Ben Lovatt can never fit in. To those he meets, he seems awkward: too big, too strong, inhumanly made. He baffles and he terrifies: those who do not understand him want him locked up.
His own mother locked him up; then, guilty, she liberated him. But her unyielding love for him corroded their family; this fifth child broke the home into bits. And now he has come of age and again finds himself bewildered and alone. He searches in the faces of those he meets to see the hostility there, or the fear, or more rarely the kindness. Occasionally a gentler, less fearful person to fit understands his need, how hard he is trying it in. Mostly people make use of him, and he finds himself in the south of France, in Brazil, and in the mountains of the Andes, where at last he discovers where he has come from and who his people are.
The Fifth Child is one of Doris Lessing's most powerful and haunting books. In this sequel, Ben Lovatt is loosed on the wider world; how that world receives him, and how he fares in it, will keep the reader of Ben, in the World enthralled and on tenterhooks until its dramatic finale.
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She takes them up again, however, in Ben, in the World. Now 18, but looking 35, Ben is estranged from his family, forced to find his way in a basically hostile world. His yeti-like appearance invariably evokes fear or amusement. And his other habits (including an appetite for raw meat) hardly allow him to blend into the crowd:
He would catch and eat little animals, or a bird.... Or he stood by the cow with his arm around her neck, nuzzling his face into her; and the warmth that came into him from her, and the hot sweet blasts of her breath on his arms and legs when she turned her head to sniff at him meant the safety of kindness. Or he stood leaning on a fence post staring up at the night sky, and on clear nights he sang a little grunting song to the stars, or he danced around, lifting his feet and stamping.After three fictional encounters, Lessing knows Ben well. She constantly intervenes to direct the reader's response to him, to the people who surround him, and to his (sometimes unlikely) experiences in Europe and South America. His misery and alienation remain the focus of the novel. Yet they are offset by the odd individuals who offer Ben their friendship--and finally, by his wayward quest to find people like himself. --Vicky Lebeau
Winner of the 2007 Nobel Prize in Literature, Doris Lessing was one of the most celebrated and distinguished writers of our time, the recipient of a host of international awards. She wrote more than thirty books—among them the novels Martha Quest, The Golden Notebook, and The Fifth Child. She died in 2013.
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Book Description Hardcover. Condition: New. Dust Jacket Condition: New. 1st Edition. HarperCollins Publishers, New York, 2000. First Edition. An As New copy in black boards with gilt spine lettering in an As New illustrated dustwrapper. Book and jacket are pristine. In the predecessor to this book, The Fifth Child, Lessing described the birth of Ben into a happy family with four other children, Because he is so difficult, subsequent events lead to a horror story for all. Here, in the sequel, we find Ben grown up, bewildered and alone. He travels to France, Brazil, and ultimately to the mountains of the Andes, where at least he discovers where he has come from and who his people are. The dramatic finale grips most readers in this strong story by the Nobel Laureate. Lessing has signed this copy on the title page. Nobel Laureate Doris Lessing directly on the title page; The sequel to The Fifth Child. Ben is now eighteen and must become part of the world even though he can never fit it. He is too huge and awkward, too strange. Alone and estranged from his family, he travels to London, France, Brazil and the Andes, searching for his people and a reason for his being. How will the world receive him and how will he fare? First US Edition; First Printing; Signed by Author. Seller Inventory # 29844 More information about. Signed by Author(s). Seller Inventory # 010047
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Book Description Soft cover. Condition: New. Dust Jacket Condition: New. 1st Edition. RARE Advance Reading Copy-Uncorrected Proof-Not For Sale. 1st Edition. 1st Printing. Trade paperback format. New copy. Never Read. Bottom right hand corner of book has a small crease and the pages are pinched up a little bit. Still a great copy of the cover and book. Collector's Copy. Seller Inventory # 000636
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Book Description Hardcover. Condition: New. Dust Jacket Condition: New. 1st Edition. This is a pristine and unread copy from the second printing of the first edition, a copy which was signed by Ms. Lessing on the title page (not a tipped-in sheet) in the year of publication. The dust jacket is protected by a new Brodart archival sleeve. Please see my attached photos of the book and the signed title page. Signed by Author. Seller Inventory # DRV50