The Fifth Child

Rating:
Summary: Thoughtful but Slow
Review: In the story The Fifth Child, by Dorris Lessing, a breath of social and moral insight is spewed upon the reader in the dullest of any type of story. The majority of the book consists of a collaboration of thoughtful concerns. The book is torment upon the reader when the story begins because of an extremely slow start. The book seems to portray a stream of the author's thoughts on an extremely depressing day. Another element of the story that made taking a look at the book worthwhile is how the author highlights cause and effect of the main character. This gives a basis for the plot to further itself.

The plot contains a few chilling surprises throughout the story. These twists fail to spice up the depressing and slow nature of the story. The story is short and does give the reader some insight as I have said before, but it isn't nearly enough to attract the majority of people. If you are looking for a book with some social insight you might find this book interesting. Otherwise, I think you need another book.

Rating:
Summary: Hyperactive Child
Review: Lessing's thesis hits us where we live: What happens when our everyday, comfortable domestic existence is disrupted by the abnormal, the supernatural. In the book, the happy, festive home of Harriet and David is torn asunder by the arrival of their fifth child, Ben. Hyperactive only captures part of Ben's behavior: he is uncontrollable, a wild child of nature and instinct who Harriet can manage only by the use of medications.

The issues raised by Ben's powers are thought-provoking and get to the core of who we are and how we live.

However, I think the book loses much of its force because of the way Lessing writes. Her style is straight-forward, almost didactic; she is telling us what is happening rather than letting her characters reveal their feelings by their actions. All the major characters are little more than two dimensional stick-figures who are weak and quickly overwhelmed by Ben's primal nature.

In the end, a powerful, albeit flawed allegory. It would make a great horror movie.

Rating:
Summary: Disturbing and ggggrrreat!
Review: Man, was this book disturbing!!! i couldn't put it down, it was so good! There was never a dull moment, and i mean that with all honesty. This book was so eerie sometimes, it was so cool. One thing i keep on reading in other reviews is that there is a lack of character development. well it's true, there is. Big time. But aside from that, this book really captures you in, at least it did for me.

Rating:
Summary: Doris Lessing's monster for the 20th century
Review: The Fifth Child is a remarkable book. The story of a young couple who have a dangerous, violent child and the consequences of this, particularly for the mother, is chilling. What do they do with him, especially after it becomes clear that he is a danger to the family? How far can mother love go when your child is a "monster?" Note the child's last name is a variation of "love it"...as in must the mother love him/it? The book is a thought provoking study of this problem, as well as a commentary on the society in which the child was born. He was born into an upper middle class London family at the height of the Thatcher era. It is no coincidence that this monstrosity seems most at home in the company of other violent, inarticulate youths who are (frighteningly) like him. One of Doris Lessing's most readable novels, I highly recommend The Fifth Child.

Rating:
Summary: Nobel prize nominee's great work
Review: The metaphor of unwanted child as monster seems limitless in this gothic, dark text full of pain and suffering. Only Lessing could convince us of the purity of the child's pain, as well as those around him. Highly recommended.

Rating:
Summary: A Moving Story
Review: This book is a disturbing and sad look at what happens to "the perfect family" when their fifth child is born. His name is Ben and he has serious emotional and developmental problems. He was hyperactive and full of rage while he was in the womb (causing his mother a great deal of physical pain during her pregnancy) and once he was born he continued to vent his rage at the world. The book really made me think about how I would handle a similar situation with my own family. Do you institutionalize or not? Do you go from doctor to doctor and find the right medication, or, do you sit back and do the best you can with what you emotionally have to offer?? I haven't read the sequel yet but I plan to. This book is wonderfully written and very moving. It continued to haunt me for days after I put it down. While there were some flaws with the character development (or LACK of development,) it was overall an excellent read.

Rating:
Summary: A Moving Story
Review: This book is a disturbing and sad look at what happens to "the perfect family" when their fifth child is born. His name is Ben and he has serious emotional and developmental problems. He was hyperactive and full of rage while he was in the womb (causing his mother a great deal of physical pain during her pregnancy) and once he was born he continued to vent his rage at the world. The book really made me think about how I would handle a similar situation with my own family. Do you institutionalize or not? Do you go from doctor to doctor and find the right medication, or, do you sit back and do the best you can with what you emotionally have to offer?? I haven't read the sequel yet but I plan to. This book is wonderfully written and very moving. It continued to haunt me for days after I put it down. While there were some flaws with the character development (or LACK of development,) it was overall an excellent read.

Rating:
Summary: The Fifth Child
Review: This book is one of the most thought provoking books I've ever read. It really made me think about my own family and also about other people's family values.
Doris May Lessing was most diffinately put a moral into this story that over the course of the book is hard to figure out but in the end is very clear. I believe the book is really about society and how it turns away and tries to forget about the abnormal or strange.
I loved the way Doris May Lessing wrote this book. It is written in a very straight forward way. If this book has any flaws, it is the lack of character development.
I would recomend this book but I'm not sure to who.

Rating:
Summary: The Fifth Child
Review: This book is one of the most thought provoking books I've ever read. It really made me think about my own family and also about other people's family values.
Doris May Lessing was most diffinately put a moral into this story that over the course of the book is hard to figure out but in the end is very clear. I believe the book is really about society and how it turns away and tries to forget about the abnormal or strange.
I loved the way Doris May Lessing wrote this book. It is written in a very straight forward way. If this book has any flaws, it is the lack of character development.
I would recomend this book but I'm not sure to who.

Rating:
Summary: tense, haunting, and emotional
Review: this book was more of a fable than a horror story; the mother's want to always protect Ben, even though everybody else, including herself, thought she hated the beast, demonstrates a mothers compassion towards her child