- Paperback: 416 pages
- Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC; UK open market ed edition (5 July 2004)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0747574626
- ISBN-13: 978-0747574620
- Product Dimensions: 17.2 x 11.2 x 2.8 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 481,150 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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More About the Author
Product Description
Sunday Times
‘A stunningly clever thriller’
Review
'A stunningly clever thriller' Sunday Times 'A stunning premise, brilliantly unravelled...it confirms Thomson in the front rank of English authors' Observer 'Wonderful ... The Insult is Thomson's weirdest and most troubling novel to date...he has an extraordinary capacity to construct a parallel universe ... a powerful creative talent' Guardian 'The Insult met every requirement I felt I could possibly have of a novel...breathtakingly clever' The Times
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
if you've read any of his other books you'll know that his style of writting is superb, and as ever he fits a sexual twist into the narrative. an original piece well worth reading.
9 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
For a fascinating gaze at (compulsive) character portrayal you will find 'The Insult' by Rupert Thomson superb. I began the book after I had finished writing an onerous business assignment when I was hungry for indulgent rather than obligatory reading. I finished it within a couple of days, unable to stop reading the last couple of hundred pages into the early hours of the final morning. It is a book written in three or four stages, with a quite different approach to sentence length, style and consciousness at each stage. It is particularly easy to zoom through the first stage (which I presume the author intended for the reader), because the sentences are very short and unfussy in both grammar and vocabulary (rather like the early work of Ian McEwan), and half way through this part I was almost tempted to abandon the book, thinking nothing much was coming. Thank Buddha I didn't. Thomson was simply putting down his first layer and drawing me, the unsuspecting first-time reader of any of his works, across it. Then he took me on quite a ride. This man can craft and tell a story - the latter part of the book contains some of the best, flowing prose and human insights I have ever read. As one commentator (on the inside cover) puts it: "When someone can write as well as Thomson, it makes you wonder why other people bother." Because the book changes so noticeably at certain points, you are tempted to react as if watching a badly edited movie, but it's worth hanging in there. I thought the middle stages of the book, where the blind man partly loses grip on reality, rather caused me to lose grip a bit too (hence the dropped star in my rating), but I do not present this as an injurious criticism of Insult. It's a brilliant book. I'm excited to have discovered Thomson and I'm now off to read more of his work.
15 of 17 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
The plot loosely follows: Martin Blom is shot in a parking lot and wakes up blind. He is diagnosed with Anton's Syndrome, an actual (!) medical condition "caused by damage to the occipital lobe which extends from the primary visual cortex into the visual association cortex".
In other words, Martin believes he can see during the night, and that his doctors have been lying to him about his 'special case'. He escapes the hospital and engages himself on a search for his missing girlfriend, a search that will lead him to confront himself and a secret even more devastating than his own.
In other words, Martin believes he can see during the night, and that his doctors have been lying to him about his 'special case'. He escapes the hospital and engages himself on a search for his missing girlfriend, a search that will lead him to confront himself and a secret even more devastating than his own.
The book is written entirely in the first-person POV. Given that the person narrating the story believes he can see, while the reader knows- possibly- that he can't, lends a sublimely horrific yet sympathetic tone to the protagonist's voice. After all, Martin is the only person in the book we can trust, given that events are related from his hopelessly skewed point of view. Or are they skewed? The beauty of the choice of POV is that the reader has no choice but to fling themselves headfirst into the dream-like tunnel of Martin's delusions (if that is what they are) as he attempts to solve the mystery of his girlfriend's disappearance and of his own affliction.
The descriptive level of the book is surreal and terrifyingly subjective. It makes the reader feel like they are walking in the dark, and one wrong step will send you plunging into the darkness lurking at the edges of the narrative. There are many sub-stories swimming around here, some of which may be true and some not. You get the feeling that they are all, in some way, true- you have to believe Martin, and no matter how hard you try to distance yourself from his version of the 'facts', he still manages to induce both pity and awe as he leads you deeper into his own complex tale of paranoia and conspiracy.
'The Insult' is not a noir. Nor is it mystery, drama, thriller, science-fiction, black humour, or the sort of bizarre amaglamation of sex and circus performers that John Irving is so fond of. It both combines and transcends all of these traits, and ends up becoming, at its core, a conspiracy. It's a conspiracy against the reader's senses, and one that's a pleasure to willingly throw oneself into with cheerful abandon. Once you're in, though, tread carefully- from start to beginning, you'll be flying blind, with only Martin Blom and madman Rupert Thomson as your guide.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
A bullet fired from an unknown gun
In a supermarket car park Martin Blom is shot in a random incident which the police cannot make headway with. It leaves him blind. Or does it? Read more
Published 23 months ago by Eileen Shaw
Someone please re-edit this to be the classic it should be
This should be a great book, a great idea to build on and some very interesting ideas, wrapped up in a strong writing style with some distinctive characters. Read more
Published on 6 Aug 2009 by R. B. Moore
Fantastic
Just recently re-read this book, I hated knowing how it went! I thought it was brilliant, great concept, and I loved the two stories running side by side.
Published on 25 April 2008 by Dr. in to House
Great start - poor finish
Having read the glowing reviews at the head of this section as I had just finished the last page of the novel I wondered whether that person had read the same novel - or had indeed... Read more
Published on 5 Dec 2005 by Mr. Hans Odd
A story wasted
I use the following analogy for this book. Rupert Thomson had a fantastic dream - the story of a blind man that can see (or can he?) and his experiences adapting to his new life. Read more
Published on 22 Sep 2005 by R. Lowther
It's alright but...
I've read the other blinding reviews here and I found this book an easy enough read, probably good for a holiday. Read more
Published on 12 July 2005 by "aidan_l"
Strange and Unusual
I don't think that I have read a more bizarre and weird novel since I first read Ian Banks' "The Wasp Factory" many years ago. Read more
Published on 11 July 2004 by L. Davidson
Well-written - but ponderous
Two separate-but-related tales that never quite gel, an enigmatic middle-european setting, a conspiracy theory about the medical profession, dodgy familial goings-on -... Read more
Published on 23 July 2003 by Bored at Work Scotsman
Intriguing but flawed
Faced with a six hour delay in an airport, I picked this at random off the shop shelf and started reading. Read more
Published on 20 Mar 2003 by R. Gray
Excellent premise
Starts with an excellent premise which opens up a genie out of a bottle. We are drawn into a strange and original world... Read more
Published on 18 Aug 2002 by J. I. De Beresford
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