in my opinion.
June 14, 2008
Everyone who liked THE FIFTH CHILD as much as I did should never read this sequel. It answers every question I had while reading THE FIFTH CHILD and destroys all the good ideas by explaining them.
June 29, 2020
The Fifth Child was an interesting read, and I was intrigued with the Ben character enough to check out this sequel, which offered a closer look at the being who'd been unable to fit into his family. It was an interesting read in a different way.
Meeting Ben as a child, I had been struck by how he seemed both scary and scared. He terrified his family, appeared to have killed animals, and seemed uncomfortable in his own skin. It would have been easy to dismiss him as evil or ill. But there were hints in the previous story of his confusion, discomfort, angst and outright terror at times. There were hints that in the right company, he managed himself more successfully. This novel affirmed my take.
As an adult, Ben continues to live as a stranger in a strange land. He doesn't fit in, is taken advantage of, and struggles to understand his own misfitness. He seems to mean well, but can't quite use that intention to create the outcomes he's after. He crosses paths with a few kind souls who accept his eccentricities and manage to show him kindness and love, despite his rough edges. In return, he tries to manage impulses that not even he seems to understand. Despite these caring islands within the storm of his life, Ben's life is not a happy one, and we see the ultimate culmination of living so much pain and suffering to understand his own nature and that of others.
It's a sad tale. I appreciated knowing more about the author's vision of Ben, and was not surprised by how she conveyed him. There were times when the writing style was a bit off-putting to me (like when a statement made it clear the author was talking to the reader rather than staying in the story), or when she leapt ahead to tell an outcome and then came back to the present. I know some will appreciate the simplistic, direct style of writing, but that was an element I had to endure, as my own personal taste enjoys more elaboration or interesting prose. But I'm glad I learned more about Ben, for his plight in the first book had given me some tender questions about him.
P.S. addendum: Trigger warning to animal lovers that there are brief moments of animal suffering in this one.
Meeting Ben as a child, I had been struck by how he seemed both scary and scared. He terrified his family, appeared to have killed animals, and seemed uncomfortable in his own skin. It would have been easy to dismiss him as evil or ill. But there were hints in the previous story of his confusion, discomfort, angst and outright terror at times. There were hints that in the right company, he managed himself more successfully. This novel affirmed my take.
As an adult, Ben continues to live as a stranger in a strange land. He doesn't fit in, is taken advantage of, and struggles to understand his own misfitness. He seems to mean well, but can't quite use that intention to create the outcomes he's after. He crosses paths with a few kind souls who accept his eccentricities and manage to show him kindness and love, despite his rough edges. In return, he tries to manage impulses that not even he seems to understand. Despite these caring islands within the storm of his life, Ben's life is not a happy one, and we see the ultimate culmination of living so much pain and suffering to understand his own nature and that of others.
It's a sad tale. I appreciated knowing more about the author's vision of Ben, and was not surprised by how she conveyed him. There were times when the writing style was a bit off-putting to me (like when a statement made it clear the author was talking to the reader rather than staying in the story), or when she leapt ahead to tell an outcome and then came back to the present. I know some will appreciate the simplistic, direct style of writing, but that was an element I had to endure, as my own personal taste enjoys more elaboration or interesting prose. But I'm glad I learned more about Ben, for his plight in the first book had given me some tender questions about him.
P.S. addendum: Trigger warning to animal lovers that there are brief moments of animal suffering in this one.
March 6, 2014
After reading the sequel to the fifth child, I felt HIGHLY insulted. If you've read The Fifth Child, please, skip this. I never tell anyone not to read a book. In fact, this is the first book review I have ever written on a public forum. I really could not keep me mouth shut about it. Seriously, do not pick this up.
When I read the fifth child, I was struck by Lessing's prose, character development, and social commentary (Although most folks feel that it was commentary focused on people who are "not like us", I felt it was showing us the conflict a mother has when she has a monster for a son).
In the Fifth Child, Ben came into the world screaming, fighting, hissing, spitting. He killed animals and tried to kill members of his family. He was thought of as some sort of alien being whom no one understood. There was something clearly wrong with Ben.
Now, in Ben, in the World, we see an 18 year old with feelings and tears. He responds to small acts of kindness with a kind of wonder and gratefulness. What? No, that's not right. Wait...no.
At the end of the original, Ben was 15, the de facto leader of a gang of other kids in his high school, and barely spoke. Each member of his extremely large family tried to be kind and offer love, but it seemed that emotions were alien to him and he had neither need nor desire.
Lessing pissed me off when she deviated from his characterization. There was something NOT right with that child. He was an anomaly. He hurt people. He had no kind feelings toward anyone (except a band of misfits who treated him like shit most of the time, and that's only maybe--we don't know what the hell this kid was thinking). To give him this human quality ruined everything for me. Lessing has a mastery of prose. She writes so fluidly, beautifully. It's wasted on this garbage book. I can't believe Ben is human. Say what you will, but I don't think he was supposed to be. If he was, then Lessing made a fool out of me. The kid was born a month early fully grown--kicking his mother so hard that you could actually see her stomach moving when he was one or two months in vitro. Sorry, not human. Monster.
This was worse than "The Son of Rosemary".
Also, the abundance of cliches and overdone plots (hooker(s) with a heart of gold, if only someone could understand me, etc.) was a major turn off. Save your time. Ugh.
When I read the fifth child, I was struck by Lessing's prose, character development, and social commentary (Although most folks feel that it was commentary focused on people who are "not like us", I felt it was showing us the conflict a mother has when she has a monster for a son).
In the Fifth Child, Ben came into the world screaming, fighting, hissing, spitting. He killed animals and tried to kill members of his family. He was thought of as some sort of alien being whom no one understood. There was something clearly wrong with Ben.
Now, in Ben, in the World, we see an 18 year old with feelings and tears. He responds to small acts of kindness with a kind of wonder and gratefulness. What? No, that's not right. Wait...no.
At the end of the original, Ben was 15, the de facto leader of a gang of other kids in his high school, and barely spoke. Each member of his extremely large family tried to be kind and offer love, but it seemed that emotions were alien to him and he had neither need nor desire.
Lessing pissed me off when she deviated from his characterization. There was something NOT right with that child. He was an anomaly. He hurt people. He had no kind feelings toward anyone (except a band of misfits who treated him like shit most of the time, and that's only maybe--we don't know what the hell this kid was thinking). To give him this human quality ruined everything for me. Lessing has a mastery of prose. She writes so fluidly, beautifully. It's wasted on this garbage book. I can't believe Ben is human. Say what you will, but I don't think he was supposed to be. If he was, then Lessing made a fool out of me. The kid was born a month early fully grown--kicking his mother so hard that you could actually see her stomach moving when he was one or two months in vitro. Sorry, not human. Monster.
This was worse than "The Son of Rosemary".
Also, the abundance of cliches and overdone plots (hooker(s) with a heart of gold, if only someone could understand me, etc.) was a major turn off. Save your time. Ugh.
August 8, 2017
Από το μωρό της Ρόζμαρι στον Ε. Τ. τον εξωγήινο!!! Κατέστρεψε ένα τόσο καλό βιβλίο ( Το πέμπτο παιδί) γράφοντας αυτό το ανεκδιήγητο sequel!
April 6, 2016
"بن در جهان" ادامه رمان فرزند پنجم است که در سال 2000 نوشته شده است. این قسمت با توصیف هجده سالگی بن آغاز می شود و بر خلاف قسمت اول سخنان بن را شنیده و از افکار و احساسات او مطلع می شویم و تصویر بن خشن و نفوذ ناپذیری که در قسمت اول دیده بودیم تا حد زیادی تغییر می کند، انسانهای مختلفی چه به عنوان دوست و چه غریبه از او استفاده های ابزاری زیادی می کنند. بن حتی قفس های آزمایشگاههای ژنتیکی را هم تجربه می کند و به سختی از دست دانشمندانی که در پی خدمت به بشر هستند نجات می یابد. اما بن هرگز به عنوان یک انسان پذیرفته نمی شود و در غیاب او خانواده اش دوباره دور هم جمع می شوند و او راه بازگشتی به سوی آنها ندارد. بن در طی ماجراهایی از کوههای آمریکای جنوبی و در جستجوی کسانی که مانند خود او هستند، سر در می آورد، پایان داستان حقیقت تلخی را بیان می کند که شاید ناگزیر ترین حالت ممکن است.
September 19, 2017
برای خودم غصه میخورم که تعداد کمتری کتاب برام واقعاً جذاب و لذتبخشه.
کتاب اطناب و زیادهگویی داره. شخصیت بن چندان احساسات خواننده رو درگیر نمیکنه و راوی دانای کل هم هی میاد وسط ماجرا و درباره عاقبت شخصیتها حرف میزنه. دست به دست شدن بن و رفتنش به کشورها و شهرهای مختلف بدون هیجان و کشش اتفاق میافته. ترجیح میدادم ماجرای خانواده لاوت برای من با فرزند پنجم تموم میشد.
کتاب اطناب و زیادهگویی داره. شخصیت بن چندان احساسات خواننده رو درگیر نمیکنه و راوی دانای کل هم هی میاد وسط ماجرا و درباره عاقبت شخصیتها حرف میزنه. دست به دست شدن بن و رفتنش به کشورها و شهرهای مختلف بدون هیجان و کشش اتفاق میافته. ترجیح میدادم ماجرای خانواده لاوت برای من با فرزند پنجم تموم میشد.
February 16, 2022
قسمت اولش(فرزند پنجم) که راجع به کودکی بن بود خیلی قشنگ تر بود.خیلی دوستش نداشتم .
October 15, 2016
بِن در جهان
اين كتاب ادامه ي "فرزند پنجم" اثر دوريس لسينگ است با اين تفاوت كه اينبار برخلاف جلد قبل كه خواننده از بِن متنفر بود، حال حامي و پشتيبان اوست. بِن يك انسان نماي بيچاره كه در ميان آدم هاي اين عصر گيركرده، هيچ كس او را نميفهمد. هيچ كس او را دوست ندارد و او محكوم به تنهايي است. رفتارهايي كه با او ميشود اگرچه بسيار طبيعي است اما عميقا قلب هر موجود داراي احساسي را بدرد مي آورد.
اگرچه نميتوان تاثيرگزاري و برانگيختن احساسات را ناديده گرفت، اما همچنان معتقدم اين داستان به اندازه ي لازم و كافي، قوي نبود. وقوع حوادث و اتفاقات بيشماري كه صرفا به داستان شاخ و برگ داده و بي هدف بودند، از ارزش داستان ميكاهد. اصلا همين كه يك انسان ماقبل تاريخ ناگهان از دل يك خانواده معمولي بدنيا بيايد بسيار تخيلي مينمود. دوجلد كتاب را تنها براي كشف اينكه بِن چه بود خواندم و درنهايت از اين پايان غمناك بسيار ناراحت شدم، هرچند ميدانم چاره ي ديگري جز اين سرنوشت نبود و به بهترين حالت تمام شد. فارغ از همه ي كاستي ها، ايده و ابتكار نوي كتاب ارزش يكبار خوانده شدن به آن ميبخشد.
نوبل ٢٠٠٧، به نويسنده اي اهدا شده است كه حامي اخلاقيات انسان است. وي در اين كتاب، آزمايشگاه هاي مجهز و پيشرفت علم به قيمت زجر گونه هاي مختلف-چه حيوان و چه انسان- را محكوم كرده و از احساسات موجودات زنده سخن ميگويد. اصلا شايد بِن نمادي از حيوان واقعي باشد كه حال به سخن درآمده و توانايي اندك تعاملي با انسان پيدا كرده است. سوالي كه در اين ميان بوجود مي آيد اين است كه آيا نتيجه ي متفاوت بودن تنهايي و طرد است؟ آيا بشر قادر است تفاوت ها را بپذيرد و فارغ از نژاد و قيافه و رفتار ديگران، آنها را بعنوان يك انسان، يك جاندار داراي عواطف، دوست بدارد؟
"اين كتاب مبين ميل حيواني ما براي نوعي زندگي است كه تحت تاثير نيازمنداني كه به خاطر نياز به محبت، سرعت ما را در زندگي كاهش ميدهند، قرار نميگيرد."
اين كتاب ادامه ي "فرزند پنجم" اثر دوريس لسينگ است با اين تفاوت كه اينبار برخلاف جلد قبل كه خواننده از بِن متنفر بود، حال حامي و پشتيبان اوست. بِن يك انسان نماي بيچاره كه در ميان آدم هاي اين عصر گيركرده، هيچ كس او را نميفهمد. هيچ كس او را دوست ندارد و او محكوم به تنهايي است. رفتارهايي كه با او ميشود اگرچه بسيار طبيعي است اما عميقا قلب هر موجود داراي احساسي را بدرد مي آورد.
اگرچه نميتوان تاثيرگزاري و برانگيختن احساسات را ناديده گرفت، اما همچنان معتقدم اين داستان به اندازه ي لازم و كافي، قوي نبود. وقوع حوادث و اتفاقات بيشماري كه صرفا به داستان شاخ و برگ داده و بي هدف بودند، از ارزش داستان ميكاهد. اصلا همين كه يك انسان ماقبل تاريخ ناگهان از دل يك خانواده معمولي بدنيا بيايد بسيار تخيلي مينمود. دوجلد كتاب را تنها براي كشف اينكه بِن چه بود خواندم و درنهايت از اين پايان غمناك بسيار ناراحت شدم، هرچند ميدانم چاره ي ديگري جز اين سرنوشت نبود و به بهترين حالت تمام شد. فارغ از همه ي كاستي ها، ايده و ابتكار نوي كتاب ارزش يكبار خوانده شدن به آن ميبخشد.
نوبل ٢٠٠٧، به نويسنده اي اهدا شده است كه حامي اخلاقيات انسان است. وي در اين كتاب، آزمايشگاه هاي مجهز و پيشرفت علم به قيمت زجر گونه هاي مختلف-چه حيوان و چه انسان- را محكوم كرده و از احساسات موجودات زنده سخن ميگويد. اصلا شايد بِن نمادي از حيوان واقعي باشد كه حال به سخن درآمده و توانايي اندك تعاملي با انسان پيدا كرده است. سوالي كه در اين ميان بوجود مي آيد اين است كه آيا نتيجه ي متفاوت بودن تنهايي و طرد است؟ آيا بشر قادر است تفاوت ها را بپذيرد و فارغ از نژاد و قيافه و رفتار ديگران، آنها را بعنوان يك انسان، يك جاندار داراي عواطف، دوست بدارد؟
"اين كتاب مبين ميل حيواني ما براي نوعي زندگي است كه تحت تاثير نيازمنداني كه به خاطر نياز به محبت، سرعت ما را در زندگي كاهش ميدهند، قرار نميگيرد."
September 19, 2024
To cut a hopelessly meandering story short:
Ben is 18 and goes to London and lives with an elderly lady and the lady dies and he meets a younger lady with whom he has rough sex and then he is tricked into going to France as a drug courier and is abandoned there and meets an American filmmaker who coaxes him into flying to Brazil and there he meets another young lady with whom he doesn’t have rough sex and is then taken prisoner as an object of scientific research and is freed and looks for human beings being like him and is disappointed and commits suicide.
End of story.
Ben is 18 and goes to London and lives with an elderly lady and the lady dies and he meets a younger lady with whom he has rough sex and then he is tricked into going to France as a drug courier and is abandoned there and meets an American filmmaker who coaxes him into flying to Brazil and there he meets another young lady with whom he doesn’t have rough sex and is then taken prisoner as an object of scientific research and is freed and looks for human beings being like him and is disappointed and commits suicide.
End of story.
November 25, 2018
This is the sequel of Lessing's outstanding 'The Fifth Child' and it took me a long time to attempt reading the latter's follow-up. It was equally fluid and gripping to read and I appreciate the author's courage to consider writing a story about what happens to Ben after he leaves his family. It does not equal the first book in intensity and creepiness but still very much worth a read!
July 7, 2018
مش عارف ليه الكاتبة مصممة تكرهني في رواياتها .. حتى نهاية الرواية قفلتني منها ..
December 7, 2011
Roy Jones Junior. Robert De Niro. Evander Holyfield. Ricky Ponting. Muhammad Ali. It’s hard when the greats lose their powers for all the world to see.
I really wanted to like this novel, only the premise is flawed, the plot is almost non-existent and meandering and the whole novel degenerates into a barely believable sub-par Days of Our Lives conclusion. Moreover, the book is filled with empty caricatures. There’s far too much telling and not enough showing, and ultimately the whole thing is really unworthy of the term ‘literature’. That it comes out of the mind of an obviously great artist like Lessing makes the whole thing more tragic.
Seriously, there is not one but TWO "hookers with a heart of gold", multiple “evil scientists” and a crude caricature of a central character that renders the exploration of alienation as something that is as superficial as it is laughably simplistic. It is also incredibly poorly written. Really, the quality of prose on offer here is not even near ‘third-rate’.
Like Roy Jones Junior et al, you get angry that those around Lessing would let her diminish her reputation by publishing this book.
Please do yourself and Doris a favour and steer well clear of this one.
I really wanted to like this novel, only the premise is flawed, the plot is almost non-existent and meandering and the whole novel degenerates into a barely believable sub-par Days of Our Lives conclusion. Moreover, the book is filled with empty caricatures. There’s far too much telling and not enough showing, and ultimately the whole thing is really unworthy of the term ‘literature’. That it comes out of the mind of an obviously great artist like Lessing makes the whole thing more tragic.
Seriously, there is not one but TWO "hookers with a heart of gold", multiple “evil scientists” and a crude caricature of a central character that renders the exploration of alienation as something that is as superficial as it is laughably simplistic. It is also incredibly poorly written. Really, the quality of prose on offer here is not even near ‘third-rate’.
Like Roy Jones Junior et al, you get angry that those around Lessing would let her diminish her reputation by publishing this book.
Please do yourself and Doris a favour and steer well clear of this one.
July 10, 2020
The sequel to the novel The Fifth Child. Ben is now 18, looks older. He is at large in the world where he doesn’t really fit. He survives by instinct – the animal one vying with the human - an unhappy mix for him and one that is exploited frequently by the unscrupulous. We see this scary world through his eyes and experience a gamut of emotions with him, including rage, sorrow, love and tenderness. How will it all end for him and what will this teach us about ourselves and the world we share with others?
I have grown to love this Ben and to want the best for him…
I have grown to love this Ben and to want the best for him…
June 22, 2025
As I wrote in my review of The Fifth Child, I almost didn’t want to read this book because the first was so good. I’m so glad to have read this follow up! While the rest of the world possibly, probably, is reviled and afraid of Ben, I could only feel enormous sympathy for him. He defied all expectations of everyone who ever came into contact with him, especially his father. But the ending, though it was likely the only logical conclusion, nonetheless gutted me. I hope Therese and Alfredo love him always. I certainly shall.
November 27, 2018
أسرتني شخصية بن وطيبته وبدائيته واختلافه، أحزنني. لم اكن اعلم ان هذا الكتاب جزء ثاني من "الطفل الخامس" حيث الجزء الأول يتناول حياة بن في الطفولة، والجزء الثاني يتناول شبابه وانفصاله عن اسرته، واضح ان هنالك شبه اجماع على تفضيل الجزء الأول عن الثاني. لا أدري ان كنت سأعود لأقرأ الجزء الأول ولكن بالتأكيد تظل قصة مختلفة.
August 17, 2015
"They heard a cry and a slide of small stones & silence.
They slowly got up, slowly followed him.
They made their way to where the precipice fell away from the path. There was Ben, far below, a pile of coloured clothing.
His yellow hair was like a tuft of mountain grass"
Page 177
I was surprised to learn that Ben Lovatt's tale continued.
And so I ordered this book & began to read it ~~
Ben's tale continues from London, to France, to Brazil to the highest mountains where he is told ~ people like him exist.
He is determined to find others like himself.
Ben has managed to live alone & he has been completely abandoned by his Mother & his family.
He is given a notecard with his name & their contact information, but he is all too aware that he is NOT a part of this family & so he carries this card & has crossed out the information ~ as if to cross out his history.
People come to his aid & find a tenderness in him ~ that is absent from his own family & so they care for him ~ & they take him in.
He exists with a hunger ~ not just for acceptance & love but a real hunger that he seems to be unable to ever satiate.
Perhaps this is Ms. Lessing's way of telling us we are never satisfied with our lot in life ~ it is an unusual way to define this young man.
I was drawn into his need to eat so much meat & the way it is described captured my attention
( perhaps because I am vegan)~~ It is so primitive & such a visceral want ~ he seems to relish the food ~~
Meat & Fruit ~~~~ Fruit & Meat.
He is consumed as he consumes...
And so Ben goes off into the world, he is again tricked & taken.
He is still trying to find his way & then it is stolen from him.
This book was a quick read & it was just so forlorn.
A sad read.
There are places & people who are forever lost & who have a need
for acceptance.....and then they fall & in their falling they find their way.
I enjoyed this book as much as it hurt to read it ~ I really enjoyed it...
They slowly got up, slowly followed him.
They made their way to where the precipice fell away from the path. There was Ben, far below, a pile of coloured clothing.
His yellow hair was like a tuft of mountain grass"
Page 177
I was surprised to learn that Ben Lovatt's tale continued.
And so I ordered this book & began to read it ~~
Ben's tale continues from London, to France, to Brazil to the highest mountains where he is told ~ people like him exist.
He is determined to find others like himself.
Ben has managed to live alone & he has been completely abandoned by his Mother & his family.
He is given a notecard with his name & their contact information, but he is all too aware that he is NOT a part of this family & so he carries this card & has crossed out the information ~ as if to cross out his history.
People come to his aid & find a tenderness in him ~ that is absent from his own family & so they care for him ~ & they take him in.
He exists with a hunger ~ not just for acceptance & love but a real hunger that he seems to be unable to ever satiate.
Perhaps this is Ms. Lessing's way of telling us we are never satisfied with our lot in life ~ it is an unusual way to define this young man.
I was drawn into his need to eat so much meat & the way it is described captured my attention
( perhaps because I am vegan)~~ It is so primitive & such a visceral want ~ he seems to relish the food ~~
Meat & Fruit ~~~~ Fruit & Meat.
He is consumed as he consumes...
And so Ben goes off into the world, he is again tricked & taken.
He is still trying to find his way & then it is stolen from him.
This book was a quick read & it was just so forlorn.
A sad read.
There are places & people who are forever lost & who have a need
for acceptance.....and then they fall & in their falling they find their way.
I enjoyed this book as much as it hurt to read it ~ I really enjoyed it...
September 11, 2008
I was extremely hesitant to read this book, having loved The Fifth Child as much as I did. I didn't want to ruin that book, which is one of my favorites.
The Fifth Child is very character-driven. The Lovatt family is front and center, and we get to know them over the course of a number of years. It's a pretty grim story. Ben, in the World, on the other hand, is almost ridiculously plot-driven. Ben winds up in several countries, meets all kinds of people (who send the story veering off course with seemingly no effort whatsoever), all in a matter of a couple months. The earlier book covers a longer time period in fewer pages, and yet seems slower-paced.
Especially having read The Fifth Child and spent a little more time with Ben, the ending of this sequel does hit pretty hard. But the story would be so much more interesting without all the peripheral characters, whose life stories we have to hear and who take attention away from the supposed main character. Ben's absence for much of The Fifth Child is understandable - some scene-setting and development of other characters is necessary in that book, and besides, a baby can't exactly carry a story - but the lack of focus in Ben, in the World is frustrating.
I don't think the sequel ruins the original, but Ben, in the World isn't a necessary read for fans of The Fifth Child. At the same time, I can't imagine it would resonate as deeply if you haven't read The Fifth Child. Seems to be a book with a limited audience.
The Fifth Child is very character-driven. The Lovatt family is front and center, and we get to know them over the course of a number of years. It's a pretty grim story. Ben, in the World, on the other hand, is almost ridiculously plot-driven. Ben winds up in several countries, meets all kinds of people (who send the story veering off course with seemingly no effort whatsoever), all in a matter of a couple months. The earlier book covers a longer time period in fewer pages, and yet seems slower-paced.
Especially having read The Fifth Child and spent a little more time with Ben, the ending of this sequel does hit pretty hard. But the story would be so much more interesting without all the peripheral characters, whose life stories we have to hear and who take attention away from the supposed main character. Ben's absence for much of The Fifth Child is understandable - some scene-setting and development of other characters is necessary in that book, and besides, a baby can't exactly carry a story - but the lack of focus in Ben, in the World is frustrating.
I don't think the sequel ruins the original, but Ben, in the World isn't a necessary read for fans of The Fifth Child. At the same time, I can't imagine it would resonate as deeply if you haven't read The Fifth Child. Seems to be a book with a limited audience.
April 10, 2012
ثاني رواية أقرؤها لدوريس ليسنج، وسبب شرائي (بن يجوب العالم) هو أنه تكملة للجزء الأول الطفل الخامس، وقد أعجبني حقًا الجزء الأول أكثر من الجزء الثاني. اختلفت هنا طريقة السرد حيث كانت تقصّ مصائر الأبطال بطريقة سطحية ثم تُشبعنا بالتفاصيل! ولا أعلم من أين لها بتلك الفكرة العبقرية التي تقتل كل متعة يُمكن أن تُجنى من القراءة؟! لكنها في الجزئين إمتازت بقدرتها على إثارة بعض الرعب في نفسي (وأنا بحب كده).
أعجبتني نهاية (بن)، ولم تخطر ببالي على الإطلاق.
إجمالًا الرواية بجزئيها غير عميقة، والهدف منها التلصص على حيوات آخرين بغية تمضية الوقت فقط، حتى المتعة حرمتني منها في الجزء الثاني.
September 10, 2012
In The Fifth Child, Ben is a monster that the reader both fears and pities. In Ben, in the World, he is merely a pitiful throwback. All of his power and strength is useless, and the fear that he inspired as a feral child-beast becomes laughable. The people who did not recognize Ben for what he was now instantly acknowledge his differences. Those who shelter and care for him (almost exclusively female) are merely versions of Harriet. I did like the mini-stories of the tangential characters, but the answers that were given about Ben were too exact and took away the power of the first book.
July 20, 2014
درسته جذابیت کتاب مثل جلد اول نبود اما بن همون بن بیچاره بود...همون قدر تنها، دردناک و ترحم برانگیز. دقیقا لسینگ طوری توصیفش می کنه که مخاطبای زنش همون حس شخصیت های زن کتاب رو نسبت به بن داشته باشن همون قدر دوستش داشته باشن و حمایتش کنن. آخر کتاب خیلی خوب تموم می شه خیلی یه جورایی پیش بینی می کنی که حتما جلد3ای هم در کاره اما بعد طوری شوکه می شی که اشک می ریزی و کتاب رو می بندی.
بن یکی از بهترین شخصیتایی که من تا حالا خوندم شخصیتی که تمام ویژگیاش منحصر به خودشن و برای همیشه توی ذهنت می مونن...اون نیشخند از روی ترسش...وای...
بن یکی از بهترین شخصیتایی که من تا حالا خوندم شخصیتی که تمام ویژگیاش منحصر به خودشن و برای همیشه توی ذهنت می مونن...اون نیشخند از روی ترسش...وای...
June 23, 2015
تمام کردن کتاب با آن جمله، نبوغ بود و بی رحمی بود. گرفتن انگشت اتهام طرف تمام خواننده ها و تمام آدم ها بود ... از "فرزند پنجم"، مسلماً، بیشتر دوستش داشتم
March 4, 2016
The more time I allowed, the more powerful this felt. The allegorical aspects of this book really made me think about society and my own personal treatment of people.
November 11, 2020
This novel was first published in 2000, as a sequel to The Fifth Child from 1988. I re-read 'The Fifth Child' a few months ago, but had never realised that there was a sequel. While I really enjoyed the first, I found this follow-up more disjointed and less compelling that the story of Ben’s early years and the disruption he brought into his family.
We know how difficult life was for Ben as a small child. He was different to the rest of his family and he antagonised his brothers and sisters. In ‘Ben in the World’, Lessing resists the chance to bring him back into conflict with his family, which had shunned and abandoned him when they were unable to cope with his primitive behaviour.
But there are some echoes back to the first book, in which his mother calls him a ‘Neanderthal Baby’. In the sequel, Ben ends up looking at some primitive rock carvings in Southern America, which seem to depict people who look very like himself.
There is also an echo about captivity. In 'The Fifth Child' Ben’s mother is eventually persuaded to give him up and he is taken away to a home. But she realises that she cannot live with that decision and goes to reclaim the boy, finding out about the horror of his treatment and imprisonment. In ‘Ben in the Wild’ he is captured and placed in a cage, this time abducted by scientists, who believe him to be a unique gift to science, a throwback. This time a group of unlikely friends come to his rescue and free him from the cage into which he has been cast, naked like an animal.
Towards the end of 'The Fifth Child', Ben had become a child rebel, involved in minor crime and leading a gang of truants. By the time we open 'Ben in the World'he is eighteen and already on the fringes of society. He comes up against the system – needing some form of ID in order to be able to claim benefits, the money he needs to live. He cannot deal with the faceless bureaucrat.
I find the Ben in this book far less violent and confronting than the previous book. Employed casually on a building site, he is swindled by the foreman and has his wages stolen. He does not fight back, but seeks to avoid any confrontation. He has lost some of his meanness to fear.
There are two tales of sex within the narrative, one of which is partially needed for the sake of the plot, but which is also gratuitous. In London, Ben meets a young prostitute, Rita, and takes her twice, roughly, from behind. “…she had been thrilled by that double rape, the great powerful hands gripping her shoulders, the teeth in her neck, and, above all, the grunt like a roar…” We hear a little about his past sexual exploits, when he was in a gang and had a girlfriend for a while. She had tried to turn him to face her, but that had not worked for Ben, “for when he was face to face with her the raging angry need to possess and dominate was silent.” Unlike the prostitute, the girlfriend soon resented and hated Ben for the sex and would not see him again. Soon all the other girls knew that Ben was funny and there was something not quite right with him.
Rita, the under-age prostitute, has a minder called Johnston, a petty criminal running minicabs and whores, who has eyes on a big drug deal. He convinces Ben to transport a large quantity of drugs to the south of France, fixes Ben up with a fake passport and a minder in Nice to pay his bills and keep him out of trouble. Staying at a big hotel, eating in restaurants and walking along the promenade, the wild Ben is always bubbling just below the surface. He keeps asking when he can go home, even though we know that there is nothing waiting there for him.
Ben is eventually abandoned by Johnson and his helpers. He encounters an American film maker who takes him to Brazil to make a movie, to star as a big primitive beast. Ben does not enjoy the refinement of life in Rio, the parties and the walks in the bright sun. The filmmaker, Alex, has a woman in Rio called Teresa, who is sad for Ben and stands up for him and tries to sooth his anger. Like Ben she has no-where to call home.
Suddenly, again almost gratuitously, we are presented with Teresa’s back story. Living with her parents in the shanty towns, she turns to prostitution to feed her family. She goes with men roughly against walls to earn enough to buy a dress and some high shoes so that she can work the hotels instead of the streets. “Teresa was stood up against a wall, in the dark, and even in the daylight, until she had money for good shoes.” Eventually she moves up from whore to working for Alex on a film and they become lovers. There are seven or eight pages of this back story. Was it necessary? Was it there to show a similarity with Rita or tell us that she had a good heart? She is abandoned by Alex to look after Ben. And in the end she is one of those who rescues Ben from the scientists.
One story about two whores with a heart of gold is a little over the top.
The final tragic end to this book, having rescued Ben, the little group mistakenly promise him that there will be others just like him, and he desperately wants to be taken to see them. This is what keeps him compliant, doing what they as until he finally learns the truth. That he is alone.
I am left wondering if it was a good idea to move 'he Fifth Child'forwards to a sequel. We all know that things will never go well for Ben. He can’t fit in, and he is bound to suffer further. His simple, childlike nature, in contrast to his massive frame, makes him into a freak in everyone’s eyes.
We know how difficult life was for Ben as a small child. He was different to the rest of his family and he antagonised his brothers and sisters. In ‘Ben in the World’, Lessing resists the chance to bring him back into conflict with his family, which had shunned and abandoned him when they were unable to cope with his primitive behaviour.
But there are some echoes back to the first book, in which his mother calls him a ‘Neanderthal Baby’. In the sequel, Ben ends up looking at some primitive rock carvings in Southern America, which seem to depict people who look very like himself.
There is also an echo about captivity. In 'The Fifth Child' Ben’s mother is eventually persuaded to give him up and he is taken away to a home. But she realises that she cannot live with that decision and goes to reclaim the boy, finding out about the horror of his treatment and imprisonment. In ‘Ben in the Wild’ he is captured and placed in a cage, this time abducted by scientists, who believe him to be a unique gift to science, a throwback. This time a group of unlikely friends come to his rescue and free him from the cage into which he has been cast, naked like an animal.
Towards the end of 'The Fifth Child', Ben had become a child rebel, involved in minor crime and leading a gang of truants. By the time we open 'Ben in the World'he is eighteen and already on the fringes of society. He comes up against the system – needing some form of ID in order to be able to claim benefits, the money he needs to live. He cannot deal with the faceless bureaucrat.
I find the Ben in this book far less violent and confronting than the previous book. Employed casually on a building site, he is swindled by the foreman and has his wages stolen. He does not fight back, but seeks to avoid any confrontation. He has lost some of his meanness to fear.
There are two tales of sex within the narrative, one of which is partially needed for the sake of the plot, but which is also gratuitous. In London, Ben meets a young prostitute, Rita, and takes her twice, roughly, from behind. “…she had been thrilled by that double rape, the great powerful hands gripping her shoulders, the teeth in her neck, and, above all, the grunt like a roar…” We hear a little about his past sexual exploits, when he was in a gang and had a girlfriend for a while. She had tried to turn him to face her, but that had not worked for Ben, “for when he was face to face with her the raging angry need to possess and dominate was silent.” Unlike the prostitute, the girlfriend soon resented and hated Ben for the sex and would not see him again. Soon all the other girls knew that Ben was funny and there was something not quite right with him.
Rita, the under-age prostitute, has a minder called Johnston, a petty criminal running minicabs and whores, who has eyes on a big drug deal. He convinces Ben to transport a large quantity of drugs to the south of France, fixes Ben up with a fake passport and a minder in Nice to pay his bills and keep him out of trouble. Staying at a big hotel, eating in restaurants and walking along the promenade, the wild Ben is always bubbling just below the surface. He keeps asking when he can go home, even though we know that there is nothing waiting there for him.
Ben is eventually abandoned by Johnson and his helpers. He encounters an American film maker who takes him to Brazil to make a movie, to star as a big primitive beast. Ben does not enjoy the refinement of life in Rio, the parties and the walks in the bright sun. The filmmaker, Alex, has a woman in Rio called Teresa, who is sad for Ben and stands up for him and tries to sooth his anger. Like Ben she has no-where to call home.
Suddenly, again almost gratuitously, we are presented with Teresa’s back story. Living with her parents in the shanty towns, she turns to prostitution to feed her family. She goes with men roughly against walls to earn enough to buy a dress and some high shoes so that she can work the hotels instead of the streets. “Teresa was stood up against a wall, in the dark, and even in the daylight, until she had money for good shoes.” Eventually she moves up from whore to working for Alex on a film and they become lovers. There are seven or eight pages of this back story. Was it necessary? Was it there to show a similarity with Rita or tell us that she had a good heart? She is abandoned by Alex to look after Ben. And in the end she is one of those who rescues Ben from the scientists.
One story about two whores with a heart of gold is a little over the top.
The final tragic end to this book, having rescued Ben, the little group mistakenly promise him that there will be others just like him, and he desperately wants to be taken to see them. This is what keeps him compliant, doing what they as until he finally learns the truth. That he is alone.
I am left wondering if it was a good idea to move 'he Fifth Child'forwards to a sequel. We all know that things will never go well for Ben. He can’t fit in, and he is bound to suffer further. His simple, childlike nature, in contrast to his massive frame, makes him into a freak in everyone’s eyes.
November 26, 2015
Ben en el mundo tiene como subtítulo "la continuación de El quinto hijo". Sin embargo pareciera que no lo es. Es decir: El quinto hijo termina con Ben adolescente, en medio de pandillas, y Ben en el mundo comienza con Ben de 18 años, cuando se ha ido de su casa. En ese sentido un libro sí es continuación del otro. Ambos conservan el mismo protagonista y y antecedentes. Pero el aura de inquietud y misterio que rodea el primer libro desaparece en el segundo. Son la misma historia pero pareciera escrita por dos autores distintos.
El quinto hijo plantea enormes dudas sobre la maternidad, la paternidad, las relaciones de familia. ¿Qué pasa si un hijo nos causa aversión? ¿Cómo reaccionar ante un hijo que quiere matar a sus hermanos? ¿Qué hace una esposa cuando su marido rechaza a su propio hijo? Todas esas cuestiones de fondo desaparecen en Ben en el mundo, porque en este libro Ben no tiene familia. Su madre es un figurante que aparece en una página, cuando él la ve pero no le habla, y sus 4 hermanos se reducen a uno solo, Paul, que apenas se menciona.
En El quinto hijo es claro que Ben es raro, pero no se sabe por qué. Los médicos dicen que es normal y sano, así que el enigma se traslada al lector, que construye mil hipótesis alrededor de lo que puede ocurrir con el chico. En Ben en el mundo desde el comienzo se plantea la necesidad de explicar el misterio con frases como:
"La anciana sabía que no era humano: No es uno de nosotros"
"No se parecía a nada que ella conociera"
"O se plantaba junto a la vaca, le echaba un brazo al pescuezo y pegaba su cara del animal y las ráfagas cálidas y agradables de su aliento, cuando volvía la cabeza para olisquearle, le parecían la bondad misma y le hacían sentirse seguro".
"¿Qué era Ben? Dormía en su cama, como todos los demás, empleaba los cubiertos, mantenía su ropa limpia, le gustaba la barba arreglada y el cabello cortado, y sin embargo no se parecía a nadie".
En el libro se explica que Ben es el Yeti, que tiene hombros anchos, caderas estrechas, barba tupida, mucho pelo, ojos a los que les fastidia la luz, un oído agudo y necesidad permanente de comer carne. Es entonces el eslabón perdido... Es como si su madre hubiese tenido un hijo que es una regresión en el tiempo, un hombre de las cavernas en pleno Siglo XX.
Sin embargo la novela no ocurre en clave de ciencia ficción, sino de drama realista, en el que los personajes que tienen gran relevancia para Ben de pronto desaparecen sin dejar mayor rastro y sin mayor explicación. Es como si la autora hubiese empezado a escribir el libro sin un rumbo claro y este hubiera ido apareciendo a medida que construía el relato, que salta de Londres a Niza, luego a Río de Janeiro y por último a Jujuy.
El estilo de Lessing es el de narrar con acciones y pocas digresiones. Ben en el mundo plantea un duro cuestionamiento a los experimentos científicos con animales, pero no lo hace con discursos sino a partir de la descripción narrativa de un laboratorio científico. Su técnica no es la del monólogo interior ni la reflexión o el diálogo sobre sentimientos. Sus textos son narracciones cargadas de acciones, en las que los personajes viajan, caminan, pelean, se esconden. Y a partir de ahí el lector saca sus conclusiones.
Lessing publicó este libro en 2000 y ganó el Nobel en 2007. Es claro entonces que le jurado, y seguramente miles de lectores, encontraron en esta novela valiosos elementos narrativos, de estructura o de personajes. Yo leí primero El quinto hijo y me quedo con ese. El aura de misterio y suspenso que logra ahí es difícil de superar. Seguir leyendo: http://secretodelectura.blogspot.com....
El quinto hijo plantea enormes dudas sobre la maternidad, la paternidad, las relaciones de familia. ¿Qué pasa si un hijo nos causa aversión? ¿Cómo reaccionar ante un hijo que quiere matar a sus hermanos? ¿Qué hace una esposa cuando su marido rechaza a su propio hijo? Todas esas cuestiones de fondo desaparecen en Ben en el mundo, porque en este libro Ben no tiene familia. Su madre es un figurante que aparece en una página, cuando él la ve pero no le habla, y sus 4 hermanos se reducen a uno solo, Paul, que apenas se menciona.
En El quinto hijo es claro que Ben es raro, pero no se sabe por qué. Los médicos dicen que es normal y sano, así que el enigma se traslada al lector, que construye mil hipótesis alrededor de lo que puede ocurrir con el chico. En Ben en el mundo desde el comienzo se plantea la necesidad de explicar el misterio con frases como:
"La anciana sabía que no era humano: No es uno de nosotros"
"No se parecía a nada que ella conociera"
"O se plantaba junto a la vaca, le echaba un brazo al pescuezo y pegaba su cara del animal y las ráfagas cálidas y agradables de su aliento, cuando volvía la cabeza para olisquearle, le parecían la bondad misma y le hacían sentirse seguro".
"¿Qué era Ben? Dormía en su cama, como todos los demás, empleaba los cubiertos, mantenía su ropa limpia, le gustaba la barba arreglada y el cabello cortado, y sin embargo no se parecía a nadie".
En el libro se explica que Ben es el Yeti, que tiene hombros anchos, caderas estrechas, barba tupida, mucho pelo, ojos a los que les fastidia la luz, un oído agudo y necesidad permanente de comer carne. Es entonces el eslabón perdido... Es como si su madre hubiese tenido un hijo que es una regresión en el tiempo, un hombre de las cavernas en pleno Siglo XX.
Sin embargo la novela no ocurre en clave de ciencia ficción, sino de drama realista, en el que los personajes que tienen gran relevancia para Ben de pronto desaparecen sin dejar mayor rastro y sin mayor explicación. Es como si la autora hubiese empezado a escribir el libro sin un rumbo claro y este hubiera ido apareciendo a medida que construía el relato, que salta de Londres a Niza, luego a Río de Janeiro y por último a Jujuy.
El estilo de Lessing es el de narrar con acciones y pocas digresiones. Ben en el mundo plantea un duro cuestionamiento a los experimentos científicos con animales, pero no lo hace con discursos sino a partir de la descripción narrativa de un laboratorio científico. Su técnica no es la del monólogo interior ni la reflexión o el diálogo sobre sentimientos. Sus textos son narracciones cargadas de acciones, en las que los personajes viajan, caminan, pelean, se esconden. Y a partir de ahí el lector saca sus conclusiones.
Lessing publicó este libro en 2000 y ganó el Nobel en 2007. Es claro entonces que le jurado, y seguramente miles de lectores, encontraron en esta novela valiosos elementos narrativos, de estructura o de personajes. Yo leí primero El quinto hijo y me quedo con ese. El aura de misterio y suspenso que logra ahí es difícil de superar. Seguir leyendo: http://secretodelectura.blogspot.com....
November 2, 2020
After reading The Fifth Child by Lessing, I was interested in finding out what happened to Ben, a seemingly feral child born into a family with four well-behaved blue-eyed, blonde siblings. Ben was the object of derision throughout his school years for the way he looked and his aggressive demeanor. His adolescence was a continuation of his threatening actions. When he was eventually sent to an institution, he was terrified and his aggression escalated until his mother retrieved him despite her family's objections. His mother was his only source of kindness, and she sacrificed her family life on the pyre of Ben's unrelenting behavior.
Ben in the World is the story of what happens to Ben. Eventually shunned by his siblings and his father, he lives on the street, and makes everyone who sees him wary. He is used and misused by a number of individuals, who see him as a money-making vehicle. What is heartbreaking is his grateful response to even minimal kindness that he encounters. I will long remember Ben, and his attempt to understand the world into which he has been born.
Ben in the World is the story of what happens to Ben. Eventually shunned by his siblings and his father, he lives on the street, and makes everyone who sees him wary. He is used and misused by a number of individuals, who see him as a money-making vehicle. What is heartbreaking is his grateful response to even minimal kindness that he encounters. I will long remember Ben, and his attempt to understand the world into which he has been born.
July 8, 2014
حکایت ما انسان ها خودمان باخودمان غریب است چه برسد به ما با انسان نماها و نابه هنجارها...
November 25, 2025
کتاب بن در جهان دنباله کتاب فرزند پنجم هست که داستان زندگی غم انگیز بن رو بعد از جدایی از خونوادش ادامه میده.
به نظر من کتاب اول جذابیت و کشش بیشتری رو داشت.تو کتاب دوم شخصیت بن در کل عوض میشه و از اون موجود ترسناک که با گروهش دائم دنبال شرارت بود و خواننده داستان ازش دائم احساس ترس میکرد، تبدیل میشه به یک موجود تنها و گوشه گیر که به راحتی مورد استثمار و ظلم دیگران قرار میگیره.
تو این کتاب بن به شدت دنبال کسی میگرده که با اون مهربان و دلسوز باشه واونو همونجور که هست قبول کنه.و جالب اینکه آدم هایی با بن ارتباط دوستانه برقرار میکنن که خودشون به نوعی زندگی سختی رو از گذشته داشتن.در کل داستان ناراحت کننده ای هست.
به نظر من کتاب اول جذابیت و کشش بیشتری رو داشت.تو کتاب دوم شخصیت بن در کل عوض میشه و از اون موجود ترسناک که با گروهش دائم دنبال شرارت بود و خواننده داستان ازش دائم احساس ترس میکرد، تبدیل میشه به یک موجود تنها و گوشه گیر که به راحتی مورد استثمار و ظلم دیگران قرار میگیره.
تو این کتاب بن به شدت دنبال کسی میگرده که با اون مهربان و دلسوز باشه واونو همونجور که هست قبول کنه.و جالب اینکه آدم هایی با بن ارتباط دوستانه برقرار میکنن که خودشون به نوعی زندگی سختی رو از گذشته داشتن.در کل داستان ناراحت کننده ای هست.
January 8, 2019
I wish it was as striking as The Fifth Child, but unfortunately it wasn't. I expected it to be more focused on Ben himself but it got carried away with the other characters. :/
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