Sign in with Facebook
Loading...
45th out of 171 books
—
124 voters
Spider
Spider is gaunt, threadbare, unnerved by everything from his landlady to the smell of gas. He tells us his story in a storm of beautiful language that slowly reveals itself as a fiendishly layered construction of truth and illusion. With echoes of Beckett, Poe, and Paul Bowles, Spider is a tale of horror and madness, storytelling and skepticism, a novel whose dizzying styl...more
Paperback, 227 pages
Published
October 1st 2002
by Gallimard Education
(first published 1990)
Friend Reviews
To see what your friends thought of this book,
please sign up.
Community Reviews
(showing
1-30
of
1,249)
This is the author’s second novel and third book (following on the collection “Blood and Water and Other Tales” and his debut novel “The Grotesque”). At least for the moment, I am reading his works in the order of publication. I thought that the short stories were very good and fit their lengths well. As noted in my review, I liked “The Grotesque”, but thought that I could have appreciated it more. After more reflection, in addition to the reasons previously cited, I think that it was not suited...more
Unfortunately, this is one of those books that I had not heard of until I inadvertently discovered the movie, which was pretty stellar as well and this may or may not have something to do with Ralph Fiennes! It was difficult as I read the book not to picture him in it, and this is one of the reasons I like reading books before seeing the movie, but this did not distract from its odd beauty. It's a story that revolves around a schizophrenic known as Spider. That he earned this name from his mothe...more
This was an amazing book -- very well written and made me very uncomfortable -- but impossible to put down.
It starts off as the journal of a man who obviously has some psychiatric issues and is living in a halfway house in the East End of London in the 1950s after completing 20 years in a prison psychiatric hospital. Gradually through his journal, you find out about his childhood, his living situation now and his wandering to fill his days back to the old allotments (gardens) and by the canal, b...more
It starts off as the journal of a man who obviously has some psychiatric issues and is living in a halfway house in the East End of London in the 1950s after completing 20 years in a prison psychiatric hospital. Gradually through his journal, you find out about his childhood, his living situation now and his wandering to fill his days back to the old allotments (gardens) and by the canal, b...more
..più mezza stella per l'abilità dello scrittore di trascinare il lettore nella mente annebbiata di uno schizofrenico, di spingerlo nel labirinto confuso della sua vita, dove l’unica speranza, trasmessa dal protagonista al lettore, sembra essere quella di ritrovare un qualsiasi filo conduttore che possa portarlo alla verità.
Ma la realta’ non è mai quella che appare, perchè si confonde tra le sue allucinazioni visive e sonore e le sue presunte azioni; e più ci si addentra nella mente di Spider, t...more
Ma la realta’ non è mai quella che appare, perchè si confonde tra le sue allucinazioni visive e sonore e le sue presunte azioni; e più ci si addentra nella mente di Spider, t...more
Mar 12, 2010
Cathy
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
to serious readers
Recommended to Cathy by:
I saw it on the bookshelf
This is rather an odd, but sad story. It's about a young boy and his tragic life. His mother, who he loves, dies. He is left with his father and his new wife who neither love him and wish that he wasn't there. He is ignored, lonely, afraid and unhappy. One of the reviewers describes it as "Disturbing, wholly absorbing...a combination murder mystery / dark-night-of-the-soul...touchingly, menancingly brilliant" (Chicago Tribune). It's also described as a tale of horror and madnessand as a psycholo...more
view all 4 comments
Jan 29, 2013
annik
rated it
2 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
read-in-russian,
brit-lit
После этой книги очень хочется пойти и полечить головушку.
Начинается все очень даже обыденно, хотя и мрачновато – отец-водопроводчик заводит любовницу, избавляется от жены, любовница становится злобной мачехой, а сына по имени Деннис отправляют куда подальше, то есть в Канаду. Но с самого начала наш подросший лет на двадцать Деннис и его суждения вызывают подозрения – ведь он сам признается, что многое из случившегося в тот год он додумал постфактум. И тут уж фиг разберешь, что произошло на само...more
Начинается все очень даже обыденно, хотя и мрачновато – отец-водопроводчик заводит любовницу, избавляется от жены, любовница становится злобной мачехой, а сына по имени Деннис отправляют куда подальше, то есть в Канаду. Но с самого начала наш подросший лет на двадцать Деннис и его суждения вызывают подозрения – ведь он сам признается, что многое из случившегося в тот год он додумал постфактум. И тут уж фиг разберешь, что произошло на само...more
First Sentence: "I've always found it odd that I can recall incidents from my boyhood with clarity and precision, and yet events that happened yesterday are blurred, and I have no confidence in my ability to remember them accurately at all."
This was a tale of Schizophrenia cleverly told in the voice of the schizophrenic himself. It started innocently enough until Spider, who, as a thirteen year old boy, started to lose the fine line between reality and madness. In doing so, he also dragged this...more
This was a tale of Schizophrenia cleverly told in the voice of the schizophrenic himself. It started innocently enough until Spider, who, as a thirteen year old boy, started to lose the fine line between reality and madness. In doing so, he also dragged this...more
Dec 28, 2011
Kelanth, numquam risit ubi dracones vivunt
rated it
1 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
narrativa
Lento, lento, lento. Scopo dell’autore credo che sia quello di coinvolgere il lettore in una spirale di paranoie, incubi e allucinazioni per portarlo da un inizio dove tutto sembra essere normale, a un finale dove tutto è allucinazione e schizofrenia. Solo che secondo il mio modesto parere, non solo non riesce nell’intento ma porta a una noia che solo le poche pagine del libro non convince il lettore ad abbandonare la lettura. Si va avanti navigando in mezzo agli incubi del protagonista, scenden...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
This story is told from the mind of a 30-somthign man, Dennis Clegg, recently returned to London, where he has not been for 20 years. Living in a halfway house, he spends his time alone on walks as well as recounting his childhood which led to him being taken away from London.
This story is beautifully written. You find out very quickly that Dennis is not all there but you cannot bring yourself to hate this character. The narrator brings you into his web of illusion and you come out feeling just...more
This story is beautifully written. You find out very quickly that Dennis is not all there but you cannot bring yourself to hate this character. The narrator brings you into his web of illusion and you come out feeling just...more
Ah!!! Finished today in the park under hot black clouds and suspicious winds like gas, ducks changing shape before they rotted before my eyes. Well, I feel wretched having finished the thing. The thing is, the thing is not there, you cannot put your finger on any thing that is not there but looms dark and loud.. Tricks of light and shandow and shifting as the narrator rots before your eyes and ears, and his guts strapped to his spine so as to clear a dark space hollow and full of sinister plumbi...more
There's a list around here called something like the book's better than the movie, but that's not true in this case. Excellent book and Cronenberg did a terrific film version as well.
My first McGrath - I have since read all the rest. This as with all the others is dark, delving into the disturbed corners of the mind and beautifully written.
Another of McGrath's dark works. The mind of the protagonist is like stepping into a Dali work. Well done but you may want to slit your wrists when your done reading.
made this into a movie with ralph finnes. Never saw it, but this gothic beauty of a book was completely satisfying. Dark, disturbing and psychologically twisted.
have read the book and watched the film and really enjoyed them both a clever way of showing delusion and the sanctuary our minds offer from our crimes.
I hated this book. I wish I could give it 1/2 a star. I quit half way through...I couldn't read any more. No matter if I read just one page or even a paragraph...when I put this book down I felt nothing but gloom. I tried to finish it to see where the story was going but I couldn't get past the awful feel the book gave out. Maybe that is what it was going for...if so...it's not something I want to read. Ever. Ick. Half the time I couldn't tell if what I was reading was in the present or the past...more
A young man figuring on his mother's death in the midst of madness, obsession and minute detail. Nothing here for me.
Excellent. A phenomenal tour de force in terms of what the experience of being a paranoid schizophrenic must be like.
Dec 14, 2010
Paola
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
narrativa,
imprescindibili
In assoluto per me il migliore di McGrath, la tela del ragno ti tiene prigioniero dall'inizio alla fine...
Best book I've read this year. May be a bit dark for some, but BEAUTIFULLY written.
A disturbing look into psychosis; a quick but haunting read. Thoroughly enjoyed.
Patrick McGrath slowly lures you into the catacombs of lunatic but lucid mind of Spider.
Possibly one of the best books I ever decided to read.
Amazing book, don't bother with the movie though...
Set in a London halfway house in 1957, this book is the journal of an obviously disturbed man who calls himself "Spider." A mix of observation, memories, and consistent ambiguities, it's an intriguing and absolutely disturbing account of a life led haunted by one's self.
I had seen David Cronenberg's film adaptation a long time ago, but it didn't compare to reading it, poring through the oddball sentence structure and trying to get to the truth, which is nearly impossible in a book that is the j...more
I had seen David Cronenberg's film adaptation a long time ago, but it didn't compare to reading it, poring through the oddball sentence structure and trying to get to the truth, which is nearly impossible in a book that is the j...more
Creepy and dark...I thought is was interesting.
signed & inscribed by author
My first McGrath. Set me on a tear.
Love it! What is real?
There are no discussion topics on this book yet.
Be the first to start one »
Patrick McGrath was born on 7th February, 1950 in London and grew up near Broadmoor Hospital where his father was Medical Superintendent. He was educated at Stonyhurst College. He is a British novelist whose work has been categorized as gothic fiction. He is married to actress Maria Aitken and lives in New York City.
More about Patrick McGrath...
Share This Book
No trivia or quizzes yet. Add some now »
“All was strange in a fog, buildings grew vague, human beings groped and became lost, the landmarks, the compass points, by which they navigated melted into nothingness and the world was transfigured into a country of the blind. But if the sighted became blind, then the blind - and for some odd reason I have always regarded myself as one of the blind - the blind became sighted, and I remember felling at home in the fog, happily at ease in the murk and gloom that so confused my neighbors.”
—
6 people liked it
“Люблю сырость таких дней, сырость, сумрак и густые серые тучи, потому что лишь в такую погоду чувствую себя в ладу с миром.”
—
2 people liked it
More quotes…
