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Spider's House
Set in Fez, Morocco, during that country's 1954 nationalist uprising, "The Spider's House" is perhaps Paul Bowles's most beautifully subtle novel, richly descriptive of its setting and uncompromising in its characterizations. Exploring once again the dilemma of the outsider in an alien society, and the gap in understanding between cultures--recurrent themes of P
...morePaperback, 406 pages
Published
October 31st 2006
by Harper Perennial
(first published 1955)
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Danny
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Recommends it for:
Anyone looking for an engrossing story
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Gifted by my sister.
It has been about two years since i read this book, so i won't go into too much plot detail, but i will instead share some of my impressions of the book.
This book was written circa 1956-58 by Paul Bowles, an American author who spent most of his adult life living in Morocco. The book, unsurprisingly, takes place in Morocco on the eve of the revolution in which the Moroccans won their independence from France. The story follows a young Moroccan and an American author simultaneously, and de...more
This book was written circa 1956-58 by Paul Bowles, an American author who spent most of his adult life living in Morocco. The book, unsurprisingly, takes place in Morocco on the eve of the revolution in which the Moroccans won their independence from France. The story follows a young Moroccan and an American author simultaneously, and de...more
As much as I hate to admit it, many of the observations made about culture and the perception of foreigners really opened my eyes. My favourite anecdote is when one of the Moroccan characters sees a woman, and the way he takes her in. He notices her hair is uncovered, the jewellery she wears, but mainly how brazen she is, how flamboyant her gestures are, and how loud her speech is. Initially he says, “She must be a prostitute of the lowest sort, because even decent prostitutes display some sen...more
Spoilers ahead...so be wary on these seas.
While I found the writing in The Spider's House to be some of Bowles's very best, two main (and somewhat related) problems kept me from giving this more than an average rating.
It was the narrative shifts that I found problematic. Normally, I'm all in favor of narrative shifts, but Bowles made two main mistakes. The first was the slight introduction of Stenham, coming in at no more than 12 pages, and ending with...more
While I found the writing in The Spider's House to be some of Bowles's very best, two main (and somewhat related) problems kept me from giving this more than an average rating.
It was the narrative shifts that I found problematic. Normally, I'm all in favor of narrative shifts, but Bowles made two main mistakes. The first was the slight introduction of Stenham, coming in at no more than 12 pages, and ending with...more
One could read this novel in many ways: as Paul Bowles' skewering of his own orientalist desires for Moroccan transhistorical "primitivism"; as a fictionalised account of the beggining of the Moroccan revolution; as a far superior, more complex and far more critical reading of the "clash of civilizations" thesis; as a novel about a stupid American man pursuing a rather bratty American woman; as a novel about tourism and travel, to be read alongside Edward Said's Orientalism; ...more
Whoah. I don't know if I can articulate how much I liked this book. It takes place in Fez before and during this big uprising by the Moroccans and consequent clamping down by the French that happened sometime in the 50's. When I was reading it it was like I could get glimpses into the souls of the 2 main characters, the Moroccan boy and the American man, and I kind of understood parts of them and simultaneously was appalled by other parts of them, but they were basically sympathetic and natur...more
In Spider's House, Paul Bowles leaves behind the moral lessons of meddling American's and decides to focus, truly, on the events of Morocco. Set during their revolution against the French, the story follows two strands, that of an illiterate but intelligent native boy and that of an American novelist (and his cohorts, at differing times) living in the country for the last five years.
The book is at its strongest when telling from the perspective of the Moroccan boy. He is interesting...more
The book is at its strongest when telling from the perspective of the Moroccan boy. He is interesting...more
I never wanted this book to end. Bowles is amazing in his ability to portray so many different sides and cultures that are at conflict, not only assuming how they might act or speak, but going into entire thought processes, histories and cultural values revealing an entire reasoning for every action. I felt the same way when I finished The Sheltering Sky and I can't wait to read more of his writing.
While reading, these are the things I googled: kif, which is hashish; medina, which is a yellow, dusty, religious sector of a Muslim town -- also the name of a city in Saudi Arabia; and the title of the book itself. I was looking for answers. Notably, this story based on the 1950's nationalist uprising in Morocco is prescient of some of our -- and by "our" I mean the USA's -- troubles regarding the hearts and minds of those citizens of the countries where we are staging our wars. Ne...more
I'm not really sure how this book has a 4.02 / 5.00 average rating. If you like reading novels with weak plots and little character development that stuff obvious post-colonial politics right down your throat, then this book is for you. This book doesn't really know whether it wants to be a piece of post-colonial theory, a creative nonfiction work (the author expatriated from the US to Morocco, where the book is set), or a post-colonial novel. There are some beautiful passages, but the book as a...more
jim
is currently reading it
This starts off with a prologue about a foreigner in Morocco before the revolution against the
French, classic ex-patriot fare. What sets it apart from other books in this genre is that it quickly flips to the perspective of a young muslim coming of age in Fez, and then these two meet and escape the uprising spreading through the city. It's a calm, slowly building read, with an outsider's perspective of the muslim faith, and the colonialist culture of the french. Reading it now, after the r...more
French, classic ex-patriot fare. What sets it apart from other books in this genre is that it quickly flips to the perspective of a young muslim coming of age in Fez, and then these two meet and escape the uprising spreading through the city. It's a calm, slowly building read, with an outsider's perspective of the muslim faith, and the colonialist culture of the french. Reading it now, after the r...more
PAUL DRAGAVON
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Recommends it for:
anyone who likes a good adventure and wants to learn about new cultures
"Bowles, Paul, The Spider’s House, New York, The Sparrow Press, 1955
The story revolves around two...more Bowles, Paul, The Spider’s House, New York, The Sparrow Press, 1955
The story revolves around two characters from totally different cultures. Alain Stenham is an American author living in Morocco, where he has been for many years. He is writing a novel and is trying to understand the Moslem culture about him. To that end he has learned rudimentary Arabic. Amar, a ...more
The story revolves around two...more Bowles, Paul, The Spider’s House, New York, The Sparrow Press, 1955
The story revolves around two characters from totally different cultures. Alain Stenham is an American author living in Morocco, where he has been for many years. He is writing a novel and is trying to understand the Moslem culture about him. To that end he has learned rudimentary Arabic. Amar, a ...more
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Anyone who is already a fan of Bowels' work will find much to enjoy here. This novel is full of the penetrating psychological and political insight typical of his best writings. The setting is the early 50's (most likely late 53- early 54) in the Morrocan city of Fez, on the eve of that country's uprising against the French. Many of Bowles' observations on the relations between the occupying French the Morrocans are stilll depressingly relevant to the political theater of today. The pace here is...more
What I enjoy about reading Paul Bowles is the departure one inevitably embarks on during the process. Not just the fact that the places he writes about - and his ability to transport you there - are truly far away, but also the thought processes, opinions, and perceptions of the characters... wholly formed yet so very refreshingly different. Yet the differences, the color, of these characters (at nearly the end of the book I realized at least 3 or 4 of them, although completely at odds in terms ...more
Chapters 17-20 and 27 were my favorites. It had lovely, rich descriptions of Fez and of the Moroccan culture. The characters were vibrant and very human, but the plot left something to be desired.
As usual, I enjoyed every word until the end...where I was left somewhat unfulfilled. A particularly poignant novel, being set in the 1954 uprising in Morocco.
I never actually finished this one because of time constraints, but I liked it. Somewhat less than the other things I'd read by him.
I think this book is an interesting one. Well written with deep sensibility and awareness of a situation that the author wants to talk about. Religion and politics are mixed and we will be involved in the discussion about issues like foreigner intervention, revolution, clash of civilizations, etcetera. The main character, the writer, meets a boy, the wiser, and both are going to learn of each other. It is clear in the book the development of the understanding by experience meanwhile we will be w...more
I was thinking this was a good book most of the time I was reading it but ultimately the ending didn't fulfill the promise of a climax it seemed to have been building up to. The writing was stronger in some points than in others. Bowles utilizes more of an essayists voice in this work than a narrative one. I liked the novel's concept and its setting but found it was more about the ideas relating to the conflict rather than about the conflict itself: for example, I have no idea what the final ...more
This is a 4.5.
This was a fascinating novel. I wouldn't have picked it up, but it was a bookclub choice. I usually don't like novels with no sympathetic characters, but this one was a sort-of allegory of colonialism, with the White folk breaking a country and leaving. Interesting cultural info, but depressing.
Read this while in Fez - and of course references were coming to life paragraph by paragraph, which was a gift. Ultimately, I think Bowles succeeds here in voices he creates - one that belongs to a man we imagine to be very much like Bowles himself and one to a young Moroccan man. The eventual interdependence of the men clarifies the distinctions in their perspectives, which of course allows the reader for more depth than either could ever muster alone.
An exact portrait of its time and yet amazingly prescient.
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it is worth making it through the beginning, it opens into a book that you don't want to end. well developed characters, well developed story. self exploration, cultural exploration.
Not exactly a summer reading book -- pretty depressing and a lot of musings on existence and death. Still I can't say that I disliked it or wouldn't recommend it to others. It's just the kind of book you read in an English class and not on the beach.
keeping me from my arabic studies, but pretty exciting to read this about half a kilometer from where p.b. actually lived and wrote and (probably) smoked copious amounts of kif.
One of the best novels I've read recently. Written in 1955, it explores the differences between Islam and the West in a meaningful and understanding way. The story is great too.
Interesting descriptions of Morocco and some of the writing was good. Neverthless, uninteresting characters and a wandering plot kept me from liking the book much.
This book captured the gap in understanding between cultures; the outsider tourist and native Moroccan look at the same situation with completely different veiwpoints.
Adventure and intrigue in exotic Morroco during the transition from colonialism to post-colonialism. The book was very good except for the incidental misogyny.
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| Spider's House, Paul Bowles | 1 | 5 | Sep 16, 2009 10:30am |
Paul Bowles grew up in New York, and attended college at the University of Virginia before traveling to Paris, where became a part of Gertrude Stein's literary and artistic circle. Following her advice, he took his first trip to Tangiers in 1931 with his friend, composer Aaron Copeland.
In 1938 he married author and playwright Jane Auer (see: Jane Bowles). He moved to Tangiers permanen...more
More about Paul Bowles...
In 1938 he married author and playwright Jane Auer (see: Jane Bowles). He moved to Tangiers permanen...more
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“Пожалуй, огромное различие состояло в том, что Запад оказывался гуманнее: он предусматривал для своих пациентов анестезию, в то время как Восток, принимая страдание как нечто само собой разумеещеся, устремлялся навтречу грядущему кошмару с предельным равнодушием к боли.”
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