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Title: The Spire by William Golding ISBN: 0-15-602782-8 Publisher: Harvest Books Pub. Date: November, 2002 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $13.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4 (4 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: An Ode to Obsession
Comment: "The Spire" manages to brush up against the successful elements of Golding's best work. Although it never reaches the heights of the brilliant "The Lord of the Flies," it does paint vivid and fragmented pictures of man come undone.
William Golding, after seeing the horrors of war firsthand, rejected the foundational thought of humanism that "man is basically good." In "The Lord of the Flies," he used concise language and haunting symbolism to validate his thoughts. And, by creating sympathetic characters, he drew us into his viewpoint. Few of his other novels create such sympathy. It is as though he bought into his own philosophy so deeply that he no longer found value in his fellow man. "Pincher Martin" and "Free Fall" left me impressed with his skills, but intellectually unmoved.
In "The Spire," he moves me again. At first, his protagonist--an anti-hero in every sense--is hard to sympathize with in any fashion. The man, Dean Jocelin, is driven to the point of obsession and insanity by his need to serve God, or, ultimately his need to feel worthy in God's sight. He demands obedience and servitude from those around him, driving them to complete his vision of a 400 ft spire above his cathedral. In the process, some will die, others will lose faith, hope, and love. Only as Jocelin comes to terms with his fallibility do we begin to care about the doomed outcome of his dream. Only as he admits his own pride and stubborness do we hope for his absolution, deserved or not.
This book is an ode to all those who become obsessed by religion and love, who strive for something to the point of sacrificing everything of true value along the way. Here, finally, Golding once again finds a way to show the madness of humanity while still proferring a glimmer of hope.
Rating: 5
Summary: One of the finest novels in the English canon.
Comment: William Golding's reach in this novel is prodigious. Not only does he demonstrate that the one historical constant is human nature, he also manages to flesh out the scope of behaviour admitted in one particlar human being. The novel takes the reader back in time and to an historically, as well as geographically, foreign place. It deals with how human beings cope with pain, loss, ambition, vision and the tenderest of feelings. The novel is a tour de force.
Rating: 2
Summary: a great disappointment
Comment: I was very disappointed by William Golding's novel The Spire. Golding, whose most famous book is Lord of the Flies, tells in The Spire the story of an Dean Jocelin's obsession to add a 400-foot tall spire to his English Cathedral. All, including the builder, tell Jocelin that this is impossible, as the building lacks adequate foundation. Nonetheless, Jocelin persists, going mad in the process. While much of the writing and language of this book is first-rate, I found it difficult to either pay attention or follow the plot. I found myself rereading many parts of the book with no greater comprehension than the first time through. For me, this was one of those books which I was thankful was short.
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Title: The Inheritors by William Golding ISBN: 0156443791 Publisher: Harvest Books Pub. Date: September, 1963 List Price(USD): $13.00 |
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Title: Darkness Visible by William Golding ISBN: 0374525609 Publisher: Noonday Press Pub. Date: 15 February, 1999 List Price(USD): $21.00 |
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Title: Rites of Passage by William Golding ISBN: 0374526400 Publisher: Farrar Straus & Giroux Pub. Date: December, 1980 List Price(USD): $20.00 |
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Title: Free Fall by William Goldi;Ng, William Golding ISBN: 0156028239 Publisher: Harvest Books Pub. Date: 17 March, 2003 List Price(USD): $13.00 |
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Title: Things You Get for Free by Michael McGirr ISBN: 0802140009 Publisher: Grove Press Pub. Date: March, 2003 List Price(USD): $13.00 |
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