Fifth Sally
by Daniel Keyes
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The powerful, moving and turbulent novel of Sally Porter and the multiple personalities she has no idea she lives with... From the award-winning bestselling author of FLOWERS FOR ALGERNON: 'Heartbreaking, and utterly, completely brilliant' GUARDIAN Sally Porter is perfectly 'ordinary'. A waitress, divorcee, and loner in the great city. But, though she is unaware of it, she is also four other, quite different people: Nola, the cold independent artist who has a studio in Greenwich Village; show more Derry, the happy-go-lucky tomboy; Bella, the highly-sexed live wire with a talent for singing and dancing; and finally Jinx, the hate-filled killer. Whenever events put too much of a strain on Sally Porter, she feels a headache and a blackout coming on - and a new character takes over. If there is a man to be fascinated, she will become Bella. If there is an intellectual problem, she will become Nola. And - as happens in the opening scene of the novel - if there is a rapist to be dealt with, she becomes the vicious Jinx. It is the task of the wise and patient psychiatrist, Dr. Roger Ash - a man who nevertheless has severe problems of his own - to deal with this case of multiple personality and, through painstaking therapy, to try to fuse the four disparate personalities into "the fifth Sally." show lessTags
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Member Reviews
Suffers in comparison to Flowers for Algernon, of course. Sally and her other 'personalities' are not as likable as Charly. But the story is still intense, fascinating, well-written. Too much sex & yuck factor for me to say I truly enjoyed it, but it was no gratuitous, and I did get through the book, so I can confidently say I'm glad I read it. Even the weird bit near the end was worth reading. If you're interested, I do recommend it.
,,.... Egyetlen könnycsepp vagyok egy öt gyöngybő álló nyakláncon."
Dopo aver letto Fiori per Algernon e Una stanza piena di gente, probabilmente questo libro non aveva più molto da dirmi su Daniel Keyes e le personalità multiple.
Senza contare che purtroppo i personaggi sono fin troppo semplificati, e, se posso crederci per le personalità di Sally, che sono alla fine solo un singolo aspetto della donna, per altri la cosa ha sfiorato il ridicolo: lo psichiatra che si fa psicanalizzare, i suoi capi, l'infermiera Duffy, il cui unico compito è apparire in vari punti del romanzo, fare una faccia arrabbiata e dire solo "Non ci credo!!1" (ma il resto dell'universo sì, e in teoria il disturbo dissociativo dell'identità è ancora oggi uno dei più controversi).
Credo che la parte più imbarazzante sia show more quando Daniel si sforza di dare uno spruzzo di romantico nella storia, ovviamente sempre buttato lì ("Sally, hai un'aura di bontà che non ho mai visto nelle altre"... eh?!), quando onestamente, poteva farne a meno a approfondire più il percorso di Sally in quanto *persona*. show less
Senza contare che purtroppo i personaggi sono fin troppo semplificati, e, se posso crederci per le personalità di Sally, che sono alla fine solo un singolo aspetto della donna, per altri la cosa ha sfiorato il ridicolo: lo psichiatra che si fa psicanalizzare, i suoi capi, l'infermiera Duffy, il cui unico compito è apparire in vari punti del romanzo, fare una faccia arrabbiata e dire solo "Non ci credo!!1" (ma il resto dell'universo sì, e in teoria il disturbo dissociativo dell'identità è ancora oggi uno dei più controversi).
Credo che la parte più imbarazzante sia show more quando Daniel si sforza di dare uno spruzzo di romantico nella storia, ovviamente sempre buttato lì ("Sally, hai un'aura di bontà che non ho mai visto nelle altre"... eh?!), quando onestamente, poteva farne a meno a approfondire più il percorso di Sally in quanto *persona*. show less
Jan 7, 2022 (Edited)Italian
libro decepcionante. Para nada tiene la magia de Flores para Algernon, se hace tedioso y falto de interés. Lectura abandonada a la mitad.
Feb 3, 2022Spanish
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Daniel Keyes was born in Brooklyn, New York on August 9, 1927. He received a bachelor's degree in psychology in 1950 and a master's degree in English literature in 1961 from Brooklyn College. He was an editor for pulp fiction magazines, taught English in New York City public schools, and was an English and creative writing professor at Wayne State show more University and Ohio University. In 1959, his novella Flowers for Algernon was published in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction and won the Hugo Award for best short fiction in 1960. By 1966 he had expanded the story into a novel with the same title, which tied for the Nebula Award for best novel that year. The novel was adapted as a stage play, developed as a dramatic musical, and adapted into a movie entitled Charly for which Cliff Robertson won the Academy Award for best actor. During his lifetime, he wrote several more novels including The Touch, The Fifth Sally, and Until Death. His three nonfiction books include The Minds of Billy Milligan, The Milligan Wars: A True-Story Sequel, and Unveiling Claudia. He also wrote a memoir entitled Algernon, Charlie and I. He died from complications of pneumonia on June 15, 2014 at the age of 86. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- Fifth Sally
- Original title
- Fifth Sally
- Original publication date
- 1980
- Original language*
- Inglés
*Some information comes from Common Knowledge in other languages. Click "Edit" for more information.
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- Members
- 66
- Popularity
- 473,488
- Reviews
- 4
- Rating
- (3.38)
- Languages
- 5 — English, German, Hungarian, Italian, Spanish
- Media
- Paper
- ISBNs
- 13
