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Amazon.co.uk Review
The narrator of the book is a dancer living in Amsterdam. One day he goes out to buy some cigarettes for his girlfriend--also a dancer--and is kidnapped and held for a period of time before being released. Although Thomson's book is not as plot-dependent as a thriller, for example, it would be unfair to give away too much, simply because the force of each development in the book and the response of the reader are part of the strength and psychological sharpness of the novel and its emotional geography, which is comparable to the narrator's own mental map of the city:
"There was a sense in which the city had been trying to tell me something all along. You'll never solve this case. You might as well forget it. But I had not been listening, of course. Look at the map. It's all there, in a way. The whole story".
At a time when so many writers are obsessed with trauma--particularly child-abuse and its psychological legacy--Thomson chooses to explore the concept through an event that is both more and less sensational. The narrator undergoes an ordeal that, given its aura of artifice and ritual, might find its literary parallel in, for example, The Story of O, but the book also distances the reader from the traumatic events by switching from first to third person narration--a simple device that complicates and deepens the effect of the book as a whole. This shift in narrative position suggests both a complex questioning of and reference to certain literary tropes of confinement and abuse as well as directing the reader to reflect on the psychological distancing perhaps necessary to deal with the trauma.
Charting the narrator's attempt to live with the ineradicable legacy of what he has experienced, his revelations are compellingly and acutely delineated: Thomson's strange, disturbing tale asks profound questions about the burden of the past, especially of past events that set one apart from others rather than providing a shared, communal retrospection: how do we relate to others when we have experienced events that defy rationality, explanation or resolution? --Burhan Tufail
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent Novel,
By
This review is from: The Book Of Revelation (Paperback)
"The Book of Revelation" is a curious title for this disturbing and haunting story about the systematic ,trauma-induced destruction of an Amsterdam based male dancer's life. There are no Biblical references in the book so why does Rupert Thomson choose such a blatantly religious title ? I can only presume that the events he depicts and the attitudes and morals of his characters are compatible with the Biblical End Times ; a World Turned Upside Down. Our male dancer endures a cruel and humiliating ordeal after being abducted by three random strangers - through no fault of his own. His total powerlessness and inability to identify , never mind get revenge on his captors leads to a chain of events which destroys the dancer's career, his relationships and ultimately his identity. "The Book of Revelation" is superbly written and Thomson describes the emotional turmoil of the central character perfectly, from the dramatic effect of his ordeal on his sexual behaviour, to his desire for solitude and his disconnection from society. However the main issues which this book tackles are broadly "Apocalyptic" , metaphysical ones. The author's Amsterdam (a symbol of secular Western society) is decadent and its inhabitants and their lives transitory. Love doesn't last, careers come first and families don't exist. The dancer's family in England are introduced briefly as a symbol of the Old Society, that which is being lost. The New Society which brutalises , traumatises and destroys our dancer is one in which traditional sexual roles are reversed, where extreme cruelty and torture is a form of entertainment and where justice is forever elusive. The New Society and its amorality would not be unlike the End Times as portayed in the Bible. Is this the reason for the Biblical title ? However on a more down-to-earth level this is a harrowing account of the insidious effects of mental and physical torture on an individual and it's consequences . How much more terrible it is when the victim is unable to articulate his suffering for fear of disbelief. I certainly would recommend this book. It is hard to put down and very evocative. Now, which Rupert Thomson novel should I read next ?
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent Novel,
By
This review is from: The Book Of Revelation (Paperback)
"The Book of Revelation" is a curious title for this disturbing and haunting story about the systematic ,trauma-induced destruction of an Amsterdam based male dancer's life. There are no Biblical references in the book so why does Rupert Thomson choose such a blatantly religious title ? I can only presume that the events he depicts and the attitudes and morals of his characters are compatible with the Biblical End Times ; a World Turned Upside Down. Our male dancer endures a cruel and humiliating ordeal after being abducted by three random strangers - through no fault of his own. His total powerlessness and inability to identify , never mind get revenge on his captors leads to a chain of events which destroys the dancer's career, relationships and identity. "The Book of Revelation" is superbly written and Thomson describes the emotional turmoil of the central character perfectly, from the dramatic effect of his ordeal on his sexual behaviour, to his desire for solitude and his disconnection from society. However the main issues which this book tackles are broadly "Apocalyptic" , metaphysical ones. The author's Amsterdam (which is a symbol of secular Western society) is decadent and its inhabitants and their lives transitory. Love doesn't last, careers come first and families don't exist. The dancer's family in England are introduced as a symbol of the Old Society, that which is being lost. The New Society which brutalises , traumatises and destroys our dancer is one in which traditional sexual roles are reversed, where extreme cruelty and torture is a form of entertainment and where justice is forever elusive. The New Society and its amorality would not be unlike the End Times as portayed in the Bible. However on another level this is a harrowing account of the insidious effects of mental and physical torture on an individual and the consequences of it. How much more terrible it is when the victim is unable to articulate his suffering for fear of disbelief. I would recommend this book. It is hard to put down and very evocative. Now, which Rupert Thomson novel should I read now ?
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
On the Rack,
By A Customer
This review is from: The Book of Revelation (Hardcover)
This is an excellent novel and I hope the publishers sent it in as one of their Booker submissions. It is a story about control, sexual perversion and identity, though not necessarily in that order. It starts in the first person with the narrator briefly explaining that he never wanted to tell his story, then it changes to the third person with a Collector -type scenario with a difference. Terence Stamp's role has been taken by three women in hoods, and the object of their interest is a beautiful male dancer. In fact, come to think of it, in an ironic reversal of things, this is a role Terence Stamp could have played when he was young and beautiful. Anyway, they bundle him off to their place and put the main part of their plan into action. I won't go into details but simply say that men with a fragile disposition, or those whose dreams can be particularly vivid, should probably skip certain pages about a third of the way through. (Incidentally, with this novel and Eyes Wide Shut, I ask myself, are we in an age of masks and fantasies or what?) The novel reverts to the first person for the account of the narrator's attempts to come to terms with what happened and, right at the end, why details of the kidnapping and subsequent events have had to be dragged out of him. The book is full of atmosphere and striking unpretentious symbolism. Everything, at least to this reader, rang true, from the reflections of a man all at sea, to the smell of the night air coming in through a skylight. All the scenes are as perfectly paced as they need to be to drive the story forward while at the same time never letting up on the suspense. It is gripping, thoughtful and very well written. It will stay with me for a long time.
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