Asylum

Rating:
Summary: Tragic Story, Beautiful Writing
Review: "Asylum" was my first Patrick McGrath novel and it's so good it's definitely turned me into a total "McGrath junkie." I fully intend on reading every work of fiction this very talented man has published.

"Asylum" is the story of beautiful but damaged Stella Raphael, a woman who, it would seem, has much to live for. Stella's decisions, however, as well as her solutions to her problems, are far from the best and she caues herself and those around her both tragedy and pain.

This is a book that could have so easily spilled over into melodrama...but it didn't. McGrath's cool, highly-controlled writing keeps this book believable even at its most tragic points.

I think readers should be warned that even though "Asylum" is a masterpiece, it is a bleak, dark and depressing book. The darkness is not only unrelieved, it grows as one reads on to the ultimate, shattering end. Readers who need something lighter or a book with a "feel good" ending should probably choose something else.

While "Asylum" is a deeply psychological novel, it isn't at all claustrophobic. McGrath's choice of an (almost) impartial narrator (and one who isn't quite reliable) keeps us from ever entering Stella's mind or the mind of Edgar Stark, the madman who so cunningly takes advantage of Stella's vulnerability.

McGrath's masterful use of locale only adds to the rich atmosphere of this book. We meet Stella in high summer in the gentle landscape of southern England when she seems to "have it all." Her seedy affair and descent into depression occur in Cockney London (within the sound of Big Ben). A tragic turing point occurs on the desolate Welsh moors and the book concludes back where it began just as the chestnut trees are beginning to blossom, bringing everything full circle.

I really can't praise this book highly enough. If you like dark, melancholy, tragic novels, psychological studies (without all the psychological jargon) and wonderful, controlled writing, you will probably love "Asylum" just as much as I did.

Rating:
Summary: Tragic Story, Beautiful Writing
Review: "Asylum" was my first Patrick McGrath novel and it's so good it's definitely turned me into a total "McGrath junkie." I fully intend on reading every work of fiction this very talented man has published.

"Asylum" is the story of beautiful but damaged Stella Raphael, a woman who, it would seem, has much to live for. Stella's decisions, however, as well as her solutions to her problems, are far from the best and she caues herself and those around her both tragedy and pain.

This is a book that could have so easily spilled over into melodrama...but it didn't. McGrath's cool, highly-controlled writing keeps this book believable even at its most tragic points.

I think readers should be warned that even though "Asylum" is a masterpiece, it is a bleak, dark and depressing book. The darkness is not only unrelieved, it grows as one reads on to the ultimate, shattering end. Readers who need something lighter or a book with a "feel good" ending should probably choose something else.

While "Asylum" is a deeply psychological novel, it isn't at all claustrophobic. McGrath's choice of an (almost) impartial narrator (and one who isn't quite reliable) keeps us from ever entering Stella's mind or the mind of Edgar Stark, the madman who so cunningly takes advantage of Stella's vulnerability.

McGrath's masterful use of locale only adds to the rich atmosphere of this book. We meet Stella in high summer in the gentle landscape of southern England when she seems to "have it all." Her seedy affair and descent into depression occur in Cockney London (within the sound of Big Ben). A tragic turing point occurs on the desolate Welsh moors and the book concludes back where it began just as the chestnut trees are beginning to blossom, bringing everything full circle.

I really can't praise this book highly enough. If you like dark, melancholy, tragic novels, psychological studies (without all the psychological jargon) and wonderful, controlled writing, you will probably love "Asylum" just as much as I did.

Rating:
Summary: A Hellish Marriage is the Real Asylum
Review: A psychiatrist narrator recounts how his "friends" (we begin to wonder the narrator's true motives as the novel moves along), fellow psychiatrist Max and Max's wife Stella, suffer a failed marriage. Max is effete, inept, egotistical, completely lacking in passion and intimacy. His whole life is defined by his work at an asylum for criminal patients. Stella's marriage to Max in a way is the real asylum. Tormented by passions and lusts, Stella begins a completely irrational affair with one of the patients, thus beginning a whole new kind of torture. This is a novel of extremes--extreme loneliness, extreme passion, extreme repression, extreme self-abandonment. Humans were not designed for healthy relationships, the narrator seems to be saying, and thus are doomed to a life of imprisonment whether it be that of the frosty cell of a passionless marriage or the mercurial tumult of illicit sexual passion. McGrath has created an assured, suspensful novel wrought with psychological complexity and universal themes, which makes it one of the best novels in the last ten years or so. If you enjoy this novel, I hope you will try James Lasdun's The Horned Man, another great novel about repression told by a dubious narrator, and a perfect complement to Asylum.

Rating:
Summary: It's all about Stella
Review: As a gothic horror story, "Asylum" succeeds on the level of its atmospheric intensity. However, the brooding sense of foreboding that just builds and builds doesn't quite lead anywhere. In the absence of any discernable climax to the plot, the reader experiences none of the cathartic release he expects from the denouement in a novel of this genre. The subject is clearly Stella, the psychiatrist's (Max's) wife. The other characters are just wallpaper and background noise. Whether intended or not, the author has left me with the impression that her fatal obsession with Edgar, the hospital's murderously dangerous patient, has in fact nothing to do with Edgar. Edgar is simply the catalyst for the release of Stella's pent up frustration and hatred for her dead emotional life with Max. It could well have been anyone else. The disappointment is that Edgar started off as a fascinating Hannibal Lector type character until McGrath lost interest in him midway and decided to write him out of the plot. Well, almost. You keep waiting and waiting for his return but he doesn't quite show up. The use of Peter as first person narrator is, on the other hand, an eerily effective technical devise. You keep guessing at his possible entanglement in the whole sordid business and this works wonders in keeping up the suspense. Whatever the novel's shortcomings, McGrath makes up for the small disappointment of its underwhelming ending with his spellbinding way with words. He is such an accomplished writer I would gladly read anything by him anyday. His prose is smoooth as silk and always magnificently crafted. Not quite the stunner I expected but still, a worthy and enjoyable read.

Rating:
Summary: Subtle, clinical, madness that slowly builds
Review: I like the idea of the gothic thriller: dank, roaming vistas, be they an insane asylum or windswept North Wales landscapes, coupled w/ depressed, furtive movements by the main players. Asylum seemed to hold that promise when I saw it. This is my first McGrath book, but won't be the last. The narrative was taut and controlled, but also interestingly languid, one could sense the mental disintegration and exhaustion on all players as the story wore on and slowly rose to its crescendo. I caught myself thinking of Poe's "the Fall of the House of Usher" a couple times later in the story as the landscapes were described [black pools of water, barren landscapes] and the characters inner turmoil prodded their own heightened sense of self-awareness to come bubbling up. Considering the fact that most of the characters are either psychiatrists, or immediately influenced by them [wives, patients] one can see where they would have the vocabulary and insight to adequately describe their mania. Make no mistake, this is Stella's story. The madman Edgar Stark is along for the ride, but isn't fleshed out to make him a star ala Hannibal [the current read]. I enjoyed this book and would recommend it for those seeking a subtle, sublime entry into this genre.

Rating:
Summary: Psychologically claustrophobic
Review: I picked up this book about a month ago after reading that Stephen King had written the screenplay for the upcoming Jonathan Demme film adaptation (King's first script not based on his own material). I was curious to see what the book was like.

Before I was more than a couple of pages into "Asylum," I had already been grabbed by the magnetic pull of McGrath's darkly elegant narrative style. He's quite talented at setting a gloomy mood, the kind that, if you're a fan of Poe or Lovecraft, you just can't get enough of.

The gloom that hangs over the opening pages just builds and builds as you progress through this book. There's no escape, no asylum from the psychological claustrophobia of the characters' dark minds and ruined hearts. The psychiatrist who narrates the story of Stella and Edgar's destructive love affair gone horribly wrong proves to be much less distanced from all this obsessive madness than he would like to think. I came away from the book feeling that the narrator, in his calm, balanced way of trying to proclaim his sense of reason is probably the most unbalanced of all the unbalanced characters in this book.

This book is very well written and quite perceptive. If it weren't also so damned depressing, I would have given it five stars. Still, I would recommend it to readers who like their fiction dark, brooding and psychologically compelling.

Rating:
Summary: Stunning depiction of the obsession & delusion we call love
Review: Rich in insight and fomenting of anger, this brooding depiction of the lengths to which one might go in a search for meaning through the madness of love is devastating, catastrophic, heartbreaking, and real. In doomed Stella, blind, rigid Max, and helpless little Charlie we see examples of the ravages desire plays amid the torrent of our lives.

A crushing statement about the delusion which hides within us all.

Rating:
Summary: Interesting psychologial study stops short of compelling
Review: The premise of "Asylum" is fascinating, and from the start I expected a great psycho-sexual thriller. But the novel turned out to be surprisingly tame. I kept waiting for something to happen; all the action seemed to take place in slow-motion. The story unfolds at a leisurely pace, and we gradually discover that the real action is taking place in the minds of the characters. Maybe that's what McGrath had in mind. But except for a crucial scene on a school-field trip, the novel never achieves a level of urgency.

Ultimatey we're left with a character study of varying levels of insanity, self-absorption and self-destruction. Each character suffers in his or her own way from some mental impairment or ulterior motive -- no one is completely honest or "normal," which makes for interesting reading. But in the end, I wasn't sure why Stella loved Edgar so, why she was ready to sacrifice everything for him. The author tells us how wild she is for him, rather than showing us (other than her willingness to take extreme risks). The answer seems to lie with Stella herself -- Edgar just happens to be the vessel into which she pours her emotions, frustration and rage (an unfortunate choice, being that he's a psychotic murderer). You get the feeling Stella could have taken a different path, but she would inevitably ended up in the same place sooner or later.

Rating:
Summary: Why is "Asylum" so praised?
Review: This book is dark, but what I like about it is that it doesn't seem to fill any cliche's. I am easily turned off by books like this once they delve into certain, overdone areas. This book is briliantly written and has a tone of stark maturity throughout. It is a joy to read as much as to behold the plot. This is the firt book I have read by McGrath. I will read more. He knows how to reveal human horror and cruelty in a very lucid manner. This book stands out.

Rating:
Summary: Very intelligent gothic
Review: This is the most subtly layered of all of McGrath's books. I like them all -- I love his gothic style and deadpan humor. There is a feminist theme in this one, as the questionable narrator leads us through his vision of an intense (obsessional) love affair -- which also illuminates the complete subjugation of the woman to possession and object...or perhaps that's just how he sees her...