In 2000, Ray Suarez interviewed Doris Lessing about "Ben in the World," a science fiction novel that continued the story of a young man striking out on his own path, even though he is incapable of coping with the modern world. As the sequel to her 1988 novel, "The Fifth Child," Lessing told Suarez about what made her take up Ben's story again, more than a decade after the first book.

Lessing passed away on Nov. 17 in London at the age of 94.