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lauraborkpower's review against another edition
4.0
Ben is sooooo creepy. I have the sequel, but I haven't read it yet. On my list.
daja57's review against another edition
5.0
I wanted to give it six, seven, eight or more stars. It's worth it.
A brilliant short novel by an author at the very top of her Nobel-Prize-winning game.
David and Harriet get married, buy a big house, and settle down to have a large family. They have four wonderful children but the fifth is different. Described variously as a goblin, a little troll, a changeling and a Neanderthal, Ben is angry, vicious and educationally backwards. He is suspected of murdering pets; the other children are afraid of him. The unchaptered novel, written in the third person but principally from mother Harriet's point of view and in the past tense, chronicles the devastating effects on the family of such a difficult baby.
My emotions were manipulated into a roller-coaster ride. I was horrified, terrified and made so sad by the plight of this poor family. I empathised with all of them (except Ben) and I understood and accepted all the diverse arguments and points of view.
It is superb. After the first quarter, I found it impossible to put down.
A brilliant short novel by an author at the very top of her Nobel-Prize-winning game.
David and Harriet get married, buy a big house, and settle down to have a large family. They have four wonderful children but the fifth is different. Described variously as a goblin, a little troll, a changeling and a Neanderthal, Ben is angry, vicious and educationally backwards. He is suspected of murdering pets; the other children are afraid of him. The unchaptered novel, written in the third person but principally from mother Harriet's point of view and in the past tense, chronicles the devastating effects on the family of such a difficult baby.
My emotions were manipulated into a roller-coaster ride. I was horrified, terrified and made so sad by the plight of this poor family. I empathised with all of them (except Ben) and I understood and accepted all the diverse arguments and points of view.
It is superb. After the first quarter, I found it impossible to put down.
c3line's review against another edition
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
bessiehead's review against another edition
3.0
everything in this book was so close to greatness. from the characters to the plot, I loved being inside the head of a mom reluctant to care for a baby she and everyone else sees as a monster, and how society as a whole looks away and placates her. but reading it felt like eating a hologram of food, it feels empty :( like a ghostly edge w no climax
sidharthvardhan's review against another edition
5.0
A nightmare for those who believe they can choose to be happy. I definitely won't recommend to pregnant ladies. I am inclined to believe that the book was born of a nightmare which in turn is the result of fear that one's child would have some sort of disability or abnormality.
Camus said somewhere that he could do anything for justice but if he was to choose between his mother and justice, he would definitely choose his mother. It is the kind of choice that i have seen people make way too often - including by family members of criminals guilty of most terrible crimes who chose to defend these children. This though is not the problem here. The problem, in this case, is just the general impression - Harried could feel the evil, unhappy times coming even before the child (Ben) was born. The dilemma for Harriet is to chose whether to stick with Ben at cost of hurting other children or to do away with him. It is not the love that makes the choice in favor of sticking with Ben but rather it is the sense of responsibility.
It is for sure that there is something wrong with the child as too many people do notice it. The nature of oddity is not clear but it seemed to be pretty much summed up in two points - 1. He has an awful amount of energy from even before he was born - nearly outside the limits of normality; 2. he shows psychopathic tendencies starting from cruelty toward animals and his siblings to being a gang leader of sorts afterward. The only two things that Ben do feel or show understanding of are the very things that act as motivations for psychopaths - Physical (including sexual) needs and Fear (both causing and feeling). The two most important motivations if you are an animal looking to survive in a jungle.
Camus said somewhere that he could do anything for justice but if he was to choose between his mother and justice, he would definitely choose his mother. It is the kind of choice that i have seen people make way too often - including by family members of criminals guilty of most terrible crimes who chose to defend these children. This though is not the problem here. The problem, in this case, is just the general impression - Harried could feel the evil, unhappy times coming even before the child (Ben) was born. The dilemma for Harriet is to chose whether to stick with Ben at cost of hurting other children or to do away with him. It is not the love that makes the choice in favor of sticking with Ben but rather it is the sense of responsibility.
It is for sure that there is something wrong with the child as too many people do notice it. The nature of oddity is not clear but it seemed to be pretty much summed up in two points - 1. He has an awful amount of energy from even before he was born - nearly outside the limits of normality; 2. he shows psychopathic tendencies starting from cruelty toward animals and his siblings to being a gang leader of sorts afterward. The only two things that Ben do feel or show understanding of are the very things that act as motivations for psychopaths - Physical (including sexual) needs and Fear (both causing and feeling). The two most important motivations if you are an animal looking to survive in a jungle.
tararoi_'s review against another edition
3.0
a very compact novel with sharp twists and turns; a young couple wants to have no less than five children. The first four children are angels but the fifth one flips their idyllic lives upside down. The goblin child starts shredding the happy family apart (unintentionally?)
was it postnatal depression? guilt?
I've always been suspicious of children anyway.
was it postnatal depression? guilt?
I've always been suspicious of children anyway.
lobinha's review against another edition
5.0
Livro 63 / 104
O QUINTO FILHO
Doris Lessing
173 páginas
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
PRÉMIO NOBEL EM 2007
AVASSALADOR....
MATERNIDADE:
O MAIS DURO DE TODOS OS TESTES
Dizer foi prémio nobel, acho que bastaria para termos imediatamente vontade de ler este livro, AVASSALADOR... mas não chega dizer apenas isso, seria muito pouco para um livro desta natureza.
Um livro com uma escrita que nos leva a uma leitura compulsiva.
Um livro onde o amor materno é descrito de uma maneira ímpar.
Um livro que não é linear nas emoções que transmite.
Um livro que toca um tema, já de si, muito sensível.
uma criança diferente, que não se adapta, que não encaixa, que não reage como esperado.
As pessoas afastam-se, a solidão, a desestruturação e o desespero tomam lugar....
AVASSALADOR
trashley_123's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
111domino's review against another edition
4.0
uncomfy both /pos and /neg bcs it hit close to home sometimez
utahmomreads's review against another edition
4.0
This horror story kind of freaked me out about having a fifth child. Fortunately, she's beautiful and sweet and nothing at all like the monster in this book.