The Spire, published in 1964, is the fifth novel by William Golding, who is best known for his first – Lord of the Flies.
A story that is quite rare; this is clearly not an event, a rushed book – about the obsession of the head priest of the church (Dean Jocelin) to add a monstrously large vent to his church. The builders protest that it will be impossible to build what he wants to be a healthy structure, and other church officials protest that this is a disruptive and distracting use of time and resources that takes away from religious services. But Dean Jocelinus affirms that his inquiry is inspired by God and that this very thing has its drawbacks, which makes believing in him and adheres to him a more wonderful display of faith.
Many new stories are told from inside Dean Jocelin’s mind, and it gradually becomes clear that he is going at least a little (and probably more) crazy, which he is very sincere about, and is trying to overcome a little bit of himself. doubt and guilt.
It also appears that it will do little to build a vent. Despite much distress and questioning, when he sees the architect leaning to draw, he accepts that the architect is then distracted and encouraged to reveal his affair with his young and rustic wife. of the working church. In addition, the complex emotional situation for Dean Jocelin is that he felt that this was the girl he was closest to when he was a small boy, and he gradually developed a sexual attraction to her quite clearly, even while he was trying to fight that interpretation.
Ghosts is a new type that puts you back in the middle of things without any background or introduction, where you will have to gradually piece together who they are and what they are doing from events and dialogues. depicted Which is kind of, at least for me, how it’s handled can be frustrating.
And here it is treated in such a way that I clearly omitted many things, at least judging from what I found when I read about the book later in various authors. Here is a partial list of things that got past me:
* Set in the 14th century.
Today’s “feels” are not early enough at first, but I haven’t been able to gather enough specifics to be able to list them accurately. I would say somewhere between about 600 and 1900, I think.
* Set in England.
From names and such, it would probably have been my first guess. So I wasn’t surprised that I read it later, but it’s not something I’m sure I’d read from a book.
* Although it is not based on well-known historical events, it is vaguely, or at least inspired, near Salisbury Cathedral, where Golding where the construction is going on; as a kind of superstition.
This cannot be imagined, when from another source he says such an open fate and that others have interpreted it in a different way. Of course it disappears from the book, and I just believe in omens, but I didn’t have anything like that.
The novel is slightly interesting as an exploration of the pros and cons of committing so deeply to something that you want to stick with it without any arguments, the opinions of others. When you believe in yourself and your life more than you seem justified, you can achieve great and unexpected potential. But of course there is a fine line between that kind of confidence and reckless irrationality.
Religion has added more doubt to the world about both phenomena than it would otherwise have done, but about the second, suitable class, I dare to say far more.
If one wants to, one can certainly speculate on a lot of the puzzle in this novel. You may see a spire like the tower of Babel, or the phallus, for example. Do not pretend that I am qualified to address such things, as I am much more inclined to look for the value in the substance of the story more simply. I liked some aspects of The Spire in this regard, such as the psychology between some of the characters and between the tortured and struggling Dean Jocelin, but mostly I found it new. slow, lazy reading, and too dark for my tastes.
