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Ben Lovatt #2
بن يجوب العالم
تعتبر رواية "بن يجوب العالم" #46 تتمة لرواية "الطفل الخامس" #45. والروايتان تشكلان معا ما يمكن تسميته بالمتتالية الروائية.
تقول "دوريس ليسنج" عن روايتها: لقد وصف لي شخص "الأقفاص" التي تحوي الحالات الخاصة الشبيهة ب "بن"، وكان قد رآها في معهد أبحاث في لندن ولكن مكانها في هذه الرواية سيكون في البرازيل بسبب متطلبات الحبكة الروائية. ولكنني على يقين من أنه ليس هناك مثل هذه الظاهرة المحزنة في البرازيل"
في "بن يجوب العالم" سيكبر "بن" أو الطفل الخامس وسيترك عائلته نهائياً وسيسكن الشوارع وسيخوض غمار اكتشاف سر غرابته عن البشر، الذين يشبهونه ولا يشبهونه، وسيجوب العالم بحثاً عمن يشبهه تماماً من مخلوقات الله.
تقول "دوريس ليسنج" عن روايتها: لقد وصف لي شخص "الأقفاص" التي تحوي الحالات الخاصة الشبيهة ب "بن"، وكان قد رآها في معهد أبحاث في لندن ولكن مكانها في هذه الرواية سيكون في البرازيل بسبب متطلبات الحبكة الروائية. ولكنني على يقين من أنه ليس هناك مثل هذه الظاهرة المحزنة في البرازيل"
في "بن يجوب العالم" سيكبر "بن" أو الطفل الخامس وسيترك عائلته نهائياً وسيسكن الشوارع وسيخوض غمار اكتشاف سر غرابته عن البشر، الذين يشبهونه ولا يشبهونه، وسيجوب العالم بحثاً عمن يشبهه تماماً من مخلوقات الله.
241 pages, Paperback
First published March 1, 2000
69 people are currently reading
1,565 people want to read
About the author
Doris Lessing
518books3,021followersBoth of her parents were British: her father, who had been crippled in World War I, was a clerk in the Imperial Bank of Persia; her mother had been a nurse. In 1925, lured by the promise of getting rich through maize farming, the family moved to the British colony in Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe). Like other women writers from southern African who did not graduate from high school (such as Olive Schreiner and Nadine Gordimer), Lessing made herself into a self-educated intellectual.
In 1937 she moved to Salisbury, where she worked as a telephone operator for a year. At nineteen, she married Frank Wisdom, and later had two children. A few years later, feeling trapped in a persona that she feared would destroy her, she left her family, remaining in Salisbury. Soon she was drawn to the like-minded members of the Left Book Club, a group of Communists "who read everything, and who did not think it remarkable to read." Gottfried Lessing was a central member of the group; shortly after she joined, they married and had a son.
During the postwar years, Lessing became increasingly disillusioned with the Communist movement, which she left altogether in 1954. By 1949, Lessing had moved to London with her young son. That year, she also published her first novel, The Grass Is Singing, and began her career as a professional writer.
In June 1995 she received an Honorary Degree from Harvard University. Also in 1995, she visited South Africa to see her daughter and grandchildren, and to promote her autobiography. It was her first visit since being forcibly removed in 1956 for her political views. Ironically, she is welcomed now as a writer acclaimed for the very topics for which she was banished 40 years ago.
In 2001 she was awarded the Prince of Asturias Prize in Literature, one of Spain's most important distinctions, for her brilliant literary works in defense of freedom and Third World causes. She also received the David Cohen British Literature Prize.
She was on the shortlist for the first Man Booker International Prize in 2005. In 2007 she was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature.
(Extracted from the pamphlet: A Reader's Guide to The Golden Notebook & Under My Skin, HarperPerennial, 1995. Full text available on ).
In 1937 she moved to Salisbury, where she worked as a telephone operator for a year. At nineteen, she married Frank Wisdom, and later had two children. A few years later, feeling trapped in a persona that she feared would destroy her, she left her family, remaining in Salisbury. Soon she was drawn to the like-minded members of the Left Book Club, a group of Communists "who read everything, and who did not think it remarkable to read." Gottfried Lessing was a central member of the group; shortly after she joined, they married and had a son.
During the postwar years, Lessing became increasingly disillusioned with the Communist movement, which she left altogether in 1954. By 1949, Lessing had moved to London with her young son. That year, she also published her first novel, The Grass Is Singing, and began her career as a professional writer.
In June 1995 she received an Honorary Degree from Harvard University. Also in 1995, she visited South Africa to see her daughter and grandchildren, and to promote her autobiography. It was her first visit since being forcibly removed in 1956 for her political views. Ironically, she is welcomed now as a writer acclaimed for the very topics for which she was banished 40 years ago.
In 2001 she was awarded the Prince of Asturias Prize in Literature, one of Spain's most important distinctions, for her brilliant literary works in defense of freedom and Third World causes. She also received the David Cohen British Literature Prize.
She was on the shortlist for the first Man Booker International Prize in 2005. In 2007 she was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature.
(Extracted from the pamphlet: A Reader's Guide to The Golden Notebook & Under My Skin, HarperPerennial, 1995. Full text available on ).
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November 6, 2023
IL MOSTRO DENTRO E TRA NOI
Briton Riviere: Prometeo incatenato.
Dire che a Ben riusciva difficile abitare la realtà comune, come elabora la dolce Mrs Biggs, è eufemistico. A Ben riesce ben più che difficile, direi impossibile, abitare la realtà comune. Quella degli altri.
Anche se viene da credere che siano soprattutto gli altri a respingerlo, a non volerlo nella loro “realtà comune�. La sua famiglia naturale si è sfasciata alla sua nascita e smembrata quando la mamma è andata a riprenderselo dall’istituto (anche questa è definizione eufemistica). Qui la ritroviamo ricomposta, e Ben non si avvicina, li guarda da lontano, sa che i fratelli lo odiano, e anche lui certo non li ama.
Robert DeNiro/Frankenstein.
Ha solo diciotto anni. Ma non sa quando è nato. Si fida di quello che gli hanno detto. E misura la sua età in base agli inverni trascorsi.
All’inizio del romanzo ottenere uno straccio di documento che attesti la sua data di nascita e quindi la sua età sembra il suo obiettivo massimo.
Il fatto è che Ben ha diciotto anni ma ne dimostra venti di più. Non sono solo le rughe che lo rendono più grande dei suoi anni: è la sua espressione, è la sua stazza, la sua forza, il suo sguardo.
Però, ha l’animo, la conoscenza e l’esperienza di un bimbo. E spesso, molto spesso si comporta proprio come un bambino. È soprattutto l’intuito, affiancato da un olfatto strepitoso � più avanti si capisce che anche il suo udito è particolarmente acuto, e che proprio per questo i rumori e le troppe voci lo disturbano � a dettare il suo comportamento, le sue reazioni. Sensi sviluppati e raffinati, invece intelligenza linguaggio e movimenti ben più semplici e rozzi.
L’enfant sauvage.
Ben è il quinto figlio di cui Doris Lessing ci ha raccontato nascita e crescita nel romanzo omonimo (uscito dodici anni prima di questo). Un colpo al cuore. Un pugno allo stomaco.
Questo si potrebbe definire il sequel, anche se non serve aver letto quell’altro per capire e apprezzare questo qui.
Ben ha lasciato casa ed è andato nel mondo. I primi anni di questa sua vita raminga Lessing li sintetizza in poche illuminanti e pregnanti pagine: per poi dedicarsi per così dire al tempo presente, a seguire Ben nei suoi diciotto anni e nei mesi che seguono.
Durante i quali impara prende il suo primo aereo, va a Nizza e poi in Brasile, dal quale raggiunge le Ande, dove scopre la sua razza, ormai estinta.
Pur se partorito, e non assemblato da parti di corpi umani diversi, Ben è un Frankenstein di fine Novecento. È un Prometeo incatenato. Sarebbe un novello enfant prodige, se non fosse per la sua incredibile forza, più letale che brutale, per i suoi appetiti quasi insaziabili e animaleschi: afferra un piccione vivo con le mani, lo spenna e divora a morsi, lasciando che il sangue fresco gli coli dalla bocca.
Siccome di base ha un animo buono, gentile e generoso, offre al gatto della dolce Mrs Biggs un pezzetto dell’uccello appena ucciso. Il quadrupede domestico gradisce e per un pochino smette di guardare Ben con sospetto.
Nella prefazione la stessa Lessing parla di “gabbie� ed è facile intuire quale sarà il percorso di Ben. Arrivati a quel passaggio, l’emozione e la sorpresa non sono certo smorzati dall’accenno contenuto nella prima pagina dopo i ringraziamenti di rito.
Grandissima storia sulla diversità e la nostra incapacità ad accettarla. Romanzo magistrale nel quale Doris Lessing regala una lezione di narratore onnisciente (una delizia le brevi accelerazioni nelle quali ci viene raccontata la sorte di alcuni personaggi, col narratore che commenta: “questo se non altro andò a finire bene�).
Briton Riviere: Prometeo incatenato.
Dire che a Ben riusciva difficile abitare la realtà comune, come elabora la dolce Mrs Biggs, è eufemistico. A Ben riesce ben più che difficile, direi impossibile, abitare la realtà comune. Quella degli altri.
Anche se viene da credere che siano soprattutto gli altri a respingerlo, a non volerlo nella loro “realtà comune�. La sua famiglia naturale si è sfasciata alla sua nascita e smembrata quando la mamma è andata a riprenderselo dall’istituto (anche questa è definizione eufemistica). Qui la ritroviamo ricomposta, e Ben non si avvicina, li guarda da lontano, sa che i fratelli lo odiano, e anche lui certo non li ama.
Robert DeNiro/Frankenstein.
Ha solo diciotto anni. Ma non sa quando è nato. Si fida di quello che gli hanno detto. E misura la sua età in base agli inverni trascorsi.
All’inizio del romanzo ottenere uno straccio di documento che attesti la sua data di nascita e quindi la sua età sembra il suo obiettivo massimo.
Il fatto è che Ben ha diciotto anni ma ne dimostra venti di più. Non sono solo le rughe che lo rendono più grande dei suoi anni: è la sua espressione, è la sua stazza, la sua forza, il suo sguardo.
Però, ha l’animo, la conoscenza e l’esperienza di un bimbo. E spesso, molto spesso si comporta proprio come un bambino. È soprattutto l’intuito, affiancato da un olfatto strepitoso � più avanti si capisce che anche il suo udito è particolarmente acuto, e che proprio per questo i rumori e le troppe voci lo disturbano � a dettare il suo comportamento, le sue reazioni. Sensi sviluppati e raffinati, invece intelligenza linguaggio e movimenti ben più semplici e rozzi.
L’enfant sauvage.
Ben è il quinto figlio di cui Doris Lessing ci ha raccontato nascita e crescita nel romanzo omonimo (uscito dodici anni prima di questo). Un colpo al cuore. Un pugno allo stomaco.
Questo si potrebbe definire il sequel, anche se non serve aver letto quell’altro per capire e apprezzare questo qui.
Ben ha lasciato casa ed è andato nel mondo. I primi anni di questa sua vita raminga Lessing li sintetizza in poche illuminanti e pregnanti pagine: per poi dedicarsi per così dire al tempo presente, a seguire Ben nei suoi diciotto anni e nei mesi che seguono.
Durante i quali impara prende il suo primo aereo, va a Nizza e poi in Brasile, dal quale raggiunge le Ande, dove scopre la sua razza, ormai estinta.
Pur se partorito, e non assemblato da parti di corpi umani diversi, Ben è un Frankenstein di fine Novecento. È un Prometeo incatenato. Sarebbe un novello enfant prodige, se non fosse per la sua incredibile forza, più letale che brutale, per i suoi appetiti quasi insaziabili e animaleschi: afferra un piccione vivo con le mani, lo spenna e divora a morsi, lasciando che il sangue fresco gli coli dalla bocca.
Siccome di base ha un animo buono, gentile e generoso, offre al gatto della dolce Mrs Biggs un pezzetto dell’uccello appena ucciso. Il quadrupede domestico gradisce e per un pochino smette di guardare Ben con sospetto.
Nella prefazione la stessa Lessing parla di “gabbie� ed è facile intuire quale sarà il percorso di Ben. Arrivati a quel passaggio, l’emozione e la sorpresa non sono certo smorzati dall’accenno contenuto nella prima pagina dopo i ringraziamenti di rito.
Grandissima storia sulla diversità e la nostra incapacità ad accettarla. Romanzo magistrale nel quale Doris Lessing regala una lezione di narratore onnisciente (una delizia le brevi accelerazioni nelle quali ci viene raccontata la sorte di alcuni personaggi, col narratore che commenta: “questo se non altro andò a finire bene�).
July 31, 2020
Ben, In the World: The Sequel to the Fifth Child, Doris Lessing
Ben, in the World is a novel written by Doris Lessing, published in 2000, in which she stages a parody of the 'objectivity' of the narrator's voice.
The story delves into the life of Ben Lovatt following the events of the first book dedicated to this character, The Fifth Child.
Ben, in the World takes place a number of years after the events in The Fifth Child. In the beginning of Ben, in the World, Ben Lovatt is 18-years-old and living with an elderly lady named Mrs. Biggs.
However, she cannot afford to support the both of them, and sends Ben to his estranged family to ask for his birth certificate so that he can get an unemployment benefit.
By the time Ben returns (without the birth certificate), he learns that Mrs. Biggs has passed away. He goes to a couple that had looked after him before he'd met Mrs. Biggs: Rita, a prostitute he'd once had a recurring relationship with, and Johnston, her procurer.
Johnston comes up with a plan to smuggle a large amount of narcotics into France, which would give him and Rita enough money to permanently get off the streets, using Ben.
The plan succeeds, and effectively allows him and Rita to cease being responsible for Ben, as they leave him in France under the temporary care of Richard, one of Johnston's men, in an expensive hotel, with a cut from the smuggling deal. ...
تاریخ نخستین خوانش: روز یازدهم ماه دسامبر سال 2014 میلادی
عنوان: بن در جهان؛ نویسنده: دوریس لسینگ؛ مترجم: پدرام لعلبخش� تهران: افراز� 1389؛ در 220ص؛ شابک 9786005218046؛ موضوع داستانهای نویسندگان بریتانیایی - سده 21م
عنوان: بن در جهان؛ نویسنده: دوریس لسینگ� مترجم: مهدی غبرائی؛ تهران ثالث� 1391؛ در 183ص؛ شابک 9789643808082؛
کتاب «بن در جهان» به قلم «دوریس می لسینگ»، برنده ی جایزه ی ادبیات نوبل در سال 2007میلادی شده است.؛ «دوریس می لسینگ»، در سال 1919میلادی در «کرمانشاه»، زاده شد.؛ رمان کم حجم «بِن در جهان» که در واقع دنباله ی کتاب «فرزند پنجم» است، و «بن»، شخصیت اول عجیب� الخلقه آن را در جوانی نشان میدهد� و رویارویی او را با دنیایی سرشار از نیرنگ و فریب که در موارد نادری از محبت و مهربانی نیز خالی نیست، تصویر میکن�.؛
نقل نمونه متن از مترجم و متن اصلی: (بیش از یک دهه پیش که دوریس لسینگ، فرزند پنجم، رمانی قدرتمند را در باره ی پسربچه ای عجیب و غریب ارائه داد، که یادآور انسانهای ماقبل تاریخ است، به درستی تحسینش کردند.؛ زیرا او نظریه ای تکان دهنده، و به یادماندنی را در باره ی اتفاقی که به هنگام رویارو شدن جامعه، با نابهنجاری انسانی روی میدهد به ما یادآوری کرده بود.؛ «بن در جهان» که دنباله ی آن است، داستانِ «بن لاوَت» را به عمد با منابع روایی جزئیتری ادامه میدهد.؛ «بن» از خانواده ی طبقه متوسط سطح بالایش گریزان میشود، چون به علت داشتن چنین فرزند نابهنجاری با تحقیر دیگران روبرو میشوند.؛ اکنون هجده ساله است، اما سینه و بازوهای ستبر ترسناکش، تن خپل و پرمویش، و صورت وحشیش هر بیننده ای را به وحشت میاندازد، و او را مردی سی ساله نشان میدهد.؛ طعنه آمیز اینجاست که «بن »نیز از جامعه میترسد.؛ او که نه میتواند بخواند و نه با پول کنار بیاید و حتی از پس ساده ترین موقعیتها برنمیآید، درمانده و تنها و نومید است.؛
میفهمد که باید بر خشم خونریزی که مغزش را اسیر کرده است مسلط شود، وگرنه حریفانی را که آزارش میدهند خواهد کشت.؛ اما در رشته ماجراهای گوناگون، در پیرنگی که جسته و گریخته ساخته شده، تقریبا همه به «بن» خیانت میکنند.؛ فقط سه زن با او مهربانند: یکی پیر است و مردنی و دو تای دیگر خیابانی.؛ آدمهای صاحب نفوذ و پول، از او سوء استفاده میکنند، به خصوص یک دانشمند آمریکایی، که در ریودوژانیرو سرگرم تحقیقات است؛ فیلمساز «بن» سرگردان را، از بندری در جنوب «فرانسه» با خود به برزیل میبرد.؛ (قبلاً بی آنکه خود بداند، پا اندازی به نام «جانستُن» او را درگیر مواد مخدر کرده، و از «لندن« به «نیس» فرستاده بود.)؛
پیداست که «لسینگ» در باره روشنفکرانی بیانیه صادر میکند، که به نام دانش یا هنر بیرحمانه اشخاص ساده لوح را، که قادر به دفاع از خود نیستند، استثمار میکنند.؛ پیرنگ داستان در منطقه معدنی پرت «برزیل»، به اوج دراماتیک میرسد، که «بن» در آنجا «میفهمد تنهاست، از او سوء استفاده کرده و ترکش گفته اند»؛ و با سرنوشت فجیع خود روبرو میشود، و داستان تراژیکش به انتها میرسد.؛ «مهدی غبرائی».؛
چند سالته؟ «هیجده.» «بن» جواب را فوری نداد، چون میترسید آنچه خوب از آن خبر داشت اتفاق بیفتد، یعنی مرد جوانِ پشت شیشه محافظ که خودکار به دست داشت و فرم مربوطه را پر میکرد، سر بردارد و با حالتی که برای بن آشنا بود براندازش کند.؛ کارمند جوان جلوی لبخند بی صبرانه خود را نگرفت، اما حالت تمسخر نداشت.؛ «بن» مرد قد کوتاه، چارشانه و حداقل استخوان درشتی به نظر میرسید ــ کتی پوشیده بود که به تنش زار میزد ــ و دست کم چهل ساله نشان میداد.؛ آنهم با آن صورت! صورت پهنی بود با خطوط مشخص نیرومند، دهانی که به پوزخندی گشاد بود ــ چه چیز را این همه مضحک میدید؟ ــ دماغی پخ با پره های رو به بالا، چشمهایی سبزفام، مژه هایی حنایی زیر ابروهای سیخ سیخ حنایی.؛ ریش کوتاه نوک تیز مرتبی داشت که به صورتش نمیآمد.؛ موهای سرش زرد بود و انگار مثل پوزخندش برای یکه خوردن و عصبانی کردن مردم آن آرایش را داشت، چون دراز بود و با در هر دو سو طره های سفت و سخت داشت، انگار تقلید مضحکی از آرایش مد روز باشد.؛ قوز بالای قوز این که صدای آمرانه ای هم داشت؛ آیا داشت کرم میریخت؟ کارمند همانجور سراپا براندازش میکرد، چون حس میکرد کفرش دارد درمیآید. با کج خلقی گفت: «نمی شود هیجده ساله باشی. زود باش، سن واقعیت را بگو.»؛ «بن» ساکت بود. با تمام ذرات وجود هشیار بود، و میدانست خطر پیش آمده است؛ آرزو کرد کاش به اینجا که میتوانست دیوارهای خود را دورش ببندد نیامده بود.؛ برای اطمینان از عادی بودن خود به صداهای بیرون گوش میداد.؛ چند کبوتر روی درخت چناری در پیاده رو بغبغو میکردند و فکرش پیش آنها بود که چطور با پنجه های صورتی به ترکه ها چنگ انداخته اند و حس میکرد این پنجه ها میتوانند به انگشتهایش بچسبند؛ آنها به آفتابی که بر پشتشان میتابید راضی بودند.؛ توی ساختمان صداهایی بود که نمیفهمید تا یکی یکی از هم جداشان کند.؛
در این بین مرد جوان روبرویش منتظر بود، خودکار را در دستی گرفته بود و لای انگشتهایش میچرخاند.؛ تلفنی درست کنارش زنگ زد.؛ در هر دو طرفش زنها و مردهای جوانی پشت شیشه ها نشسته بودند.؛ بعضیها از ابزاری استفاده میکردند که تق تق و تلق و تولوق میکرد، و بعضیها به صفحه هایی که کلماتی در آن پیدا و ناپدید میشد نگاه میکردند.؛ بن میدانست هر کدام از این ماشینهای صدادار شاید دشمن او باشند.؛ حالا کمی به یک طرف جابجا شد تا از عکس خودش توی شیشه که آزارش میداد خلاص شود و این آدم را که از دستش کفری شده درست نبیند.؛ گفت: «بله، من هیجده سالمه.» یقین داشت؛ سه زمستان پیش که رفته بود مادرش را پیدا کند ــ پیششان نمانده بود، چون «پل»، برادر منفورش، آمده بود ــ مادرش با کلمات درشت روی کارتی نوشته بود: نامت «بن لاوَت» است.؛ نام مادرت «هریت لاوَت»، نام پدرت «دیوید لاوَت».؛ چهار خواهر و برادرت عبارتند از: «لوک»، «هلن»، «جین» و «پل».؛ آنها از تو بزرگترند.؛ تو پانزده ساله ای.؛ نوشته شده بود: تاریخ تولد..........؛ نشانی منزل..........؛ آن کارت چنان «بن» را از سرخورده و کفری کرده بود، که آن را از مادرش گرفته، و دوان دوان از خانه رفته بود.؛
اول روی نام پل را خط خطی کرده بود؛ بعد بقیه را خط زده بود.؛ بعد که کارت از دستش به زمین افتاده بود، آن را برداشته و پشتش را نگاه کرده و روی همه شان با خودکار مشکی خط کشیده بود، به نحوی که فقط خطهای درهم برهم دیده میشد.؛ اما آن شماره، یعنی پانزده سال، مدام در سئوالهایی که از او میکردند به او یادآوری میشد: «چند سالته؟»؛ و چون فهمید خیلی مهم است، آن را به خاطر سپرد، و وقتی هر سال کریسمس میشد، و هیچکس یادش نمیرفت، یکسال به آن میافزود.؛
حالا شانزده ساله ام.؛ حالا هفده ساله ام.؛ و حالا چون سه زمستان گذشته، هیجده ساله ام.؛ «خب، پس کی به دنیا آمدی؟»؛ هر روز که از آن خط زدن خشماگین کارت با خودکار مشکی میگذشت، بیشتر میفهمید چه اشتباهی کرده است.؛ با آن عصبانیت خرکی کارت را به کل خراب کرده بود، طوری که دیگر نمیشد ازش استفاده کرد.؛ اسم خودش را میدانست.؛ «هریت» و «دیوید» را هم میدانست، و اسم خواهرها و برادرهایش، که آرزوی مرگش را داشتند برایش مهم نبود؛
یادش نبود کی به دنیا آمده است. همچنان که به هر صدایی گوش میداد، شنید که در آن اداره سر و صدا ناگهان اوج گرفت، چون در صفی که مردم جلوی یکی از باجه ها بسته بودند، زنی بنای جیغ و داد سر کارمندی گذاشت که با او مصاحبه میکرد و به همین علت داد و بیداد بلند شد، و تمام صف به جنب و جوش درآمد و بقیه هم بنا کردند به غر زدن و بعد کلمات کوتاهی مثل مادرسگ و گه لوله به گوش رسید ــ اینها کلماتی بود که خوب میشناخت و ازشان میترسید.؛ رگه سرد ترسی از پشت گردن به ستون فقراتش دوید.؛ مردی که پشت سرش بود، حوصله اش سر رفته بود. گفت: «اگر شما تمام روز وقت داری، من ندارم.» «کی به دنیا آمدی؟ چه تاریخی؟» گفتن این حرف مشکل را به وقت دیگری موکول کرد: «بفرما شناسنامه ات را پیدا کن.؛ برو دفتر ثبت احوال.؛ آنجا روشن میشود.؛ کارفرمای قبلی را نمیشناسی.؛ نشانیت را نمیدانی.؛ تاریخ تولدت را نمیدانی.»؛
پس از این حرف چشم از صورت بن برداشت، و به مردی که پشت سرش بود، اشاره کرد جلو بیاید، و بن را نادیده بگیرد، و بن که بدجوری به تله افتاده بود و ترس برش داشته بود، و احساس میکرد همه موهای تنش و سرش سیخ شده است، یکراست داشت از اداره بیرون میرفت.؛ بیرون پیاده رو بود و مردم در رفت و آمد، خیابانی کوچک بود پر از اتومبیل، و زیر درخت چنار کبوترها دور نیمکتی بیخیال بغبغو میکردند و دانه برمیچیدند.؛
در یک سر نیمکت نشست، سر دیگر نیمکت زن جوانی نشسته بود که اول گوشه چشمی به او انداخت، و بعد نگاهی دیگر و اخم کنان رفت و با نگاهی که بن میشناخت و انتظارش را داشت چند بار سر برگرداند و نگاهش کرد.؛ از او نترسیده بود، اما گمان میکرد به زودی میترسد.؛ مثل کسی که فراری شود، سراپا شتاب و دستپاچگی بود.؛ رفت توی مغازه ای و باز به پشت سرش نگاه کرد.؛ بن گرسنه اش بود.؛ پول نداشت.؛ قدری خرده نان برای کبوترها روی زمین ریخته بودند.؛ به عجله آنها را جمع کرد و نگاهی به دور و برش انداخت: قبلاً هم از این بابت سرزنشش کرده بودند.؛ حالا پیرمردی آمد و روی نیمکت نشست و نگاه طولانی خیره ای به بن انداخت، اما تصمیم گرفت برخلاف حکم غریزه اش خود را به دردسر نیندازد.؛ چشمهایش را بست.؛
آفتاب روی دانه های ریز عرق صورتش میدرخشید.؛ بن همچنان نشست و به فکر افتاد که چطور باید سراغ پیرزن برود، چون از بن مایوس میشود.؛ او گفته بود بن برود به این اداره و حقوق بیکاری بگیرد.؛ یاد او لبخند به لبش آورد ــ این لبخند با پوزخندی که کفر کارمند را درآورده بود خیلی فرق میکرد؛ لبخند بر لب نشست، لبخند خفیفی که دندانهایش را از لای ریش مینمایاند و تماشا کرد که چطور پیرمرد بیدار شد، عرق را که روی صورتش راه افتاده بود پاک کرد و گفت: «چیه؟ این دیگه چیه؟»؛ انگار که او را یاد چیزی انداخته باشد.؛ و بعد برای آنکه خود را از تک و تا نیندازد، به تندی به بن گفت: «خیال میکنی به چی میخندی؟»؛
بن نیمکت و سایه درخت و همنشینی با کبوترها را رها کرد، و حدود سه کیلومتر در خیابانها راه رفت و میدانست که راه را درست میرود. حالا به یک دسته بلوک آپارتمانی نزدیک میشد. یکراست رفت طرف یکیشان و توی آن دید که آسانسور فس فس و غژغژکنان دارد پایین میآید و دلش میخواست واردش شود، اما ترس از آسانسور باعث شد راه پله ها را در پیش بگیرد. یک، دو، سه،... یازده پاگرد سرد خاکستری پلکان، در حالیکه صدای غژغژ و وژ وژ آسانسور را از آن سوی دیوار میشنید. در هر طبقه چهار در بود. یکراست به طرف یکی رفت که بوی نافذ گوشت پخته از آن میآمد و دهانش را آب میانداخت. دستگیره را چرخاند، جیرجیرش را درآورد و کنار ایستاد و به حال انتظار به در زل زد تا باز شد. دم در پیرزن لبخند به لب ایستاده بود. گفت: «آه، بن، تویی؟» و دست دورش حلقه کرد و او را به درون برد. توی آپارتمان ایستاد و کمی قوز کرد، به دور و برش نگاهی انداخت، اول از همه به گربه پلنگی گنده ای که روی دسته مبلی نشسته بود. موهای گربه سیخ شد. پیرزن رفت طرفش و گفت: «خب، خب، مشکلی نیست، پیشی.» و هراس گربه زیر دست آرامبخشش کم شد و بدل به گربه نازی شد. حالا پیرزن با همان حرفها سراغ بن رفت: «خب، بن، مشکلی نیست، بیا بنشین.» بن چشم از گربه برداشت، اما احتیاطش را از دست نداد و زیرچشمی او را پایید. پیرزن در این اتاق زندگی میکرد. روی اجاق گاز قابلمه ای آبگوشت بود و بوی همان توی پاگرد به مشام بن رسیده بود. پیرزن باز گفت: «مشکلی نیست، بن.» و توی دو تا کاسه با ملاقه آبگوشت کشید و چند تکه نان کنار یکی برای بن گذاشت و کاسه خود را روبرویش گذاشت و با قاشق قدری از آن در یک نعلبکی برای گربه ریخت و روی زمین کنار صندلی گذاشت. اما گربه از جا نجنبید: آرام نشست و چشم از بن برنداشت.)؛ پایان نقل
تاریخ بهنگام رسانی 09/05/1399هجری خورشیدی؛ ا. شربیانی
Ben, in the World is a novel written by Doris Lessing, published in 2000, in which she stages a parody of the 'objectivity' of the narrator's voice.
The story delves into the life of Ben Lovatt following the events of the first book dedicated to this character, The Fifth Child.
Ben, in the World takes place a number of years after the events in The Fifth Child. In the beginning of Ben, in the World, Ben Lovatt is 18-years-old and living with an elderly lady named Mrs. Biggs.
However, she cannot afford to support the both of them, and sends Ben to his estranged family to ask for his birth certificate so that he can get an unemployment benefit.
By the time Ben returns (without the birth certificate), he learns that Mrs. Biggs has passed away. He goes to a couple that had looked after him before he'd met Mrs. Biggs: Rita, a prostitute he'd once had a recurring relationship with, and Johnston, her procurer.
Johnston comes up with a plan to smuggle a large amount of narcotics into France, which would give him and Rita enough money to permanently get off the streets, using Ben.
The plan succeeds, and effectively allows him and Rita to cease being responsible for Ben, as they leave him in France under the temporary care of Richard, one of Johnston's men, in an expensive hotel, with a cut from the smuggling deal. ...
تاریخ نخستین خوانش: روز یازدهم ماه دسامبر سال 2014 میلادی
عنوان: بن در جهان؛ نویسنده: دوریس لسینگ؛ مترجم: پدرام لعلبخش� تهران: افراز� 1389؛ در 220ص؛ شابک 9786005218046؛ موضوع داستانهای نویسندگان بریتانیایی - سده 21م
عنوان: بن در جهان؛ نویسنده: دوریس لسینگ� مترجم: مهدی غبرائی؛ تهران ثالث� 1391؛ در 183ص؛ شابک 9789643808082؛
کتاب «بن در جهان» به قلم «دوریس می لسینگ»، برنده ی جایزه ی ادبیات نوبل در سال 2007میلادی شده است.؛ «دوریس می لسینگ»، در سال 1919میلادی در «کرمانشاه»، زاده شد.؛ رمان کم حجم «بِن در جهان» که در واقع دنباله ی کتاب «فرزند پنجم» است، و «بن»، شخصیت اول عجیب� الخلقه آن را در جوانی نشان میدهد� و رویارویی او را با دنیایی سرشار از نیرنگ و فریب که در موارد نادری از محبت و مهربانی نیز خالی نیست، تصویر میکن�.؛
نقل نمونه متن از مترجم و متن اصلی: (بیش از یک دهه پیش که دوریس لسینگ، فرزند پنجم، رمانی قدرتمند را در باره ی پسربچه ای عجیب و غریب ارائه داد، که یادآور انسانهای ماقبل تاریخ است، به درستی تحسینش کردند.؛ زیرا او نظریه ای تکان دهنده، و به یادماندنی را در باره ی اتفاقی که به هنگام رویارو شدن جامعه، با نابهنجاری انسانی روی میدهد به ما یادآوری کرده بود.؛ «بن در جهان» که دنباله ی آن است، داستانِ «بن لاوَت» را به عمد با منابع روایی جزئیتری ادامه میدهد.؛ «بن» از خانواده ی طبقه متوسط سطح بالایش گریزان میشود، چون به علت داشتن چنین فرزند نابهنجاری با تحقیر دیگران روبرو میشوند.؛ اکنون هجده ساله است، اما سینه و بازوهای ستبر ترسناکش، تن خپل و پرمویش، و صورت وحشیش هر بیننده ای را به وحشت میاندازد، و او را مردی سی ساله نشان میدهد.؛ طعنه آمیز اینجاست که «بن »نیز از جامعه میترسد.؛ او که نه میتواند بخواند و نه با پول کنار بیاید و حتی از پس ساده ترین موقعیتها برنمیآید، درمانده و تنها و نومید است.؛
میفهمد که باید بر خشم خونریزی که مغزش را اسیر کرده است مسلط شود، وگرنه حریفانی را که آزارش میدهند خواهد کشت.؛ اما در رشته ماجراهای گوناگون، در پیرنگی که جسته و گریخته ساخته شده، تقریبا همه به «بن» خیانت میکنند.؛ فقط سه زن با او مهربانند: یکی پیر است و مردنی و دو تای دیگر خیابانی.؛ آدمهای صاحب نفوذ و پول، از او سوء استفاده میکنند، به خصوص یک دانشمند آمریکایی، که در ریودوژانیرو سرگرم تحقیقات است؛ فیلمساز «بن» سرگردان را، از بندری در جنوب «فرانسه» با خود به برزیل میبرد.؛ (قبلاً بی آنکه خود بداند، پا اندازی به نام «جانستُن» او را درگیر مواد مخدر کرده، و از «لندن« به «نیس» فرستاده بود.)؛
پیداست که «لسینگ» در باره روشنفکرانی بیانیه صادر میکند، که به نام دانش یا هنر بیرحمانه اشخاص ساده لوح را، که قادر به دفاع از خود نیستند، استثمار میکنند.؛ پیرنگ داستان در منطقه معدنی پرت «برزیل»، به اوج دراماتیک میرسد، که «بن» در آنجا «میفهمد تنهاست، از او سوء استفاده کرده و ترکش گفته اند»؛ و با سرنوشت فجیع خود روبرو میشود، و داستان تراژیکش به انتها میرسد.؛ «مهدی غبرائی».؛
چند سالته؟ «هیجده.» «بن» جواب را فوری نداد، چون میترسید آنچه خوب از آن خبر داشت اتفاق بیفتد، یعنی مرد جوانِ پشت شیشه محافظ که خودکار به دست داشت و فرم مربوطه را پر میکرد، سر بردارد و با حالتی که برای بن آشنا بود براندازش کند.؛ کارمند جوان جلوی لبخند بی صبرانه خود را نگرفت، اما حالت تمسخر نداشت.؛ «بن» مرد قد کوتاه، چارشانه و حداقل استخوان درشتی به نظر میرسید ــ کتی پوشیده بود که به تنش زار میزد ــ و دست کم چهل ساله نشان میداد.؛ آنهم با آن صورت! صورت پهنی بود با خطوط مشخص نیرومند، دهانی که به پوزخندی گشاد بود ــ چه چیز را این همه مضحک میدید؟ ــ دماغی پخ با پره های رو به بالا، چشمهایی سبزفام، مژه هایی حنایی زیر ابروهای سیخ سیخ حنایی.؛ ریش کوتاه نوک تیز مرتبی داشت که به صورتش نمیآمد.؛ موهای سرش زرد بود و انگار مثل پوزخندش برای یکه خوردن و عصبانی کردن مردم آن آرایش را داشت، چون دراز بود و با در هر دو سو طره های سفت و سخت داشت، انگار تقلید مضحکی از آرایش مد روز باشد.؛ قوز بالای قوز این که صدای آمرانه ای هم داشت؛ آیا داشت کرم میریخت؟ کارمند همانجور سراپا براندازش میکرد، چون حس میکرد کفرش دارد درمیآید. با کج خلقی گفت: «نمی شود هیجده ساله باشی. زود باش، سن واقعیت را بگو.»؛ «بن» ساکت بود. با تمام ذرات وجود هشیار بود، و میدانست خطر پیش آمده است؛ آرزو کرد کاش به اینجا که میتوانست دیوارهای خود را دورش ببندد نیامده بود.؛ برای اطمینان از عادی بودن خود به صداهای بیرون گوش میداد.؛ چند کبوتر روی درخت چناری در پیاده رو بغبغو میکردند و فکرش پیش آنها بود که چطور با پنجه های صورتی به ترکه ها چنگ انداخته اند و حس میکرد این پنجه ها میتوانند به انگشتهایش بچسبند؛ آنها به آفتابی که بر پشتشان میتابید راضی بودند.؛ توی ساختمان صداهایی بود که نمیفهمید تا یکی یکی از هم جداشان کند.؛
در این بین مرد جوان روبرویش منتظر بود، خودکار را در دستی گرفته بود و لای انگشتهایش میچرخاند.؛ تلفنی درست کنارش زنگ زد.؛ در هر دو طرفش زنها و مردهای جوانی پشت شیشه ها نشسته بودند.؛ بعضیها از ابزاری استفاده میکردند که تق تق و تلق و تولوق میکرد، و بعضیها به صفحه هایی که کلماتی در آن پیدا و ناپدید میشد نگاه میکردند.؛ بن میدانست هر کدام از این ماشینهای صدادار شاید دشمن او باشند.؛ حالا کمی به یک طرف جابجا شد تا از عکس خودش توی شیشه که آزارش میداد خلاص شود و این آدم را که از دستش کفری شده درست نبیند.؛ گفت: «بله، من هیجده سالمه.» یقین داشت؛ سه زمستان پیش که رفته بود مادرش را پیدا کند ــ پیششان نمانده بود، چون «پل»، برادر منفورش، آمده بود ــ مادرش با کلمات درشت روی کارتی نوشته بود: نامت «بن لاوَت» است.؛ نام مادرت «هریت لاوَت»، نام پدرت «دیوید لاوَت».؛ چهار خواهر و برادرت عبارتند از: «لوک»، «هلن»، «جین» و «پل».؛ آنها از تو بزرگترند.؛ تو پانزده ساله ای.؛ نوشته شده بود: تاریخ تولد..........؛ نشانی منزل..........؛ آن کارت چنان «بن» را از سرخورده و کفری کرده بود، که آن را از مادرش گرفته، و دوان دوان از خانه رفته بود.؛
اول روی نام پل را خط خطی کرده بود؛ بعد بقیه را خط زده بود.؛ بعد که کارت از دستش به زمین افتاده بود، آن را برداشته و پشتش را نگاه کرده و روی همه شان با خودکار مشکی خط کشیده بود، به نحوی که فقط خطهای درهم برهم دیده میشد.؛ اما آن شماره، یعنی پانزده سال، مدام در سئوالهایی که از او میکردند به او یادآوری میشد: «چند سالته؟»؛ و چون فهمید خیلی مهم است، آن را به خاطر سپرد، و وقتی هر سال کریسمس میشد، و هیچکس یادش نمیرفت، یکسال به آن میافزود.؛
حالا شانزده ساله ام.؛ حالا هفده ساله ام.؛ و حالا چون سه زمستان گذشته، هیجده ساله ام.؛ «خب، پس کی به دنیا آمدی؟»؛ هر روز که از آن خط زدن خشماگین کارت با خودکار مشکی میگذشت، بیشتر میفهمید چه اشتباهی کرده است.؛ با آن عصبانیت خرکی کارت را به کل خراب کرده بود، طوری که دیگر نمیشد ازش استفاده کرد.؛ اسم خودش را میدانست.؛ «هریت» و «دیوید» را هم میدانست، و اسم خواهرها و برادرهایش، که آرزوی مرگش را داشتند برایش مهم نبود؛
یادش نبود کی به دنیا آمده است. همچنان که به هر صدایی گوش میداد، شنید که در آن اداره سر و صدا ناگهان اوج گرفت، چون در صفی که مردم جلوی یکی از باجه ها بسته بودند، زنی بنای جیغ و داد سر کارمندی گذاشت که با او مصاحبه میکرد و به همین علت داد و بیداد بلند شد، و تمام صف به جنب و جوش درآمد و بقیه هم بنا کردند به غر زدن و بعد کلمات کوتاهی مثل مادرسگ و گه لوله به گوش رسید ــ اینها کلماتی بود که خوب میشناخت و ازشان میترسید.؛ رگه سرد ترسی از پشت گردن به ستون فقراتش دوید.؛ مردی که پشت سرش بود، حوصله اش سر رفته بود. گفت: «اگر شما تمام روز وقت داری، من ندارم.» «کی به دنیا آمدی؟ چه تاریخی؟» گفتن این حرف مشکل را به وقت دیگری موکول کرد: «بفرما شناسنامه ات را پیدا کن.؛ برو دفتر ثبت احوال.؛ آنجا روشن میشود.؛ کارفرمای قبلی را نمیشناسی.؛ نشانیت را نمیدانی.؛ تاریخ تولدت را نمیدانی.»؛
پس از این حرف چشم از صورت بن برداشت، و به مردی که پشت سرش بود، اشاره کرد جلو بیاید، و بن را نادیده بگیرد، و بن که بدجوری به تله افتاده بود و ترس برش داشته بود، و احساس میکرد همه موهای تنش و سرش سیخ شده است، یکراست داشت از اداره بیرون میرفت.؛ بیرون پیاده رو بود و مردم در رفت و آمد، خیابانی کوچک بود پر از اتومبیل، و زیر درخت چنار کبوترها دور نیمکتی بیخیال بغبغو میکردند و دانه برمیچیدند.؛
در یک سر نیمکت نشست، سر دیگر نیمکت زن جوانی نشسته بود که اول گوشه چشمی به او انداخت، و بعد نگاهی دیگر و اخم کنان رفت و با نگاهی که بن میشناخت و انتظارش را داشت چند بار سر برگرداند و نگاهش کرد.؛ از او نترسیده بود، اما گمان میکرد به زودی میترسد.؛ مثل کسی که فراری شود، سراپا شتاب و دستپاچگی بود.؛ رفت توی مغازه ای و باز به پشت سرش نگاه کرد.؛ بن گرسنه اش بود.؛ پول نداشت.؛ قدری خرده نان برای کبوترها روی زمین ریخته بودند.؛ به عجله آنها را جمع کرد و نگاهی به دور و برش انداخت: قبلاً هم از این بابت سرزنشش کرده بودند.؛ حالا پیرمردی آمد و روی نیمکت نشست و نگاه طولانی خیره ای به بن انداخت، اما تصمیم گرفت برخلاف حکم غریزه اش خود را به دردسر نیندازد.؛ چشمهایش را بست.؛
آفتاب روی دانه های ریز عرق صورتش میدرخشید.؛ بن همچنان نشست و به فکر افتاد که چطور باید سراغ پیرزن برود، چون از بن مایوس میشود.؛ او گفته بود بن برود به این اداره و حقوق بیکاری بگیرد.؛ یاد او لبخند به لبش آورد ــ این لبخند با پوزخندی که کفر کارمند را درآورده بود خیلی فرق میکرد؛ لبخند بر لب نشست، لبخند خفیفی که دندانهایش را از لای ریش مینمایاند و تماشا کرد که چطور پیرمرد بیدار شد، عرق را که روی صورتش راه افتاده بود پاک کرد و گفت: «چیه؟ این دیگه چیه؟»؛ انگار که او را یاد چیزی انداخته باشد.؛ و بعد برای آنکه خود را از تک و تا نیندازد، به تندی به بن گفت: «خیال میکنی به چی میخندی؟»؛
بن نیمکت و سایه درخت و همنشینی با کبوترها را رها کرد، و حدود سه کیلومتر در خیابانها راه رفت و میدانست که راه را درست میرود. حالا به یک دسته بلوک آپارتمانی نزدیک میشد. یکراست رفت طرف یکیشان و توی آن دید که آسانسور فس فس و غژغژکنان دارد پایین میآید و دلش میخواست واردش شود، اما ترس از آسانسور باعث شد راه پله ها را در پیش بگیرد. یک، دو، سه،... یازده پاگرد سرد خاکستری پلکان، در حالیکه صدای غژغژ و وژ وژ آسانسور را از آن سوی دیوار میشنید. در هر طبقه چهار در بود. یکراست به طرف یکی رفت که بوی نافذ گوشت پخته از آن میآمد و دهانش را آب میانداخت. دستگیره را چرخاند، جیرجیرش را درآورد و کنار ایستاد و به حال انتظار به در زل زد تا باز شد. دم در پیرزن لبخند به لب ایستاده بود. گفت: «آه، بن، تویی؟» و دست دورش حلقه کرد و او را به درون برد. توی آپارتمان ایستاد و کمی قوز کرد، به دور و برش نگاهی انداخت، اول از همه به گربه پلنگی گنده ای که روی دسته مبلی نشسته بود. موهای گربه سیخ شد. پیرزن رفت طرفش و گفت: «خب، خب، مشکلی نیست، پیشی.» و هراس گربه زیر دست آرامبخشش کم شد و بدل به گربه نازی شد. حالا پیرزن با همان حرفها سراغ بن رفت: «خب، بن، مشکلی نیست، بیا بنشین.» بن چشم از گربه برداشت، اما احتیاطش را از دست نداد و زیرچشمی او را پایید. پیرزن در این اتاق زندگی میکرد. روی اجاق گاز قابلمه ای آبگوشت بود و بوی همان توی پاگرد به مشام بن رسیده بود. پیرزن باز گفت: «مشکلی نیست، بن.» و توی دو تا کاسه با ملاقه آبگوشت کشید و چند تکه نان کنار یکی برای بن گذاشت و کاسه خود را روبرویش گذاشت و با قاشق قدری از آن در یک نعلبکی برای گربه ریخت و روی زمین کنار صندلی گذاشت. اما گربه از جا نجنبید: آرام نشست و چشم از بن برنداشت.)؛ پایان نقل
تاریخ بهنگام رسانی 09/05/1399هجری خورشیدی؛ ا. شربیانی
July 13, 2023
I wish that this attempt to explain Ben was never written. The Fifth Child was such a great book because of if it's ambiguity. Ben, the fifth child, was unlike his "normal" brothers and sisters. His backwardness, his rage, was unexpected and had dire consequences.
I did enjoy some of the new characters who were introduced, but the whole premise behind the book is wrong in my opinion.
I did enjoy some of the new characters who were introduced, but the whole premise behind the book is wrong in my opinion.
June 14, 2008
Everyone who liked THE FIFTH CHILD as much as I did should never read this sequel. It answers every question I had while reading THE FIFTH CHILD and destroys all the good ideas by explaining them.
June 29, 2020
The Fifth Child was an interesting read, and I was intrigued with the Ben character enough to check out this sequel, which offered a closer look at the being who'd been unable to fit into his family. It was an interesting read in a different way.
Meeting Ben as a child, I had been struck by how he seemed both scary and scared. He terrified his family, appeared to have killed animals, and seemed uncomfortable in his own skin. It would have been easy to dismiss him as evil or ill. But there were hints in the previous story of his confusion, discomfort, angst and outright terror at times. There were hints that in the right company, he managed himself more successfully. This novel affirmed my take.
As an adult, Ben continues to live as a stranger in a strange land. He doesn't fit in, is taken advantage of, and struggles to understand his own misfitness. He seems to mean well, but can't quite use that intention to create the outcomes he's after. He crosses paths with a few kind souls who accept his eccentricities and manage to show him kindness and love, despite his rough edges. In return, he tries to manage impulses that not even he seems to understand. Despite these caring islands within the storm of his life, Ben's life is not a happy one, and we see the ultimate culmination of living so much pain and suffering to understand his own nature and that of others.
It's a sad tale. I appreciated knowing more about the author's vision of Ben, and was not surprised by how she conveyed him. There were times when the writing style was a bit off-putting to me (like when a statement made it clear the author was talking to the reader rather than staying in the story), or when she leapt ahead to tell an outcome and then came back to the present. I know some will appreciate the simplistic, direct style of writing, but that was an element I had to endure, as my own personal taste enjoys more elaboration or interesting prose. But I'm glad I learned more about Ben, for his plight in the first book had given me some tender questions about him.
P.S. addendum: Trigger warning to animal lovers that there are brief moments of animal suffering in this one.
Meeting Ben as a child, I had been struck by how he seemed both scary and scared. He terrified his family, appeared to have killed animals, and seemed uncomfortable in his own skin. It would have been easy to dismiss him as evil or ill. But there were hints in the previous story of his confusion, discomfort, angst and outright terror at times. There were hints that in the right company, he managed himself more successfully. This novel affirmed my take.
As an adult, Ben continues to live as a stranger in a strange land. He doesn't fit in, is taken advantage of, and struggles to understand his own misfitness. He seems to mean well, but can't quite use that intention to create the outcomes he's after. He crosses paths with a few kind souls who accept his eccentricities and manage to show him kindness and love, despite his rough edges. In return, he tries to manage impulses that not even he seems to understand. Despite these caring islands within the storm of his life, Ben's life is not a happy one, and we see the ultimate culmination of living so much pain and suffering to understand his own nature and that of others.
It's a sad tale. I appreciated knowing more about the author's vision of Ben, and was not surprised by how she conveyed him. There were times when the writing style was a bit off-putting to me (like when a statement made it clear the author was talking to the reader rather than staying in the story), or when she leapt ahead to tell an outcome and then came back to the present. I know some will appreciate the simplistic, direct style of writing, but that was an element I had to endure, as my own personal taste enjoys more elaboration or interesting prose. But I'm glad I learned more about Ben, for his plight in the first book had given me some tender questions about him.
P.S. addendum: Trigger warning to animal lovers that there are brief moments of animal suffering in this one.
August 8, 2017
Από το μωρό της Ρόζμαρι στον Ε. Τ. τον εξωγήινο!!! Κατέστρεψε ένα τόσο καλό βιβλίο ( Το πέμπτο παιδί) γράφοντας αυτό το ανεκδιήγητο sequel!
March 6, 2014
After reading the sequel to the fifth child, I felt HIGHLY insulted. If you've read The Fifth Child, please, skip this. I never tell anyone not to read a book. In fact, this is the first book review I have ever written on a public forum. I really could not keep me mouth shut about it. Seriously, do not pick this up.
When I read the fifth child, I was struck by Lessing's prose, character development, and social commentary (Although most folks feel that it was commentary focused on people who are "not like us", I felt it was showing us the conflict a mother has when she has a monster for a son).
In the Fifth Child, Ben came into the world screaming, fighting, hissing, spitting. He killed animals and tried to kill members of his family. He was thought of as some sort of alien being whom no one understood. There was something clearly wrong with Ben.
Now, in Ben, in the World, we see an 18 year old with feelings and tears. He responds to small acts of kindness with a kind of wonder and gratefulness. What? No, that's not right. Wait...no.
At the end of the original, Ben was 15, the de facto leader of a gang of other kids in his high school, and barely spoke. Each member of his extremely large family tried to be kind and offer love, but it seemed that emotions were alien to him and he had neither need nor desire.
Lessing pissed me off when she deviated from his characterization. There was something NOT right with that child. He was an anomaly. He hurt people. He had no kind feelings toward anyone (except a band of misfits who treated him like shit most of the time, and that's only maybe--we don't know what the hell this kid was thinking). To give him this human quality ruined everything for me. Lessing has a mastery of prose. She writes so fluidly, beautifully. It's wasted on this garbage book. I can't believe Ben is human. Say what you will, but I don't think he was supposed to be. If he was, then Lessing made a fool out of me. The kid was born a month early fully grown--kicking his mother so hard that you could actually see her stomach moving when he was one or two months in vitro. Sorry, not human. Monster.
This was worse than "The Son of Rosemary".
Also, the abundance of cliches and overdone plots (hooker(s) with a heart of gold, if only someone could understand me, etc.) was a major turn off. Save your time. Ugh.
When I read the fifth child, I was struck by Lessing's prose, character development, and social commentary (Although most folks feel that it was commentary focused on people who are "not like us", I felt it was showing us the conflict a mother has when she has a monster for a son).
In the Fifth Child, Ben came into the world screaming, fighting, hissing, spitting. He killed animals and tried to kill members of his family. He was thought of as some sort of alien being whom no one understood. There was something clearly wrong with Ben.
Now, in Ben, in the World, we see an 18 year old with feelings and tears. He responds to small acts of kindness with a kind of wonder and gratefulness. What? No, that's not right. Wait...no.
At the end of the original, Ben was 15, the de facto leader of a gang of other kids in his high school, and barely spoke. Each member of his extremely large family tried to be kind and offer love, but it seemed that emotions were alien to him and he had neither need nor desire.
Lessing pissed me off when she deviated from his characterization. There was something NOT right with that child. He was an anomaly. He hurt people. He had no kind feelings toward anyone (except a band of misfits who treated him like shit most of the time, and that's only maybe--we don't know what the hell this kid was thinking). To give him this human quality ruined everything for me. Lessing has a mastery of prose. She writes so fluidly, beautifully. It's wasted on this garbage book. I can't believe Ben is human. Say what you will, but I don't think he was supposed to be. If he was, then Lessing made a fool out of me. The kid was born a month early fully grown--kicking his mother so hard that you could actually see her stomach moving when he was one or two months in vitro. Sorry, not human. Monster.
This was worse than "The Son of Rosemary".
Also, the abundance of cliches and overdone plots (hooker(s) with a heart of gold, if only someone could understand me, etc.) was a major turn off. Save your time. Ugh.
April 6, 2016
"بن در جهان" ادامه رمان فرزند پنجم است که در سال 2000 نوشته شده است. این قسمت با توصیف هجده سالگی بن آغاز می شود و بر خلاف قسمت اول سخنان بن را شنیده و از افکار و احساسات او مطلع می شویم و تصویر بن خشن و نفوذ ناپذیری که در قسمت اول دیده بودیم تا حد زیادی تغییر می کند، انسانهای مختلفی چه به عنوان دوست و چه غریبه از او استفاده های ابزاری زیادی می کنند. بن حتی قفس های آزمایشگاههای ژنتیکی را هم تجربه می کند و به سختی از دست دانشمندانی که در پی خدمت به بشر هستند نجات می یابد. اما بن هرگز به عنوان یک انسان پذیرفته نمی شود و در غیاب او خانواده اش دوباره دور هم جمع می شوند و او راه بازگشتی به سوی آنها ندارد. بن در طی ماجراهایی از کوههای آمریکای جنوبی و در جستجوی کسانی که مانند خود ��و هستند، سر در می آورد، پایان داستان حقیقت تلخی را بیان می کند که شاید ناگزیر ترین حالت ممکن است.
February 16, 2022
قسمت اولش(فرزند پنجم) که راجع به کودکی بن بود خیلی قشنگ تر بود.خیلی دوستش نداشتم .
September 19, 2017
برای خودم غصه میخور� که تعداد کمتری کتاب برام واقعاً جذاب و لذتبخش�.
کتاب اطناب و زیادهگوی� داره. شخصیت بن چندان احساسات خواننده رو درگیر نمیکن� و راوی دانای کل هم هی میاد وسط ماجرا و درباره عاقبت شخصیته� حرف میزن�. دست به دست شدن بن و رفتنش به کشورها و شهرهای مختلف بدون هیجان و کشش اتفاق میافت�. ترجیح میداد� ماجرای خانواده لاوت برای من با فرزند پنجم تموم میش�.
کتاب اطناب و زیادهگوی� داره. شخصیت بن چندان احساسات خواننده رو درگیر نمیکن� و راوی دانای کل هم هی میاد وسط ماجرا و درباره عاقبت شخصیته� حرف میزن�. دست به دست شدن بن و رفتنش به کشورها و شهرهای مختلف بدون هیجان و کشش اتفاق میافت�. ترجیح میداد� ماجرای خانواده لاوت برای من با فرزند پنجم تموم میش�.
November 25, 2018
This is the sequel of Lessing's outstanding 'The Fifth Child' and it took me a long time to attempt reading the latter's follow-up. It was equally fluid and gripping to read and I appreciate the author's courage to consider writing a story about what happens to Ben after he leaves his family. It does not equal the first book in intensity and creepiness but still very much worth a read!
July 7, 2018
مش عارف ليه الكاتبة مصممة تكرهني في رواياتها .. حتى نهاية الرواية قفلتني منها ..
October 15, 2016
بِن در جهان
اين كتاب ادامه ي "فرزند پنجم" اثر دوريس لسينگ است با اين تفاوت كه اينبار برخلاف جلد قبل كه خواننده از بِن متنفر بود، حال حامي و پشتيبان اوست. بِن يك انسان نماي بيچاره كه در ميان آدم هاي اين عصر گيركرده، هيچ كس او را نميفهمد. هيچ كس او را دوست ندارد و او محكوم به تنهايي است. رفتارهايي كه با او ميشود اگرچه بسيار طبيعي است اما عميقا قلب هر موجود داراي احساسي را بدرد مي آورد.
اگرچه نميتوان تاثيرگزاري و برانگيختن احساسات را ناديده گرفت، اما همچنان معتقدم اين داستان به اندازه ي لازم و كافي، قوي نبود. وقوع حوادث و اتفاقات بيشماري كه صرفا به داستان شاخ و برگ داده و بي هدف بودند، از ارزش داستان ميكاهد. اصلا همين كه يك انسان ماقبل تاريخ ناگهان از دل يك خانواده معمولي بدنيا بيايد بسيار تخيلي مينمود. دوجلد كتاب را تنها براي كشف اينكه بِن چه بود خواندم و درنهايت از اين پايان غمناك بسيار ناراحت شدم، هرچند ميدانم چاره ي ديگري جز اين سرنوشت نبود و به بهترين حالت تمام شد. فارغ از همه ي كاستي ها، ايده و ابتكار نوي كتاب ارزش يكبار خوانده شدن به آن ميبخشد.
نوبل ٢٠٠٧، به نويسنده اي اهدا شده است كه حامي اخلاقيات انسان است. وي در اين كتاب، آزمايشگاه هاي مجهز و پيشرفت علم به قيمت زجر گونه هاي مختلف-چه حيوان و چه انسان- را محكوم كرده و از احساسات موجودات زنده سخن ميگويد. اصلا شايد بِن نمادي از حيوان واقعي باشد كه حال به سخن درآمده و توانايي اندك تعاملي با انسان پيدا كرده است. سوالي كه در اين ميان بوجود مي آيد اين است كه آيا نتيجه ي متفاوت بودن تنهايي و طرد است؟ آيا بشر قادر است تفاوت ها را بپذيرد و فارغ از نژاد و قيافه و رفتار ديگران، آنها را بعنوان يك انسان، يك جاندار داراي عواطف، دوست بدارد؟
"اين كتاب مبين ميل حيواني ما براي نوعي زندگي است كه تحت تاثير نيازمنداني كه به خاطر نياز به محبت، سرعت ما را در زندگي كاهش ميدهند، قرار نميگيرد."
اين كتاب ادامه ي "فرزند پنجم" اثر دوريس لسينگ است با اين تفاوت كه اينبار برخلاف جلد قبل كه خواننده از بِن متنفر بود، حال حامي و پشتيبان اوست. بِن يك انسان نماي بيچاره كه در ميان آدم هاي اين عصر گيركرده، هيچ كس او را نميفهمد. هيچ كس او را دوست ندارد و او محكوم به تنهايي است. رفتارهايي كه با او ميشود اگرچه بسيار طبيعي است اما عميقا قلب هر موجود داراي احساسي را بدرد مي آورد.
اگرچه نميتوان تاثيرگزاري و برانگيختن احساسات را ناديده گرفت، اما همچنان معتقدم اين داستان به اندازه ي لازم و كافي، قوي نبود. وقوع حوادث و اتفاقات بيشماري كه صرفا به داستان شاخ و برگ داده و بي هدف بودند، از ارزش داستان ميكاهد. اصلا همين كه يك انسان ماقبل تاريخ ناگهان از دل يك خانواده معمولي بدنيا بيايد بسيار تخيلي مينمود. دوجلد كتاب را تنها براي كشف اينكه بِن چه بود خواندم و درنهايت از اين پايان غمناك بسيار ناراحت شدم، هرچند ميدانم چاره ي ديگري جز اين سرنوشت نبود و به بهترين حالت تمام شد. فارغ از همه ي كاستي ها، ايده و ابتكار نوي كتاب ارزش يكبار خوانده شدن به آن ميبخشد.
نوبل ٢٠٠٧، به نويسنده اي اهدا شده است كه حامي اخلاقيات انسان است. وي در اين كتاب، آزمايشگاه هاي مجهز و پيشرفت علم به قيمت زجر گونه هاي مختلف-چه حيوان و چه انسان- را محكوم كرده و از احساسات موجودات زنده سخن ميگويد. اصلا شايد بِن نمادي از حيوان واقعي باشد كه حال به سخن درآمده و توانايي اندك تعاملي با انسان پيدا كرده است. سوالي كه در اين ميان بوجود مي آيد اين است كه آيا نتيجه ي متفاوت بودن تنهايي و طرد است؟ آيا بشر قادر است تفاوت ها را بپذيرد و فارغ از نژاد و قيافه و رفتار ديگران، آنها را بعنوان يك انسان، يك جاندار داراي عواطف، دوست بدارد؟
"اين كتاب مبين ميل حيواني ما براي نوعي زندگي است كه تحت تاثير نيازمنداني كه به خاطر نياز به محبت، سرعت ما را در زندگي كاهش ميدهند، قرار نميگيرد."
December 7, 2011
Roy Jones Junior. Robert De Niro. Evander Holyfield. Ricky Ponting. Muhammad Ali. It’s hard when the greats lose their powers for all the world to see.
I really wanted to like this novel, only the premise is flawed, the plot is almost non-existent and meandering and the whole novel degenerates into a barely believable sub-par Days of Our Lives conclusion. Moreover, the book is filled with empty caricatures. There’s far too much telling and not enough showing, and ultimately the whole thing is really unworthy of the term ‘literature�. That it comes out of the mind of an obviously great artist like Lessing makes the whole thing more tragic.
Seriously, there is not one but TWO "hookers with a heart of gold", multiple “evil scientists� and a crude caricature of a central character that renders the exploration of alienation as something that is as superficial as it is laughably simplistic. It is also incredibly poorly written. Really, the quality of prose on offer here is not even near ‘third-rate�.
Like Roy Jones Junior et al, you get angry that those around Lessing would let her diminish her reputation by publishing this book.
Please do yourself and Doris a favour and steer well clear of this one.
I really wanted to like this novel, only the premise is flawed, the plot is almost non-existent and meandering and the whole novel degenerates into a barely believable sub-par Days of Our Lives conclusion. Moreover, the book is filled with empty caricatures. There’s far too much telling and not enough showing, and ultimately the whole thing is really unworthy of the term ‘literature�. That it comes out of the mind of an obviously great artist like Lessing makes the whole thing more tragic.
Seriously, there is not one but TWO "hookers with a heart of gold", multiple “evil scientists� and a crude caricature of a central character that renders the exploration of alienation as something that is as superficial as it is laughably simplistic. It is also incredibly poorly written. Really, the quality of prose on offer here is not even near ‘third-rate�.
Like Roy Jones Junior et al, you get angry that those around Lessing would let her diminish her reputation by publishing this book.
Please do yourself and Doris a favour and steer well clear of this one.
July 10, 2020
The sequel to the novel The Fifth Child. Ben is now 18, looks older. He is at large in the world where he doesn’t really fit. He survives by instinct � the animal one vying with the human - an unhappy mix for him and one that is exploited frequently by the unscrupulous. We see this scary world through his eyes and experience a gamut of emotions with him, including rage, sorrow, love and tenderness. How will it all end for him and what will this teach us about ourselves and the world we share with others?
I have grown to love this Ben and to want the best for him�
I have grown to love this Ben and to want the best for him�
September 19, 2024
To cut a hopelessly meandering story short:
Ben is 18 and goes to London and lives with an elderly lady and the lady dies and he meets a younger lady with whom he has rough sex and then he is tricked into going to France as a drug courier and is abandoned there and meets an American filmmaker who coaxes him into flying to Brazil and there he meets another young lady with whom he doesn’t have rough sex and is then taken prisoner as an object of scientific research and is freed and looks for human beings being like him and is disappointed and commits suicide.
End of story.
Ben is 18 and goes to London and lives with an elderly lady and the lady dies and he meets a younger lady with whom he has rough sex and then he is tricked into going to France as a drug courier and is abandoned there and meets an American filmmaker who coaxes him into flying to Brazil and there he meets another young lady with whom he doesn’t have rough sex and is then taken prisoner as an object of scientific research and is freed and looks for human beings being like him and is disappointed and commits suicide.
End of story.
August 17, 2015
"They heard a cry and a slide of small stones & silence.
They slowly got up, slowly followed him.
They made their way to where the precipice fell away from the path. There was Ben, far below, a pile of coloured clothing.
His yellow hair was like a tuft of mountain grass"
Page 177
I was surprised to learn that Ben Lovatt's tale continued.
And so I ordered this book & began to read it ~~
Ben's tale continues from London, to France, to Brazil to the highest mountains where he is told ~ people like him exist.
He is determined to find others like himself.
Ben has managed to live alone & he has been completely abandoned by his Mother & his family.
He is given a notecard with his name & their contact information, but he is all too aware that he is NOT a part of this family & so he carries this card & has crossed out the information ~ as if to cross out his history.
People come to his aid & find a tenderness in him ~ that is absent from his own family & so they care for him ~ & they take him in.
He exists with a hunger ~ not just for acceptance & love but a real hunger that he seems to be unable to ever satiate.
Perhaps this is Ms. Lessing's way of telling us we are never satisfied with our lot in life ~ it is an unusual way to define this young man.
I was drawn into his need to eat so much meat & the way it is described captured my attention
( perhaps because I am vegan)~~ It is so primitive & such a visceral want ~ he seems to relish the food ~~
Meat & Fruit ~~~~ Fruit & Meat.
He is consumed as he consumes...
And so Ben goes off into the world, he is again tricked & taken.
He is still trying to find his way & then it is stolen from him.
This book was a quick read & it was just so forlorn.
A sad read.
There are places & people who are forever lost & who have a need
for acceptance.....and then they fall & in their falling they find their way.
I enjoyed this book as much as it hurt to read it ~ I really enjoyed it...
They slowly got up, slowly followed him.
They made their way to where the precipice fell away from the path. There was Ben, far below, a pile of coloured clothing.
His yellow hair was like a tuft of mountain grass"
Page 177
I was surprised to learn that Ben Lovatt's tale continued.
And so I ordered this book & began to read it ~~
Ben's tale continues from London, to France, to Brazil to the highest mountains where he is told ~ people like him exist.
He is determined to find others like himself.
Ben has managed to live alone & he has been completely abandoned by his Mother & his family.
He is given a notecard with his name & their contact information, but he is all too aware that he is NOT a part of this family & so he carries this card & has crossed out the information ~ as if to cross out his history.
People come to his aid & find a tenderness in him ~ that is absent from his own family & so they care for him ~ & they take him in.
He exists with a hunger ~ not just for acceptance & love but a real hunger that he seems to be unable to ever satiate.
Perhaps this is Ms. Lessing's way of telling us we are never satisfied with our lot in life ~ it is an unusual way to define this young man.
I was drawn into his need to eat so much meat & the way it is described captured my attention
( perhaps because I am vegan)~~ It is so primitive & such a visceral want ~ he seems to relish the food ~~
Meat & Fruit ~~~~ Fruit & Meat.
He is consumed as he consumes...
And so Ben goes off into the world, he is again tricked & taken.
He is still trying to find his way & then it is stolen from him.
This book was a quick read & it was just so forlorn.
A sad read.
There are places & people who are forever lost & who have a need
for acceptance.....and then they fall & in their falling they find their way.
I enjoyed this book as much as it hurt to read it ~ I really enjoyed it...
November 27, 2018
أسرتني شخصية بن وطيبته وبدائيته واختلافه، أحزنني. لم اكن اعلم ان هذا الكتاب جزء ثاني من "الطفل الخامس" حيث الجزء الأول يتناول حياة بن في الطفولة، والجزء الثاني يتناول شبابه وانفصاله عن اسرته، واضح ان هنالك شبه اجماع على تفضيل الجزء الأول عن الثاني. لا أدري ان كنت سأعود لأقرأ الجزء الأول ولكن بالتأكيد تظل قصة مختلفة.
September 11, 2008
I was extremely hesitant to read this book, having loved The Fifth Child as much as I did. I didn't want to ruin that book, which is one of my favorites.
The Fifth Child is very character-driven. The Lovatt family is front and center, and we get to know them over the course of a number of years. It's a pretty grim story. Ben, in the World, on the other hand, is almost ridiculously plot-driven. Ben winds up in several countries, meets all kinds of people (who send the story veering off course with seemingly no effort whatsoever), all in a matter of a couple months. The earlier book covers a longer time period in fewer pages, and yet seems slower-paced.
Especially having read The Fifth Child and spent a little more time with Ben, the ending of this sequel does hit pretty hard. But the story would be so much more interesting without all the peripheral characters, whose life stories we have to hear and who take attention away from the supposed main character. Ben's absence for much of The Fifth Child is understandable - some scene-setting and development of other characters is necessary in that book, and besides, a baby can't exactly carry a story - but the lack of focus in Ben, in the World is frustrating.
I don't think the sequel ruins the original, but Ben, in the World isn't a necessary read for fans of The Fifth Child. At the same time, I can't imagine it would resonate as deeply if you haven't read The Fifth Child. Seems to be a book with a limited audience.
The Fifth Child is very character-driven. The Lovatt family is front and center, and we get to know them over the course of a number of years. It's a pretty grim story. Ben, in the World, on the other hand, is almost ridiculously plot-driven. Ben winds up in several countries, meets all kinds of people (who send the story veering off course with seemingly no effort whatsoever), all in a matter of a couple months. The earlier book covers a longer time period in fewer pages, and yet seems slower-paced.
Especially having read The Fifth Child and spent a little more time with Ben, the ending of this sequel does hit pretty hard. But the story would be so much more interesting without all the peripheral characters, whose life stories we have to hear and who take attention away from the supposed main character. Ben's absence for much of The Fifth Child is understandable - some scene-setting and development of other characters is necessary in that book, and besides, a baby can't exactly carry a story - but the lack of focus in Ben, in the World is frustrating.
I don't think the sequel ruins the original, but Ben, in the World isn't a necessary read for fans of The Fifth Child. At the same time, I can't imagine it would resonate as deeply if you haven't read The Fifth Child. Seems to be a book with a limited audience.
April 10, 2012
ثاني رواية أقرؤها لدوريس ليسنج، وسبب شرائي (بن يجوب العالم) هو أنه تكملة للجزء الأول ، وقد أعجبني حقًا الجزء الأول أكثر من الجزء الثاني. اختلفت هنا طريقة السرد حيث كانت تقصّ مصائر الأبطال بطريقة سطحية ثم تُشبعنا بالتفاصيل! ولا أعلم من أين لها بتلك الفكرة العبقرية التي تقتل كل متعة يُمكن أن تُجنى من القراءة؟! لكنها في الجزئين إمتازت بقدرتها على إثارة بعض الرعب في نفسي (وأنا بحب كده).
أعجبتني نهاية (بن)، ولم تخطر ببالي على الإطلاق.
إجمالًا الرواية بجزئيها غير عميقة، والهدف منها التلصص على حيوات آخرين بغية تمضية الوقت فقط، حتى المتعة حرمتني منها في الجزء الثاني.
September 10, 2012
In The Fifth Child, Ben is a monster that the reader both fears and pities. In Ben, in the World, he is merely a pitiful throwback. All of his power and strength is useless, and the fear that he inspired as a feral child-beast becomes laughable. The people who did not recognize Ben for what he was now instantly acknowledge his differences. Those who shelter and care for him (almost exclusively female) are merely versions of Harriet. I did like the mini-stories of the tangential characters, but the answers that were given about Ben were too exact and took away the power of the first book.
March 4, 2016
The more time I allowed, the more powerful this felt. The allegorical aspects of this book really made me think about society and my own personal treatment of people.
November 11, 2020
This novel was first published in 2000, as a sequel to from 1988. I re-read 'The Fifth Child' a few months ago, but had never realised that there was a sequel. While I really enjoyed the first, I found this follow-up more disjointed and less compelling that the story of Ben’s early years and the disruption he brought into his family.
We know how difficult life was for Ben as a small child. He was different to the rest of his family and he antagonised his brothers and sisters. In ‘Ben in the World�, Lessing resists the chance to bring him back into conflict with his family, which had shunned and abandoned him when they were unable to cope with his primitive behaviour.
But there are some echoes back to the first book, in which his mother calls him a ‘Neanderthal Baby�. In the sequel, Ben ends up looking at some primitive rock carvings in Southern America, which seem to depict people who look very like himself.
There is also an echo about captivity. In 'The Fifth Child' Ben’s mother is eventually persuaded to give him up and he is taken away to a home. But she realises that she cannot live with that decision and goes to reclaim the boy, finding out about the horror of his treatment and imprisonment. In ‘Ben in the Wild� he is captured and placed in a cage, this time abducted by scientists, who believe him to be a unique gift to science, a throwback. This time a group of unlikely friends come to his rescue and free him from the cage into which he has been cast, naked like an animal.
Towards the end of 'The Fifth Child', Ben had become a child rebel, involved in minor crime and leading a gang of truants. By the time we open 'Ben in the World'he is eighteen and already on the fringes of society. He comes up against the system � needing some form of ID in order to be able to claim benefits, the money he needs to live. He cannot deal with the faceless bureaucrat.
I find the Ben in this book far less violent and confronting than the previous book. Employed casually on a building site, he is swindled by the foreman and has his wages stolen. He does not fight back, but seeks to avoid any confrontation. He has lost some of his meanness to fear.
There are two tales of sex within the narrative, one of which is partially needed for the sake of the plot, but which is also gratuitous. In London, Ben meets a young prostitute, Rita, and takes her twice, roughly, from behind. “…she had been thrilled by that double rape, the great powerful hands gripping her shoulders, the teeth in her neck, and, above all, the grunt like a roar…� We hear a little about his past sexual exploits, when he was in a gang and had a girlfriend for a while. She had tried to turn him to face her, but that had not worked for Ben, “for when he was face to face with her the raging angry need to possess and dominate was silent.� Unlike the prostitute, the girlfriend soon resented and hated Ben for the sex and would not see him again. Soon all the other girls knew that Ben was funny and there was something not quite right with him.
Rita, the under-age prostitute, has a minder called Johnston, a petty criminal running minicabs and whores, who has eyes on a big drug deal. He convinces Ben to transport a large quantity of drugs to the south of France, fixes Ben up with a fake passport and a minder in Nice to pay his bills and keep him out of trouble. Staying at a big hotel, eating in restaurants and walking along the promenade, the wild Ben is always bubbling just below the surface. He keeps asking when he can go home, even though we know that there is nothing waiting there for him.
Ben is eventually abandoned by Johnson and his helpers. He encounters an American film maker who takes him to Brazil to make a movie, to star as a big primitive beast. Ben does not enjoy the refinement of life in Rio, the parties and the walks in the bright sun. The filmmaker, Alex, has a woman in Rio called Teresa, who is sad for Ben and stands up for him and tries to sooth his anger. Like Ben she has no-where to call home.
Suddenly, again almost gratuitously, we are presented with Teresa’s back story. Living with her parents in the shanty towns, she turns to prostitution to feed her family. She goes with men roughly against walls to earn enough to buy a dress and some high shoes so that she can work the hotels instead of the streets. “Teresa was stood up against a wall, in the dark, and even in the daylight, until she had money for good shoes.� Eventually she moves up from whore to working for Alex on a film and they become lovers. There are seven or eight pages of this back story. Was it necessary? Was it there to show a similarity with Rita or tell us that she had a good heart? She is abandoned by Alex to look after Ben. And in the end she is one of those who rescues Ben from the scientists.
One story about two whores with a heart of gold is a little over the top.
The final tragic end to this book, having rescued Ben, the little group mistakenly promise him that there will be others just like him, and he desperately wants to be taken to see them. This is what keeps him compliant, doing what they as until he finally learns the truth. That he is alone.
I am left wondering if it was a good idea to move 'he Fifth Child'forwards to a sequel. We all know that things will never go well for Ben. He can’t fit in, and he is bound to suffer further. His simple, childlike nature, in contrast to his massive frame, makes him into a freak in everyone’s eyes.
We know how difficult life was for Ben as a small child. He was different to the rest of his family and he antagonised his brothers and sisters. In ‘Ben in the World�, Lessing resists the chance to bring him back into conflict with his family, which had shunned and abandoned him when they were unable to cope with his primitive behaviour.
But there are some echoes back to the first book, in which his mother calls him a ‘Neanderthal Baby�. In the sequel, Ben ends up looking at some primitive rock carvings in Southern America, which seem to depict people who look very like himself.
There is also an echo about captivity. In 'The Fifth Child' Ben’s mother is eventually persuaded to give him up and he is taken away to a home. But she realises that she cannot live with that decision and goes to reclaim the boy, finding out about the horror of his treatment and imprisonment. In ‘Ben in the Wild� he is captured and placed in a cage, this time abducted by scientists, who believe him to be a unique gift to science, a throwback. This time a group of unlikely friends come to his rescue and free him from the cage into which he has been cast, naked like an animal.
Towards the end of 'The Fifth Child', Ben had become a child rebel, involved in minor crime and leading a gang of truants. By the time we open 'Ben in the World'he is eighteen and already on the fringes of society. He comes up against the system � needing some form of ID in order to be able to claim benefits, the money he needs to live. He cannot deal with the faceless bureaucrat.
I find the Ben in this book far less violent and confronting than the previous book. Employed casually on a building site, he is swindled by the foreman and has his wages stolen. He does not fight back, but seeks to avoid any confrontation. He has lost some of his meanness to fear.
There are two tales of sex within the narrative, one of which is partially needed for the sake of the plot, but which is also gratuitous. In London, Ben meets a young prostitute, Rita, and takes her twice, roughly, from behind. “…she had been thrilled by that double rape, the great powerful hands gripping her shoulders, the teeth in her neck, and, above all, the grunt like a roar…� We hear a little about his past sexual exploits, when he was in a gang and had a girlfriend for a while. She had tried to turn him to face her, but that had not worked for Ben, “for when he was face to face with her the raging angry need to possess and dominate was silent.� Unlike the prostitute, the girlfriend soon resented and hated Ben for the sex and would not see him again. Soon all the other girls knew that Ben was funny and there was something not quite right with him.
Rita, the under-age prostitute, has a minder called Johnston, a petty criminal running minicabs and whores, who has eyes on a big drug deal. He convinces Ben to transport a large quantity of drugs to the south of France, fixes Ben up with a fake passport and a minder in Nice to pay his bills and keep him out of trouble. Staying at a big hotel, eating in restaurants and walking along the promenade, the wild Ben is always bubbling just below the surface. He keeps asking when he can go home, even though we know that there is nothing waiting there for him.
Ben is eventually abandoned by Johnson and his helpers. He encounters an American film maker who takes him to Brazil to make a movie, to star as a big primitive beast. Ben does not enjoy the refinement of life in Rio, the parties and the walks in the bright sun. The filmmaker, Alex, has a woman in Rio called Teresa, who is sad for Ben and stands up for him and tries to sooth his anger. Like Ben she has no-where to call home.
Suddenly, again almost gratuitously, we are presented with Teresa’s back story. Living with her parents in the shanty towns, she turns to prostitution to feed her family. She goes with men roughly against walls to earn enough to buy a dress and some high shoes so that she can work the hotels instead of the streets. “Teresa was stood up against a wall, in the dark, and even in the daylight, until she had money for good shoes.� Eventually she moves up from whore to working for Alex on a film and they become lovers. There are seven or eight pages of this back story. Was it necessary? Was it there to show a similarity with Rita or tell us that she had a good heart? She is abandoned by Alex to look after Ben. And in the end she is one of those who rescues Ben from the scientists.
One story about two whores with a heart of gold is a little over the top.
The final tragic end to this book, having rescued Ben, the little group mistakenly promise him that there will be others just like him, and he desperately wants to be taken to see them. This is what keeps him compliant, doing what they as until he finally learns the truth. That he is alone.
I am left wondering if it was a good idea to move 'he Fifth Child'forwards to a sequel. We all know that things will never go well for Ben. He can’t fit in, and he is bound to suffer further. His simple, childlike nature, in contrast to his massive frame, makes him into a freak in everyone’s eyes.
September 26, 2024
This was a really satisfying conclusion to Ben's story and really thought-provoking.
I like the eerie, more threatening nature of Ben in The Fifth Child better, not to mention his crazy family.
But the sequel will stay with me just like the original novel and I'm sure it will keep me thinking.
Not surprised there was over a decade between the two books.
I like the eerie, more threatening nature of Ben in The Fifth Child better, not to mention his crazy family.
But the sequel will stay with me just like the original novel and I'm sure it will keep me thinking.
Not surprised there was over a decade between the two books.
November 2, 2020
After reading The Fifth Child by Lessing, I was interested in finding out what happened to Ben, a seemingly feral child born into a family with four well-behaved blue-eyed, blonde siblings. Ben was the object of derision throughout his school years for the way he looked and his aggressive demeanor. His adolescence was a continuation of his threatening actions. When he was eventually sent to an institution, he was terrified and his aggression escalated until his mother retrieved him despite her family's objections. His mother was his only source of kindness, and she sacrificed her family life on the pyre of Ben's unrelenting behavior.
Ben in the World is the story of what happens to Ben. Eventually shunned by his siblings and his father, he lives on the street, and makes everyone who sees him wary. He is used and misused by a number of individuals, who see him as a money-making vehicle. What is heartbreaking is his grateful response to even minimal kindness that he encounters. I will long remember Ben, and his attempt to understand the world into which he has been born.
Ben in the World is the story of what happens to Ben. Eventually shunned by his siblings and his father, he lives on the street, and makes everyone who sees him wary. He is used and misused by a number of individuals, who see him as a money-making vehicle. What is heartbreaking is his grateful response to even minimal kindness that he encounters. I will long remember Ben, and his attempt to understand the world into which he has been born.
July 20, 2014
درسته جذابیت کتاب مثل جلد اول نبود اما بن همون بن بیچاره بود...همون قدر تنها، دردناک و ترحم برانگیز. دقیقا لسینگ طوری توصیفش می کنه که مخاطبای زنش همون حس شخصیت های زن کتاب رو نسبت به بن داشته باشن همون قدر دوستش داشته باشن و حمایتش کنن. آخر کتاب خیلی خوب تموم می شه خیلی یه جورایی پیش بینی می کنی که حتما جلد3ای هم در کاره اما بعد طوری شوکه می شی که اشک می ریزی و کتاب رو می بندی.
بن یکی از بهترین شخصیتایی که من تا حالا خوندم شخصیتی که تمام ویژگیاش منحصر به خودشن و برای همیشه توی ذهنت می مونن...اون نیشخند از روی ترسش...وای...
بن یکی از بهترین شخصیتایی که من تا حالا خوندم شخصیتی که تمام ویژگیاش منحصر به خودشن و برای همیشه توی ذهنت می مونن...اون نیشخند از روی ترسش...وای...
July 8, 2014
حکایت ما انسان ها خودمان باخودمان غریب است چه برسد به ما با انسان نماها و نابه هنجارها...
June 23, 2015
تمام کردن کتاب با آن جمله، نبوغ بود و بی رحمی بود. گرفتن انگشت اتهام طرف تمام خواننده ها و تمام آدم ها بود ... از "فرزند پنجم"، مسلماً، بیشتر دوستش داشتم
January 8, 2019
I wish it was as striking as The Fifth Child, but unfortunately it wasn't. I expected it to be more focused on Ben himself but it got carried away with the other characters. :/
January 2, 2021
لم اقرأ الجزء الأول من الرواية، ولا اعرف من هو كائن ال بن وكيف كانت بدايته وظروف حياته.. ولكن في هذا الجزء قربت الكاتبة من حياة كائن بشري انسان اختلاف شكله نوعا عن باقي البشر وطباعه التي تكونت نتيجة ظروف حياته جعلته عرضه للسخرية والاستنفار من بعض الناس.. وحقل تجارب لغيرهم.. وقليلين هم من اهتموا به وحاولوا رعايته رغم فقرهم.. ويقرر بن العمل لمساعدتهم ومساعدة نفسه للحياة معهم، إلى أن يستغل في ذلك...
يود في نهاية حياته ان يذهب إلى قومه الذين يشبهوه.. هو لا يعرف من هم أو أين هم.. ولكنه يعرف ان هناك أناس يشبهونه هم قومه.. وينتهي به المطاف الى الانتحار!!!.. النهاية موجعة بكل التفاصيل.. ان تعيش غريبا في عالم يست��كرك فيه الجميع.. لاختلاف شكلك.. وطباعك التي فرضت عليك من المجتمع..!!
يود في نهاية حياته ان يذهب إلى قومه الذين يشبهوه.. هو لا يعرف من هم أو أين هم.. ولكنه يعرف ان هناك أناس يشبهونه هم قومه.. وينتهي به المطاف الى الانتحار!!!.. النهاية موجعة بكل التفاصيل.. ان تعيش غريبا في عالم يست��كرك فيه الجميع.. لاختلاف شكلك.. وطباعك التي فرضت عليك من المجتمع..!!
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