Goodreads helps you keep track of books you want to read.
Start by marking “A Serpent's Conscience: An Unlikely Biography” as Want to Read:
A Serpent's Conscience: An Unlikely Biography
by
What makes a man risk his life, over and over again, for a few moments of pleasure?
Young Marc lives in an emotionally charged and volatile home environment that sets him on a path to psychological chaos and drug addiction. As a balm for his low self-esteem he develops a need for danger and puts himself in dangerous, sometimes deadly situations. He is just seventeen when he ...more
Young Marc lives in an emotionally charged and volatile home environment that sets him on a path to psychological chaos and drug addiction. As a balm for his low self-esteem he develops a need for danger and puts himself in dangerous, sometimes deadly situations. He is just seventeen when he ...more
Get A Copy
Friend Reviews
To see what your friends thought of this book,
please sign up.
Reader Q&A
To ask other readers questions about
A Serpent's Conscience,
please sign up.
Be the first to ask a question about A Serpent's Conscience
This book is not yet featured on Listopia.
Add this book to your favorite list »
Community Reviews
Showing 1-25
Start your review of A Serpent's Conscience: An Unlikely Biography
A Serpent’s Conscience, Claude Saayman-Raphael’s heartbreaking but fascinating biography, is a hard-hitting and emotional read and illustrates exactly what a life of abuse can lead to. It was a particularly difficult book for me as it somewhat mirrors the abuse I have dealt with for over thirty years and still deal with today. I can relate to many of the happenings having gone through both sexual and emotional/mental abuse and want to thank the author for opening up about his experiences as it m
...more
A Serpents Conscience is the authors first biography. I say first as with how it ends and having seen mention that there is to be another, which will carry on where I assume this one has finished.
From the description, it does give out warnings of the authors childhood being a volatile one, leading him to drug addiction. Whilst I did roughly guess at what was to come, it still makes for a harrowing read as the story deals with different forms of abuse, rape, self harm to name just a few difficult ...more
From the description, it does give out warnings of the authors childhood being a volatile one, leading him to drug addiction. Whilst I did roughly guess at what was to come, it still makes for a harrowing read as the story deals with different forms of abuse, rape, self harm to name just a few difficult ...more
I would be honest to say I am not the right audience for this book as it has abuse in it - physical, sexual, and substance. The blurb should have come with trigger warnings.
The story is the author's biography in a fictional form with the main character called Marc which showed me his life journey. The book evoked my pathos at the way an innocent child had his life turned upside down due to bullying. I could understand his anger and his embarrassments. The author did show the scenes with the rig ...more
The story is the author's biography in a fictional form with the main character called Marc which showed me his life journey. The book evoked my pathos at the way an innocent child had his life turned upside down due to bullying. I could understand his anger and his embarrassments. The author did show the scenes with the rig ...more
A Serpent’s Conscience by Claude Saayman
This look into the life and mind of a complicated man is intriguing while also disturbing. The childhood of the main character was fraught with pain, abandonment, abuse by classmates and adults, a dysfunctional family and situations he was lucky to have survived. I can see why he turned to drugs and alcohol and may not have had the best sense of right and wrong but also kept wondering how he managed to keep getting away with the criminal acts and come up w ...more
This look into the life and mind of a complicated man is intriguing while also disturbing. The childhood of the main character was fraught with pain, abandonment, abuse by classmates and adults, a dysfunctional family and situations he was lucky to have survived. I can see why he turned to drugs and alcohol and may not have had the best sense of right and wrong but also kept wondering how he managed to keep getting away with the criminal acts and come up w ...more
This biography is very unlikely as I've never read such a life story, this is a mariage of 'Catch Me If You Can' mixed with 'The Cather in the Rye' on a whole other level. The main character, Marc, goes through these larger than life events, yet it's the journey of his inner turmoil that is even more intriguing.
It's one of those books that when you're on the last page you really wish it didn't end.
I highly recommend this gem and as this is the first book of the author I'm definitely going to wa ...more
It's one of those books that when you're on the last page you really wish it didn't end.
I highly recommend this gem and as this is the first book of the author I'm definitely going to wa ...more
This book will tug at your heartstrings. It will make you laugh. It will make you cry, and then when you least expect it, punch you in the gut.
It is an intimate look into the mind of a child as he grows to become a sociopath.
This book should be studied, not read.
It is a brilliant well written work.
It is an intimate look into the mind of a child as he grows to become a sociopath.
This book should be studied, not read.
It is a brilliant well written work.
I can’t really look at the cover because I’m terrified of snakes, but this biography sounded intriguing and I decided to look past it. This is a challenging read because of the themes. The author’s childhood was horrific, which led him on the path of drugs. This vividly deals with various forms of abuse, rape, self-harm, and other subjects that may be difficult for others to read. It was necessary for this story to be told, though.
This is a difficult book to review because I can’t say I “enjoyed ...more
This is a difficult book to review because I can’t say I “enjoyed ...more
A Serpent’s Conscience follows Marc Saayman, through his turbulent life as a young child to adult.
When we first meet little Marc his mother and father have a very volatile relationship, at times having to live with his Grandparents, leading to Marc and his brother Clive not having a very stable family life. Because of his experiences and instability in his life as a child this has made him a vunerable young person that people took advantage of and exploited. This in turn shaped his development i ...more
When we first meet little Marc his mother and father have a very volatile relationship, at times having to live with his Grandparents, leading to Marc and his brother Clive not having a very stable family life. Because of his experiences and instability in his life as a child this has made him a vunerable young person that people took advantage of and exploited. This in turn shaped his development i ...more
https://donnasbookblog.wordpress.com/...
A Serpent's Conscience was an unexpected gem of a read for me!
I read the blurb and was intrigued, it is a biography that is emotional and hard-hitting in placed. The book illustrates exactly what a life of abuse can lead to and it was definitely one that made me sit up and read it without putting it down.
The book was addictive and very well written but be warned it is dark in places and the author has done a great job of talking about the subjects – it doe ...more
A Serpent's Conscience was an unexpected gem of a read for me!
I read the blurb and was intrigued, it is a biography that is emotional and hard-hitting in placed. The book illustrates exactly what a life of abuse can lead to and it was definitely one that made me sit up and read it without putting it down.
The book was addictive and very well written but be warned it is dark in places and the author has done a great job of talking about the subjects – it doe ...more
Please see blog for [K]'s review: https://thepturnersbookblog.wordpress...
...more
“Your vivid writing took my imagination to beautiful and scary places”
Only a few books have been able to grab me within the first chapter and this book did that.
Claude has captured a feeling in his writing, a way to see the main character grow and experience his surroundings. There were times I could close my eyes and see the landscape, the murkiness,
feel the warm air blowing over the African planes and also the disgust that I could feel in my stomach when Marc found himself in a desperate situa ...more
Only a few books have been able to grab me within the first chapter and this book did that.
Claude has captured a feeling in his writing, a way to see the main character grow and experience his surroundings. There were times I could close my eyes and see the landscape, the murkiness,
feel the warm air blowing over the African planes and also the disgust that I could feel in my stomach when Marc found himself in a desperate situa ...more
A breathtaking biography that has fascinated me by absolutely everything, starting with its narration style that is simple yet able to engulf the reader completely into the emotional turmoil of the character, and finishing with the topicality of the touched-upon issues: the problems Marc experiences several decades ago - abuse, harrassment, drugs, family relations, peer bulling, etc. - are by no means less burning nowadays.
The book that drags you out of your comfort zone and makes you think!
Defi ...more
The book that drags you out of your comfort zone and makes you think!
Defi ...more
Dec 20, 2019
Margot Duke
marked it as to-read
I have just finished reading the book "A Serpent's Conscience". The story is heart wrenching and you feel all the emotions experienced by the main character. The reader is given an in-depth insight into the cruelty that human beings inflict on both themselves and each other. The writing style is superb and I look forward to reading more works by this author
...more
Wow! I was so impressed by this book. It simply stole my several nights' sleep, as once you are in it, you can't stop reading. And yes, you regret it's already over. Funny enough, "Catch Me if You Can" was exactly the reference I compared "A Serpent's Consience" with. And the style also reminded me of Romain Gary's books too. A super good read! Highly recommended.
...more
From the first page, I was hooked, the way it’s written, you felt as though you were with Marc, like a shadow, you go from feeling sorry for him to absolutely horrified, a brilliant read and look forward to many more of Claude’s books
A fantastic read that takes you to unexpected highs and lows. This emotional rollercoaster lets you live Marcs life with all its unexpected twists and turns. I laughed. I cried. I am this mans biggest fan and admirer.
Dec 20, 2019
K T
added it
First few pages took a bit of time to read but the more I read the more I wanted to read, book was really a good read, and would recommend to anyone that likes a bit of adventure and insight to a young boy and the grown man....
There are no discussion topics on this book yet.
Be the first to start one »
Readers also enjoyed
News & Interviews
If you listen to NPR regularly, you’ve likely heard the voice of Shankar Vedantam, the longtime science correspondent and host of the radio...
5 likes · 0 comments
No trivia or quizzes yet. Add some now »
