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FIC LES
Collection
Genres
Series
Publication
Alfred A. Knopf (1988), Edition: 1st, 133 pages
Description
A self-satisfied couple intent on raising a happy family is shocked by the birth of an abnormal and brutal fifth child.
User reviews
LibraryThing member Nickelini
Oh my. I read this book cover-to-cover two days ago, and I haven't been able to stop thinking about it. Yes, it's only 133 pages, and told in as a linear timeline with fairly straight forward language. But Lessing is subtle and clever and The Fifth Child sneaks up and clobbers you. Which is exactly
In mid-60s London, David and Harriet meet at an office party. They hit it off because they aren't like anyone else and share similar goals. Namely, to buy a comfortable big house and fill it with loads of children. Eight or ten, at least. The swinging sixties and mod London are not for them. The enormous Victorian house they buy is two hours north of London, which makes for a very long commute for David, and even at that distance, it's beyond their budget, especially when Harriet immediately gets pregnant and quits work. In a few years they have four lovely children--two boys and two girls. And every holiday their huge house fills up with extended family. So much fun, such a perfect family. Except David is exhausted from working to support all these people, and Harriet is exhausted from being pregnant and breast feeding and chasing toddlers all day. All the extended family and friends who come to stay tell them they've taken on too much and to slow down, but David and Harriet stubbornly plug their ears and say "this is what we want to do!"
Except they really can't afford it, and even though David is disgusted by his upper class upbringing, he asks his father to pay their mortgage. And they can't physically handle it either -- Harriet's mother sacrifices her retirement to move in and become an unpaid full time nanny (even though she has other children and grandchildren). But David and Harriet think it's exactly what they want, and don't seem to grasp that they aren't actually accomplishing it. (David and Harriet frustrated me!)
Then. Then Harriet gets pregnant a fifth time. From the beginning the pregnancy is significantly worse than her previous uncomfortable pregnancies. At eight months, she gives birth to an eleven pound baby, Ben, and he's extremely ugly. And strong, and very unhappy. They call him goblin and gargoyle. Things go very badly. The happy house guests disappear. Pets die. His siblings lock their doors at night. For a while, Ben is institutionalized. Against everyone's wishes, Harriet brings him back home. Things get even worse. Everyone blames Harriet. From a very young age, Ben spends a lot of time with neighbourhood delinquents, because they all get along and it gives the family breathing space. Doctors and teachers are useless in giving the family guidance. I don't want to give much more away, but the story progresses and then ends when Ben is 15 and basically is running wild with thugs. After reading The Fifth Child, I learned that there is a sequel, Ben, in the World, which I've already ordered and plan to read when it arrives.
There is so much subtext in this novel that I can't even begin to go into it here. In some ways, the book is similar to We Need to Talk About Kevin and in others it's more like Rosemary's Baby.
The only other Doris Lessing I've read is The Grass is Singing, which was very different but similar in length and also in being a deceivingly simple story that packs a wallop.
Rating: when I read it, I thought 3.5 stars, but the more I think about it and read commentary on it (and reader reviews), and think some more, I think it's more like 4.5 stars.
Why I Read This Now: I was researching "best short novels" for my book club, and this was highly recommended. Since I owned it, I thought I'd preview it before we meet to decide on our books for the next year. There is a lot of discussion material in the Fifth Child, despite its short length. Which to me is a sign of a talented author.
Recommended for: Well, not everyone. Some people will give it a straight read, and miss all the subtleties, and then just say they don't like the story or characters. I've read a lot of reader reviews today, and there are some great comments in the one-star reviews, but a lot of those reviewers are also missing what's important in the book. It's definitely controversial work. People who like to pull apart what an author is doing, and don't mind some horrific things in their nice middle class English novel, will probably appreciate the Fifth Child.
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what the actual fifth child would do. But I'm ahead of myself.In mid-60s London, David and Harriet meet at an office party. They hit it off because they aren't like anyone else and share similar goals. Namely, to buy a comfortable big house and fill it with loads of children. Eight or ten, at least. The swinging sixties and mod London are not for them. The enormous Victorian house they buy is two hours north of London, which makes for a very long commute for David, and even at that distance, it's beyond their budget, especially when Harriet immediately gets pregnant and quits work. In a few years they have four lovely children--two boys and two girls. And every holiday their huge house fills up with extended family. So much fun, such a perfect family. Except David is exhausted from working to support all these people, and Harriet is exhausted from being pregnant and breast feeding and chasing toddlers all day. All the extended family and friends who come to stay tell them they've taken on too much and to slow down, but David and Harriet stubbornly plug their ears and say "this is what we want to do!"
Except they really can't afford it, and even though David is disgusted by his upper class upbringing, he asks his father to pay their mortgage. And they can't physically handle it either -- Harriet's mother sacrifices her retirement to move in and become an unpaid full time nanny (even though she has other children and grandchildren). But David and Harriet think it's exactly what they want, and don't seem to grasp that they aren't actually accomplishing it. (David and Harriet frustrated me!)
Then. Then Harriet gets pregnant a fifth time. From the beginning the pregnancy is significantly worse than her previous uncomfortable pregnancies. At eight months, she gives birth to an eleven pound baby, Ben, and he's extremely ugly. And strong, and very unhappy. They call him goblin and gargoyle. Things go very badly. The happy house guests disappear. Pets die. His siblings lock their doors at night. For a while, Ben is institutionalized. Against everyone's wishes, Harriet brings him back home. Things get even worse. Everyone blames Harriet. From a very young age, Ben spends a lot of time with neighbourhood delinquents, because they all get along and it gives the family breathing space. Doctors and teachers are useless in giving the family guidance. I don't want to give much more away, but the story progresses and then ends when Ben is 15 and basically is running wild with thugs. After reading The Fifth Child, I learned that there is a sequel, Ben, in the World, which I've already ordered and plan to read when it arrives.
There is so much subtext in this novel that I can't even begin to go into it here. In some ways, the book is similar to We Need to Talk About Kevin and in others it's more like Rosemary's Baby.
The only other Doris Lessing I've read is The Grass is Singing, which was very different but similar in length and also in being a deceivingly simple story that packs a wallop.
Rating: when I read it, I thought 3.5 stars, but the more I think about it and read commentary on it (and reader reviews), and think some more, I think it's more like 4.5 stars.
Why I Read This Now: I was researching "best short novels" for my book club, and this was highly recommended. Since I owned it, I thought I'd preview it before we meet to decide on our books for the next year. There is a lot of discussion material in the Fifth Child, despite its short length. Which to me is a sign of a talented author.
Recommended for: Well, not everyone. Some people will give it a straight read, and miss all the subtleties, and then just say they don't like the story or characters. I've read a lot of reader reviews today, and there are some great comments in the one-star reviews, but a lot of those reviewers are also missing what's important in the book. It's definitely controversial work. People who like to pull apart what an author is doing, and don't mind some horrific things in their nice middle class English novel, will probably appreciate the Fifth Child.
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LibraryThing member rozpat
This is the forerunner to 'We Need to Talk about Kevin' and is genuinely very creepy but mostly just very, very sad - I sat up all night reading it, the slow fingers of dawn stretching across the sky and so on...
LibraryThing member samantha464
A frightening look at a familiar theme. The fear of having children and what they will become is hightened in Lessing's book by the extreme reactions of the family. You're left wondering if Ben was truly as horrible as he is described, or if the family is just so blinded by their desire for
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perfection that they cannot accept what are, in truth, small differences. Harrowing, to say the least. Don't read if pregnant! Show Less
LibraryThing member ocgreg34
Harriet and David Lovatt are a happy upper-middle-class couple, living in the house of their dreams during the 1960s. Their world is filled with visiting family who stay for weeks at a time and with their four children, all born in the large, comfy house. When Harriet becomes pregnant all too soon
What I found intriguing about the story was how the Lovatt's family life shows how society as a whole reacts to change, especially when it's a perceived negative change. Most people notice the change and either ignore it or believe someone else will take care of it; others -- a small few -- will try to do something, anything, to work with the change in some beneficial way. From the moment Ben is born, everyone in the Lovatt family turns their backs on him. The other children do their best to avoid him; most of the extended family stops their annual visits; David denies that the child is even his. And then they lay all the blame on someone else. They want to stay stuck in their comfortable routines. But not Harriet. She definitely sees the differences and tries to go along with the rest of the family, but some maternal instinct won't let her abandon him no matter how much she knows it's in the best interest of the rest of her family. She shows him love, tries to teach him right from wrong, does whatever she can to make Ben understand and at the end, still isn't sure she's made a difference.
"The Fifth" Child tells an interesting tale of a family at a crossroads between the familiar and change. And I can understand why Lessing received the Nobel Prize for Literature.
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after the birth of Paul -- the fourth child -- something changes. The child seems to rebel against her inside the womb, draining her of energy, making her tired and irritable when dealing with the rest of the family. But after the violent birth of Ben -- the fifth child -- the idyllic life of the Lovatts changes forever.What I found intriguing about the story was how the Lovatt's family life shows how society as a whole reacts to change, especially when it's a perceived negative change. Most people notice the change and either ignore it or believe someone else will take care of it; others -- a small few -- will try to do something, anything, to work with the change in some beneficial way. From the moment Ben is born, everyone in the Lovatt family turns their backs on him. The other children do their best to avoid him; most of the extended family stops their annual visits; David denies that the child is even his. And then they lay all the blame on someone else. They want to stay stuck in their comfortable routines. But not Harriet. She definitely sees the differences and tries to go along with the rest of the family, but some maternal instinct won't let her abandon him no matter how much she knows it's in the best interest of the rest of her family. She shows him love, tries to teach him right from wrong, does whatever she can to make Ben understand and at the end, still isn't sure she's made a difference.
"The Fifth" Child tells an interesting tale of a family at a crossroads between the familiar and change. And I can understand why Lessing received the Nobel Prize for Literature.
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LibraryThing member over.the.edge
The Fifth Child
by Doris Lessing
1988
Knopf
Harriet could feel there was something different about Ben, her fifth pregnancy. He moved different, felt different. When he was born, he even looked different. Although just an infant, his face had an aged look. It terrified other people, some compared
Ben never scooted across the floor or crawled. He just stood up one day and slowly began learning to walk. He would get out of his crib and bedroom, much to his parents dismay and fear, and became obsessed with the family dog, following it everywhere. His strength, his hunger....Harriet feared something was wrong with Ben but Doctors reassured her that he was just an incredibly strong and curious baby. Until he killed the dog. Then the cat. As Ben started to grow, his family was afraid of him. One by one they all moved away. Except his mother, Harriet, who always protected him, even as the family moved out......
This was dark and disturbing and very unforgettable.Doris Lessing was so good at building atmosphere and eeriness. I am looking forward to the sequel, where Ben has grown and developed into an adult. A must read.
by Doris Lessing
1988
Knopf
Harriet could feel there was something different about Ben, her fifth pregnancy. He moved different, felt different. When he was born, he even looked different. Although just an infant, his face had an aged look. It terrified other people, some compared
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him to a troll. He was always hungry and abnormally strong. But that was her Ben. She loved him.Ben never scooted across the floor or crawled. He just stood up one day and slowly began learning to walk. He would get out of his crib and bedroom, much to his parents dismay and fear, and became obsessed with the family dog, following it everywhere. His strength, his hunger....Harriet feared something was wrong with Ben but Doctors reassured her that he was just an incredibly strong and curious baby. Until he killed the dog. Then the cat. As Ben started to grow, his family was afraid of him. One by one they all moved away. Except his mother, Harriet, who always protected him, even as the family moved out......
This was dark and disturbing and very unforgettable.Doris Lessing was so good at building atmosphere and eeriness. I am looking forward to the sequel, where Ben has grown and developed into an adult. A must read.
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LibraryThing member pdebolt
The Fifth Child is a book I've meant to read for quite awhile, and I now look forward to its sequel. This is the unsettling story of David and Harriet, who marry and move into a large house, with expectations to fill it with many children. They have four children in quick succession, and experience
Harriet does her best to assimilate Ben into the family, but soon the children disperse as they grow older. In effect, she has sacrificed her happy home life, and is saddled with heartbreak, guilt and regret over the loss of her perfect future. Doris Lessing writes skillfully about a life turned upside down by the arrival of a child for whom there are no answers.
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the normal joys and challenges of parenthood. Their fifth child, Ben, is born after a very difficult pregnancy. He is very large with the look of a troll, and is immediately aggressive and angry. Ben's four siblings are initially excited to welcome a new baby, but as he grows, so does their instinctive fear of him. The normally-bustling household soon empties of family and friends as people eventually withdraw after being around this feral child.Harriet does her best to assimilate Ben into the family, but soon the children disperse as they grow older. In effect, she has sacrificed her happy home life, and is saddled with heartbreak, guilt and regret over the loss of her perfect future. Doris Lessing writes skillfully about a life turned upside down by the arrival of a child for whom there are no answers.
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LibraryThing member CasualFriday
This is one of the creepiest pieces of literary fiction I’ve ever read, about a nightmare baby born to the nicest pair of Brits you could imagine.
Old-fashioned Harriet and David Lovatt want a large family in their large rambling house. Harriet is a good breeder, and they build a wonderful family
The book can be enjoyed on so many levels, from a gothic horror story to a psychological study of family to a parable about life in 1980s England and the death of the British middle class dream. The prose was unassumingly perfect. The pacing was great. It was hard to put down, and I can't wait to read the sequel, Ben in the World.
Old-fashioned Harriet and David Lovatt want a large family in their large rambling house. Harriet is a good breeder, and they build a wonderful family
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life, with relatives always filling the house at Christmas and Easter. But then Harriet bears their fifth child, Ben, who is hyperactive, slow-witted, violent, and looks like a goblin. He is just about impossible to love, and the other children fear him.The book can be enjoyed on so many levels, from a gothic horror story to a psychological study of family to a parable about life in 1980s England and the death of the British middle class dream. The prose was unassumingly perfect. The pacing was great. It was hard to put down, and I can't wait to read the sequel, Ben in the World.
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LibraryThing member deebee1
A harrowing novel that kept me thinking for several days about the difficult issue of societal acceptance of what is not "normal", not "nice", and not "like us", and the power of a mother's bond to her child. Set in the 60s, Harriet and David -- middle class, conservative, old-fashioned, with
Then came the fifth child -- hated the moment his mother feels him in his womb -- large, overly active, very difficult, so unlike her other pregnancies -- regarded as a monster growing in her belly. He comes out large, ugly, malformed, repugnant. He is uncommunicative, has incredible strength and a huge appetite, and most of all, a violent and malevolent streak -- everything a child should not be. Very quickly, he alienates his own family -- his own father loathes him, the other children are deathly afraid of him. Instead of laughter that used to fill the house, it has become a house of dread. Ben, the fifth child, is kept in a cage, but the whole house seems like a cage since he came.
Harriet suffers a dilemma, as I imagine only mothers in similar situations can. She sees her family disintegrate, the personalities of her other children severely affected maybe even irreversibly. She is alone in this, her husband has disowned the "problem". All the relatives who used to converge regularly in big parties in the house, are now staying away. It is she who will determine the fate of this loveless, luckless, ugly child.
Lessing's narrative is straightforward, uncomplicated, but the questions she raises are dark and immensely important. How prepared are we to accept deviation, in our family and in others? What is the extent of a mother's love, duty --- to this child, and to her other children? Where to find the balance to be able to keep the family together?
This is a powerful book, highly recommended.
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strong family values, begin planning a large family. All seem happy and well, four children are born in succession, Harriet is exhausted though content, everything is in order. Then came the fifth child -- hated the moment his mother feels him in his womb -- large, overly active, very difficult, so unlike her other pregnancies -- regarded as a monster growing in her belly. He comes out large, ugly, malformed, repugnant. He is uncommunicative, has incredible strength and a huge appetite, and most of all, a violent and malevolent streak -- everything a child should not be. Very quickly, he alienates his own family -- his own father loathes him, the other children are deathly afraid of him. Instead of laughter that used to fill the house, it has become a house of dread. Ben, the fifth child, is kept in a cage, but the whole house seems like a cage since he came.
Harriet suffers a dilemma, as I imagine only mothers in similar situations can. She sees her family disintegrate, the personalities of her other children severely affected maybe even irreversibly. She is alone in this, her husband has disowned the "problem". All the relatives who used to converge regularly in big parties in the house, are now staying away. It is she who will determine the fate of this loveless, luckless, ugly child.
Lessing's narrative is straightforward, uncomplicated, but the questions she raises are dark and immensely important. How prepared are we to accept deviation, in our family and in others? What is the extent of a mother's love, duty --- to this child, and to her other children? Where to find the balance to be able to keep the family together?
This is a powerful book, highly recommended.
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LibraryThing member posthumose
The idea of a mother not loving her own child seems almost taboo as a subject for a novel. Such feelings just aren't possible, or at least they're not natural or normal, are they? That's the general consensus. I wanted to read The Fifth Child because someone said it put them in mind of Lionel
Then I realized that the only difference in the stories is whether they are related to us before disaster strikes, as in the case of Ben, or afterward, as with Kevin's killing spree. Each book hits tender spots and like most tragedies are not the easiest to read. But I think they both need to be read. The questions raised need to be faced-by everyone. Should these children be drugged? Is psychiatry or behaviour therapy enough? Should they be "put away" in cases where they cannot be controlled? Then there's the issue of blame. People seem to need to point fingers when things go wrong. Are the parents, especially the mothers, ultimately responsible for the monstrous behaviour of their children? I'm glad I read these books. I learned things, empathy being the very least of these. I highly recommended We Need to Talk About Kevin. I recommend The Fifth Child as well.
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Shriver's We Need to Talk About Kevin, which I reviewed here. They are both about having a child who is difficult to love. Let's be honest, even their mothers find them impossible to love. They do try, very hard, over a period of long years, but ultimately admit their true feelings. Both books are well written and I thought at first they were quite different stories. Kevin, in Shriver's book is a teenager who's killed fellow students in a school shooting before the story even begins. Ben, the fifth child to a couple who planned a large family and celebrated each child's arrival, is odd and frightening and difficult to control from the day he's born. We follow his beleagured mother and family from birth through to his teen years. Then I realized that the only difference in the stories is whether they are related to us before disaster strikes, as in the case of Ben, or afterward, as with Kevin's killing spree. Each book hits tender spots and like most tragedies are not the easiest to read. But I think they both need to be read. The questions raised need to be faced-by everyone. Should these children be drugged? Is psychiatry or behaviour therapy enough? Should they be "put away" in cases where they cannot be controlled? Then there's the issue of blame. People seem to need to point fingers when things go wrong. Are the parents, especially the mothers, ultimately responsible for the monstrous behaviour of their children? I'm glad I read these books. I learned things, empathy being the very least of these. I highly recommended We Need to Talk About Kevin. I recommend The Fifth Child as well.
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LibraryThing member furriebarry
Using the tool of the birth of an unusual child to a large and mostly happy family this book examines how the choices a parent makes can affect those around them. This was marketed to me as a horror story but it fails on that level. Where it succeeds is in examining how relationships hinge on other
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relationships and how a new person entering into a social web causes can cause far reaching changes. Only 150 pages long, packed with insight and details this story explores the mandane via the supernatural and pulls it off nicely. Show Less
LibraryThing member baswood
Elements of fantasy, of science fiction, of horror are held together by Lessing’s realistic description of family life in late 1960’s London, when the working middle class could still afford to buy a huge rambling Victorian house with a large garden. Harriet is a robust twenty something still a
Harriet and David come to the same conclusion, they have four children already and reluctantly agree that they need a rest, however Harriet becomes pregnant again almost immediately and although all her pregnancies have made her ill, this one is different again. After just three months she feels the child inside her fighting her and she goes to her family doctor who prescribes tranquillisers, telling her that everything is normal and the foetus is just hyperactive. The child is born a month premature and is a monster baby, not only in size, but in looks as well. They call him Ben. It soon becomes apparent that Ben is an abnormal child, tremendously strong and fighting everything almost from the moment he is born. His presence in the house disturbs the other children and disturbs the rest of the family. After the first vacation period friends and then family stop coming to stay for the holidays. Ben has to be locked in his room and bars are put on his window. Harriet and David cannot cope with Ben who appears to be some sort of throwback to a more primitive life form, perhaps even alien life form. Help for the couple is not forthcoming and so reluctantly they agree to have Ben taken away to a place for children who do not conform to any known childhood patterns.
Harriet cannot live with the knowledge that her son will be badly treated and against the family wishes she tracks down the hospital like prison where Ben is being sedated and snatches him away. Back in the family home they realise that their life will be different now with Ben. The other children are sent away to schools or relations, because they are frightened to stay in the house with Ben, who has already taken to murdering their pets. Harriet can only control him with threats that she will have him taken away again. Her marriage is falling apart under the strain, but she is partially rescued by a gang of local unemployed youths, who agree to look after Ben for cash payments, during the daytime and he becomes a sort of mascot to this motorcycle community. Ben survives, grows older and when the original youths find employment he gathers round him other disaffected young people and Harriet suspects that Ben’s gang are getting into a life of crime……
Doris Lessing has described her book as a horror story, but I don’t think that is quite accurate. Nobody dies, the fantasy of a happy and boisterous family life in which everybody shared, was always going to come under some strain, when it threatened to outdo itself. Ben, when he arrives is a dominating presence, but ways are found to lessen his threat and although the reader fears a horrific incident just around the corner it never arrives. At 160 pages it is short enough to have won the Booker prize, but the writing is of a far better quality than many of those contenders. It is a page turner and I read it in one sitting, caught up the 1960’s dream of an extended family life with all its issues and problems and then with the arrival of Ben wondering just where the story was going to take me. I was not disappointed and what do you know……. there is a sequel.
A four star read.
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virgin when she meets David at an office party, they get talking and soon discover they are soul mates; they both have a vision of a large, perhaps extended family living in an old house with children running round their feet. They soon discover they have a knack for making babies and with the help of financial support from David’s ex wife’s rich husband they can have the lifestyle, that they had planned for themselves when they had first met. They have family and friends staying with them for weeks at a time during the school holidays and at every Christmas Harriet is pregnant again. Family life is like one big fantasy for Harriet and David, of course Harriet is tired from all the pregnancies and child minding (she has help from her mother) and David has to take on extra work to support the family and their friends, but they glow with pleasure. The old house is soon bursting at the seems, but the almost frantic family life is taking its toll on Harriet, and her mother counsels her about not having any more children for a while. Harriet and David come to the same conclusion, they have four children already and reluctantly agree that they need a rest, however Harriet becomes pregnant again almost immediately and although all her pregnancies have made her ill, this one is different again. After just three months she feels the child inside her fighting her and she goes to her family doctor who prescribes tranquillisers, telling her that everything is normal and the foetus is just hyperactive. The child is born a month premature and is a monster baby, not only in size, but in looks as well. They call him Ben. It soon becomes apparent that Ben is an abnormal child, tremendously strong and fighting everything almost from the moment he is born. His presence in the house disturbs the other children and disturbs the rest of the family. After the first vacation period friends and then family stop coming to stay for the holidays. Ben has to be locked in his room and bars are put on his window. Harriet and David cannot cope with Ben who appears to be some sort of throwback to a more primitive life form, perhaps even alien life form. Help for the couple is not forthcoming and so reluctantly they agree to have Ben taken away to a place for children who do not conform to any known childhood patterns.
Harriet cannot live with the knowledge that her son will be badly treated and against the family wishes she tracks down the hospital like prison where Ben is being sedated and snatches him away. Back in the family home they realise that their life will be different now with Ben. The other children are sent away to schools or relations, because they are frightened to stay in the house with Ben, who has already taken to murdering their pets. Harriet can only control him with threats that she will have him taken away again. Her marriage is falling apart under the strain, but she is partially rescued by a gang of local unemployed youths, who agree to look after Ben for cash payments, during the daytime and he becomes a sort of mascot to this motorcycle community. Ben survives, grows older and when the original youths find employment he gathers round him other disaffected young people and Harriet suspects that Ben’s gang are getting into a life of crime……
Doris Lessing has described her book as a horror story, but I don’t think that is quite accurate. Nobody dies, the fantasy of a happy and boisterous family life in which everybody shared, was always going to come under some strain, when it threatened to outdo itself. Ben, when he arrives is a dominating presence, but ways are found to lessen his threat and although the reader fears a horrific incident just around the corner it never arrives. At 160 pages it is short enough to have won the Booker prize, but the writing is of a far better quality than many of those contenders. It is a page turner and I read it in one sitting, caught up the 1960’s dream of an extended family life with all its issues and problems and then with the arrival of Ben wondering just where the story was going to take me. I was not disappointed and what do you know……. there is a sequel.
A four star read.
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LibraryThing member Whisper1
What a book! What a story! What a writer!
David and Harriett are unique individuals and different from their work group and their peers.
In their minds, finding each other equated to a perfect match.
Living a life of upper middle class in the countryside of England, they purchase a huge house,
I couldn't relate to David and Harriett and the author did a great job at portraying them as selfish and self absorbed individuals who, together as a team, double the narcissistic behavior.
Expecting family to support their choices, immediately they decide to have many children. Much to the consternation of parents, relatives and friends, in rapid succession, they have four healthy children.
Finding herself pregnant with the fifth proves problematic. The child appears to battle in the womb, wearing Harriett to a frazzle.
Pounding, punching and kicking until she is bruised, the 11 pound baby is born. Child number five is antisocial, kills animals, tries to kill his brother and is consequently institutionalized.
Rescuing Ben from the institution and returning him to home is fraught with drama as Ben becomes increasingly "evil."
Lessing does an excellent job portraying a society that blames the sociopathy of the child on mother for her lack of ability to love the child, while paradoxically portraying a very unlikeable mother and father.
This is a disturbing and worthwhile read.
David and Harriett are unique individuals and different from their work group and their peers.
In their minds, finding each other equated to a perfect match.
Living a life of upper middle class in the countryside of England, they purchase a huge house,
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unaffordable even by their standards.I couldn't relate to David and Harriett and the author did a great job at portraying them as selfish and self absorbed individuals who, together as a team, double the narcissistic behavior.
Expecting family to support their choices, immediately they decide to have many children. Much to the consternation of parents, relatives and friends, in rapid succession, they have four healthy children.
Finding herself pregnant with the fifth proves problematic. The child appears to battle in the womb, wearing Harriett to a frazzle.
Pounding, punching and kicking until she is bruised, the 11 pound baby is born. Child number five is antisocial, kills animals, tries to kill his brother and is consequently institutionalized.
Rescuing Ben from the institution and returning him to home is fraught with drama as Ben becomes increasingly "evil."
Lessing does an excellent job portraying a society that blames the sociopathy of the child on mother for her lack of ability to love the child, while paradoxically portraying a very unlikeable mother and father.
This is a disturbing and worthwhile read.
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LibraryThing member charlierb3
About: A couple has four normal children...the fifth one isn't so normal.
Pros: Short, quick read. Creepy.
Cons. Ending was kind of a let down.
Grade: B+
Pros: Short, quick read. Creepy.
Cons. Ending was kind of a let down.
Grade: B+
LibraryThing member Jabes
It has been a while since I read this, but I recall a hilarious scene where the mother is talking to her doctor about her "evil/unusual/etc/etc" child and says "he's not mine is he?" I sort of feel like this must sum up motherhood at times. Good read.
LibraryThing member MarthaHuntley
I'd been wanting to read something by Doris Lessing for years, but just hadn't. Then this book was chosen by one of my reading groups -- I don't know whether it is a "typical" Doris Lessing book or not, but it is some read. It really is a domestic horror story, and I'm so glad I'll be in a group to
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discuss it, as there can be so many interpretations of what this story is about. Is it about nature vs. nurture? About how a family reacts when a true monster is born into it? Or could it possibly be a case study for the currently popular family systems theory, as one review below presents it? Is it a story about how modern developed countries are being overrun by "otherness," violence, lessening of educational and moral standards in general? I, for one, felt a lot of sympathy for Harriet. I bought her point of view, pretty much. It amazed me how far she would go with and for Ben. ..and yet I see that in people fairly frequently with their family members. If you project this story onto society, I think society has the same challenges in what to do with those among us who seem so very different -- whether autistic, psychopathic, or sociopathic, it seems they are among us and teachers, doctors, police, the justice system people -- all have to make some decisions about both "fairness" and protecting the rest of us. It does seem like acknowledging the problem would be a beginning. This little book leaves any reader with a lot to ponder! Show Less
LibraryThing member Nirmala-books
A ‘good read’ book on a family with a special child. Though it is hair raising and full of twists and shocks as you read, one cannot help but wonder how unprepared the parents and the rest of the family were to accept a child with mental and growth disabilities when born. It is amazingly how
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they can “not love” this child who is difficult to manage and has special care needs. The mother does not feel “love” for the child or does not want to admit “love” but her actions show that she has in depth maternal love for him. It is not pleasant to read the child being considered or thought of by parents as something ‘inhuman’ with having ‘his own kind’ somewhere in this world or outside this world. It shows sheer selfishness in parents who wish only to have and love ‘normal’ children. Show Less
LibraryThing member fig2
An unflinching look at maternal love and coming to terms with a child you want to love, but cannot. This spare novel points a direct spotlight on the ethics of releasing into the world a damaged, dangerous and unlovable person. A chilling tale from Nobel winner, Doris Lessing.
LibraryThing member brokenangelkisses
This was a book group choice. The title was sufficiently intriguing and the author well-known – Doris Lessing won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2007 – so I was looking forward to reading this novella.
The Fifth Child
Harriett and David are two old-fashioned young people who meet at an office
My experience
The premise was an interesting one and made me think of Lionel Shriver’s novel ‘We Need to Talk about Kevin’. I wondered whether this was a similar exploration of how a child develops without a mother’s love, but the tale feels much more complex and it is difficult to reduce the story to such a simple logic (although critics have tried – see below). The description of the pregnancy makes it clear that this is a very different experience for Harriett, to the extent that, considered rationally, her experiences verge on the ludicrous. It is to Lessing’s credit that I never failed to believe in her characters or their experiences.
As the story develops, Ben’s difference becomes more pronounced, although there is still a question mark over its extent – teachers and doctors refuse to recognise that he is an exceptionally unusual child. I found the storyline so interesting because there is no clear response to the situation. Indeed, Lessing herself stated in an interview with the New York Times that there was “no solution” to the problems posed in the book and that readers often struggled to accept this. It is often said that literature is cathartic, allowing readers to experience a problem and its resolution. I found it quite refreshing and challenging that ‘The Fifth Child’ resists this concept. As readers, we cannot be sure of who or indeed what Ben is, how he should be treated or what should be done. I am still thinking about the issues posed by the story several weeks after reading it.
This is a short story – only 159 pages – and I found it easy to read, finishing it in a few days. It could easily be read in a matter of hours. There are no chapters so there is nothing to slow down the pace of the story. Lessing writes in a brisk way, allowing the story to unfold swiftly. I liked the style of the writing, although it does prevent readers from developing much sympathy with the adult characters. I found them to be rather un-likeable from the beginning, perhaps because their dream depends upon the financial and physical support of other characters that they have previously looked down upon.
Having the characters distanced from the reader in this way allows the story to be the central focus. In fact, the whole story feels rather like a myth. I have also read ‘The Cleft’ by Lessing and felt that the style was similar. Lessing seems to tell universal stories rather than specific, localised stories. This is supported by the science-fiction elements of her writing. For instance, there is a strong suggestion in this book that Ben is a ‘throwback’, some kind of caveman accidentally born in the wrong century. Lessing herself sees the book as a horror story and actually re-wrote it to make the reactions of other characters to Ben more unpleasant – and thereby more realistic. Certainly the discomfort Ben engenders in most of the other characters is pronounced and would perhaps be unaccountable if he were seen as simply an unusual child.
Interpreting the story
I liked this story partly because it seems to defy straightforward interpretation. Critics have stated various interpretations of the story to be true and final. Most of these have problems. For instance, viewing Ben as a symbol of the changing reactions to children with developmental disorders seems to be undercut by the sympathetic portrayal of a Down’s Syndrome child. Seeing him as a maternal reject or as a victim of the family ignores what he does and, perhaps most importantly, the implications of the sequel. Lessing has written a follow-up to this story called ‘Ben in the World’ which would seem to lend weight to some interpretations over others. Regardless, I think the refusal to provide simple solutions to the problems posed by Ben is a real strength of the story.
Conclusions
This is a simple but thought-provoking story which uses aspects of a range of genres to create a disturbing tale which shows “how easily things can vanish” (Lessing – NYT interview). It reads like a fable or myth but one without a simple or correct solution. I found it interesting to read as there is ambiguity surrounding Ben and his treatment. I would recommend it to anyone who likes a story which makes them think. I would not recommend it to people who like fully resolved endings and a story with a strong plot. I am not a fan of science fiction but the elements of it in this are not obtrusive so it did not detract from my enjoyment. I would be interested in reading the sequel, ‘Ben in the World’.
This particular edition of the book is nicely presented with clear font and claims to be printed on paper from FSC forests, meaning it is a bit more sustainable than paper from other sources. The £7.99 RRP seems reasonable despite the slimness of the book as I think it would repay re-reading. It will, of course, be available cheaper online.
The Fifth Child
Harriett and David are two old-fashioned young people who meet at an office
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party. They quickly decide to marry and look forward to raising a large family with at least six children. They buy a huge property and settle into a life of domestic bliss, producing a new child every year and having extended family stay for weeks at a time. When Harriett falls pregnant for a fifth time, everything changes. The pregnancy is different, difficult, and the resulting child ugly, deficient of normal feeling. This is Ben. What will happen now?My experience
The premise was an interesting one and made me think of Lionel Shriver’s novel ‘We Need to Talk about Kevin’. I wondered whether this was a similar exploration of how a child develops without a mother’s love, but the tale feels much more complex and it is difficult to reduce the story to such a simple logic (although critics have tried – see below). The description of the pregnancy makes it clear that this is a very different experience for Harriett, to the extent that, considered rationally, her experiences verge on the ludicrous. It is to Lessing’s credit that I never failed to believe in her characters or their experiences.
As the story develops, Ben’s difference becomes more pronounced, although there is still a question mark over its extent – teachers and doctors refuse to recognise that he is an exceptionally unusual child. I found the storyline so interesting because there is no clear response to the situation. Indeed, Lessing herself stated in an interview with the New York Times that there was “no solution” to the problems posed in the book and that readers often struggled to accept this. It is often said that literature is cathartic, allowing readers to experience a problem and its resolution. I found it quite refreshing and challenging that ‘The Fifth Child’ resists this concept. As readers, we cannot be sure of who or indeed what Ben is, how he should be treated or what should be done. I am still thinking about the issues posed by the story several weeks after reading it.
This is a short story – only 159 pages – and I found it easy to read, finishing it in a few days. It could easily be read in a matter of hours. There are no chapters so there is nothing to slow down the pace of the story. Lessing writes in a brisk way, allowing the story to unfold swiftly. I liked the style of the writing, although it does prevent readers from developing much sympathy with the adult characters. I found them to be rather un-likeable from the beginning, perhaps because their dream depends upon the financial and physical support of other characters that they have previously looked down upon.
Having the characters distanced from the reader in this way allows the story to be the central focus. In fact, the whole story feels rather like a myth. I have also read ‘The Cleft’ by Lessing and felt that the style was similar. Lessing seems to tell universal stories rather than specific, localised stories. This is supported by the science-fiction elements of her writing. For instance, there is a strong suggestion in this book that Ben is a ‘throwback’, some kind of caveman accidentally born in the wrong century. Lessing herself sees the book as a horror story and actually re-wrote it to make the reactions of other characters to Ben more unpleasant – and thereby more realistic. Certainly the discomfort Ben engenders in most of the other characters is pronounced and would perhaps be unaccountable if he were seen as simply an unusual child.
Interpreting the story
I liked this story partly because it seems to defy straightforward interpretation. Critics have stated various interpretations of the story to be true and final. Most of these have problems. For instance, viewing Ben as a symbol of the changing reactions to children with developmental disorders seems to be undercut by the sympathetic portrayal of a Down’s Syndrome child. Seeing him as a maternal reject or as a victim of the family ignores what he does and, perhaps most importantly, the implications of the sequel. Lessing has written a follow-up to this story called ‘Ben in the World’ which would seem to lend weight to some interpretations over others. Regardless, I think the refusal to provide simple solutions to the problems posed by Ben is a real strength of the story.
Conclusions
This is a simple but thought-provoking story which uses aspects of a range of genres to create a disturbing tale which shows “how easily things can vanish” (Lessing – NYT interview). It reads like a fable or myth but one without a simple or correct solution. I found it interesting to read as there is ambiguity surrounding Ben and his treatment. I would recommend it to anyone who likes a story which makes them think. I would not recommend it to people who like fully resolved endings and a story with a strong plot. I am not a fan of science fiction but the elements of it in this are not obtrusive so it did not detract from my enjoyment. I would be interested in reading the sequel, ‘Ben in the World’.
This particular edition of the book is nicely presented with clear font and claims to be printed on paper from FSC forests, meaning it is a bit more sustainable than paper from other sources. The £7.99 RRP seems reasonable despite the slimness of the book as I think it would repay re-reading. It will, of course, be available cheaper online.
Show Less
LibraryThing member SqueakyChu
I found this book to be quite unsettling. The story begins with a young couple, Harriet and David, who, although not the sociable type, met at an office party and eventually ended up falling in love and marrying. Their hope was to have a very large family. This was frowned upon by various friends
Well, the fifth child was not what they bargained for. This was a child who described in such a way as to seem to be a monster, but the most horrible thing of all for me was that he seemed too human. I kept changing this fantasy story in my mind into a memoir and felt this child named Ben suffered from autism. He, at times, seemed to cross the boundary back and forth between human and monster. So what was he?
The book had very little, if any, ending. Just know that there is a sequel. It's probably one that I will read with the hope that all will go well for Ben in the future.
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and relatives. However, they made it all the way up to five children until...Well, the fifth child was not what they bargained for. This was a child who described in such a way as to seem to be a monster, but the most horrible thing of all for me was that he seemed too human. I kept changing this fantasy story in my mind into a memoir and felt this child named Ben suffered from autism. He, at times, seemed to cross the boundary back and forth between human and monster. So what was he?
The book had very little, if any, ending. Just know that there is a sequel. It's probably one that I will read with the hope that all will go well for Ben in the future.
Show Less
LibraryThing member nocto
I read a short story of Lessing's To Room Nineteen and this book on the same day. It's only a short book. They were very similar in substance and style, though quite dissimilar in some ways. Enjoyed them both immensely and will be reading more by this author.
LibraryThing member isabelx
What an odd book! I didn't like it at all.
Definitely not recommended for anyone who is pregnant or trying for a baby.
Definitely not recommended for anyone who is pregnant or trying for a baby.
LibraryThing member PennyAnne
I thought it was really time that I read one of this author's books and I certainly chose an odd and strangely powerful one to start with. Harriet and David want a large family - their first four children are completely normal and then along comes Ben, the fifth child who, from his early days in
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his mother's womb, proves himself to be 'other', a monstrous being who his parents come to believe must literally be an alien. Parts of this book remind me of "We Need to Talk About Kevin" and other parts put me in mind of "The Wasp Factory" - despite its brevity this book is able to tackle issues of motherhood, societal acceptance and difference and is a story that will have you thinking long after you finish the final pages. Show Less
LibraryThing member Suzejamesy
This is a short, but well crafted Gothic story that manages to be both moving and creepy. It's definitely one to buy anyone you know about to have a baby or thinking of having one ;p
LibraryThing member piefuchs
A superior rendition of "We need to talk about Kevin". A worthy reading on the obligations of motherhood and the nature of evil.
LibraryThing member bookcrazed
Doris Lessing's surrealist-fantasy-scifi fiction at its best. Having read this cautionary tale about a couple who reproduce with visions of the perfect family (supported by the income and labors of their extended family), I rushed to read the rest of the story in the sequel Ben, In the World.
Awards
LA Times Book Prize (Finalist — Fiction — 1988)
Grinzane Cavour Prize (1989)
Notable Books List (1988)
Pages
133
ISBN
0394571053 / 9780394571058