Rating: 
Summary: A book to make you think.
Review: I find this book both disturbing and enthralling. For weeks after I read it, I was still figuring out what it was truly about. The fundamental question the author is posing in this story - How deep is a mother's love? What will a mother sacrifice for one of her children?. The answer is not as simple as one may think.
Rating: 
Summary: Frightening, scary and quite boring
Review: I had actually expected more from this book, I guess I had too high expectations. Even though the story was exciting enough, it was not really frightening or scaring. I was waiting for something more all the time, but it just didn't happen.Still, an enjoyable book. Some good points which made me think about the consequences our choices have. I guess Harriet didn't really have any choices, whatever she decided, the consequences would be fatal...
Rating: 
Summary: This one hits way too close to home
Review: I keep expecting Lessing to deliver a high quality of fiction. The quality is there, for sure, but I have to wonder about how much is fiction. The elements are all too familiar in real life. An eager young couple sets about raising a family, and succeeds far too well. They can not support their own ambitions, whether measured in dollar amounts or in units of work caring for the children. The fifth child embodies a tragic accident of birth, and the fragile sitation implodes. I don't mean to trivialize Lessing's story - even when I saw what was coming, I was hypnotically compelled to see it through, like the proverbial bird in front of a snake. (I've also avoided spoilers as much as I can, so vagueness is intended.) Taken in literal terms, the story carries a gut-wrenching sensation that's much too close to life. One step above literality, I parented a "fifth child", or tried to. It wasn't my own spawn; it had been cast out by it's natural parent, the one that hadn't bailed out long since. My concerns for the child were twice the usual: I had a duty to prepare the child for the world, but had a second duty of protecting the world from that child. (That unpleasant period didn't last, and I was truly relieved at its end.) I did not need to grant Lessing very much poetic license to see the fact in her fiction. If I let the immediacy of memory die down, I can read the story at more metaphorical levels, too. I suppose that many parents have high hopes, before the reality of a pimply teenager sprawls on their couch. Outside of parenting, I know that I have undertaken tasks way beyond my capacity, with some silly faith that things would work out somehow. The more I rely on faith, the worse the outcome. I understand that Lessing has written a sequel. To tell the truth, I don't think I have the stomach for it - and I mean that as a compliment. She is far too successful in invoking the dark spirits that resemble my personal demons, and no other author has ever come close.
Rating:
Summary: Exciting book, but I have only fair lasting impressions
Review: I read The Fifth Child several years ago for a school assignment. I remember being very into it and not being able to put it down. I kept thinking, this book is such a thrill, how could it have been on my class list? I'm sure I was able to pull together some obvious themes in the paper I wrote, but the truth is this: In the end, after having read dozens of books of various genre over the years, this one is not one that stands out in my mind. I cannot recall any one particular thought or conclusion that I had upon reading it. To me, it simply was a chilling story of a mother with a congenitally freaky child.
Rating:
Summary: Exciting book, but I have only fair lasting impressions
Review: I read The Fifth Child several years ago for a school assignment. I remember being very into it and not being able to put it down. I kept thinking, this book is such a thrill, how could it have been on my class list? I'm sure I was able to pull together some obvious themes in the paper I wrote, but the truth is this: In the end, after having read dozens of books of various genre over the years, this one is not one that stands out in my mind. I cannot recall any one particular thought or conclusion that I had upon reading it. To me, it simply was a chilling story of a mother with a congenitally freaky child.
Rating:
Summary: ....strange
Review: I read this for my Brit Lit class. It was interesting reading it, after having read Frankenstein earlier in the semester. They were very similar, at least in regard to themes of reproduction and its consequences, as well as the decline of morality in society. Victor's monster and Harriet's monster are not that dissimilar. The book deals with the rise of materialism in the 70s and 80s, as well as "old fashion" ideas about family, sex, education, religion, mental disorders, etc. I'm not sure what exactly is wrong with Ben. I think he's autistic. But, then again, maybe he's a goblin. Or a Evolutionary throwback (not that such a thing exists though). Good book. And short too, my copy was 133 pages. I read it in one night (because it was due the next day -- oh the wonders of procrastination). Orb
Orbshome.com
Rating:
Summary: A terrifying masterpiece
Review: I sat down with this book on a Sunday afternoon and found myself unable to put it down, even before the fifth child appeared. Lessing's language is spare, chilling in its matter-of-factness and rich in subtle details that make the characters come alive. I suspect women might be more engrossed by this story than men, but I can't imagine anyone avoiding the shivers that I got.
Rating: 
Summary: You call this a classic?
Review: I was forced to read this book for school. I really thought it was boring and made no sense. I hope Lassiter high school will stop assigning this book.
Rating:
Summary: Beware of The Fifth Child.
Review: I was obliged to read this novel for one of my college literature classes. This book is just another example of a post-modern novel: Glum, non-nourishing and a waste of precious tree resources.
Rating:
Summary: a selfish dream
Review: In The Fifth Child, Doris Lesing warns us about the danger of planning the perfect life. Harriet and David had a dream that proved to be selfish, irresponsible and unachievable. The fact is that they couldn't pay for their ideal home and couldn't financially or emotionally support their large family. Harriet's mother gave up her own life to care for Harriet's children and David's father supported the family financially. The birth of their fifth child ruined the dream for family happiness
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