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Carmel Hanes's Reviews > Ben, In the World
Ben, In the World
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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.
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Reading Progress
June 22, 2020
– Shelved
June 22, 2020
– Shelved as:
to-read
June 24, 2020
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Started Reading
June 26, 2020
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Marcus
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rated it 3 stars
Jun 28, 2020 01:03PM
Thanks for the great review Carmel. I'm going to have to find a copy of this book - I'm curious about what happened to Ben and I was pretty sure, even before reading your review, that this would be a sad tale.
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Marcus wrote: "Thanks for the great review Carmel. I'm going to have to find a copy of this book - I'm curious about what happened to Ben and I was pretty sure, even before reading your review, that this would be..."I hope you can come up with a copy, Marcus. I actually read it on Kindle...when I mark a book to add it to my list, it often comes up in a different format, and I don't always notice or change that. But...it satisfied my curiosity about how the author saw him. Interestingly, some of the reviews I've read felt she "changed him" but I didn't see it that way at all. He just got more fleshed out and had learned to control some things better. He reminded me of the kids I used to work with, so I grew attached to his little misfit soul.
Marcus wrote: "Thanks for the great review Carmel. I'm going to have to find a copy of this book - I'm curious about what happened to Ben and I was pretty sure, even before reading your review, that this would be..."Also...some of the events seemed a little far-fetched, but I rolled with that...it's sci-fi, after all....or at least that's how the author saw it. :-)
Interestingly, some of the reviews I've read felt she "changed him" but I didn't see it that way at all..."Carmel, I didn't feel that The Fifth Child gave Ben a voice of his own - it was mostly how others saw him, reacted to things he did, or he was simply the quiet member of a gang. Does his own voice emerge in this book?
For some reason, I’ve never gotten around to reading Lessing . I appreciate reading your thoughts, Carmel and May have try one her novels one of these days .
Great review, Carmel. I haven’t heard of this author !
Marcus wrote: "Interestingly, some of the reviews I've read felt she "changed him" but I didn't see it that way at all..."Carmel, I didn't feel that The Fifth Child gave Ben a voice of his own - it was mostly h..."
You are right, Marcus...and one of the things I noticed, too. His character was the result of how others reacted to him and what they believed about him. And I'd say, yes, his own "voice" is more apparent in this one, although almost more through actions than speaking, as he's still a man of few words. But we are inside his head more, seeing how he sees things and feels about them, and his actions speak some. I found myself interpreting his actions for others in my head, just like I used to do with the kids I worked with. So easy to assume things, without considering options. One of my pet peeves, which is probably why I was drawn to these two stories.
Angela M wrote: "For some reason, I’ve never gotten around to reading Lessing . I appreciate reading your thoughts, Carmel and May have try one her novels one of these days ."Thanks, Angela. Her bare bones style isn't my favorite, but I did get caught up in the characters a bit. They are not warm, fuzzy books, and the telling is a bit odd to me, but I still enjoyed reading them and thinking about what she was trying to convey. What is really fascinating is that many of her readers see a very different intent than the one she says she had in the writing. They resonated with the nature of parenting a difficult child, whereas she thought she was writing a sci-fi book. So fascinating what readers do with a book.
Jen wrote: "Great review, Carmel. I haven’t heard of this author !"Thanks, Jen. I hadn't either, but she is well known in some circles and has written a lot of things!
So you read the sequel! Interesting to read your thoughts, and sorry to see it wasn't as strong as The Fifth Child. I'll probably skip this one, due to your and other friends' lukewarm reviews, and also because I'm not as interested in Ben as a character as with Harriet. Thanks for your great review.
Robin wrote: "So you read the sequel! Interesting to read your thoughts, and sorry to see it wasn't as strong as The Fifth Child. I'll probably skip this one, due to your and other friends' lukewarm reviews, and..."Thanks, Robin. I'm not sorry to have read it, because I was very interested in the Ben character. It did divert into the stories of other characters at times, which was less interesting to me.
