Asylum

Rating:
Summary: Best book I've read in months
Review: Why on earth would a beautiful, intelligent woman -- the wife of a psychiatrist no less -- risk everything for a feral affair with a psychopath? How could Stella's milquetoast husband be so blind to the needs of his passionate wife? Being a psychiatrist himself, why did he just stand by and watch Stella self-destruct?

The author treats each character with a distant sympathy and compassion. He applies to them his insight, understanding and wisdom. And we begin to understand why 'sane' people often act more bizarrely than the psychopath himself. After all, 'sane' is a relative, arbitrary term.

Though big pieces of the puzzle are missing or merely touched upon, slowly, slowly, Stella's actions begin to almost make sense. Even so, though you know nothing short of a nuclear attack could stop her, you think, No, you fool!, as Stella marches with fiery fervor straight to her doom.

There's lots of foreshadowing and metaphor that weave the story into a whole. The writing is fantastic: I found myself reading phrases and sentences over and over again. The style reminds me of film noire. The psychiatrist whose patient Stella was is the not-quite-unbiased narrator.

The first half and end of the book are suspenseful; you can't wait to see how it'll turn out. The middle third or so drags in places, but never for too long.

Some may be bored by the landscape of the mind that dominates the story. But if you're excited at the prospect of digging into minds of those who are dangerously unbalanced by overwhelming passion -- obsession beyond obsession -- this book is for you.

Again, Mr. McGrath's writing alone makes this book worthwhile. He totally drew me in.

Rating:
Summary: The Story of Stella & Edgar
Review: This book is the perception of the doctor who is treating Stella & Edgar. Stella develops a obsessive love for Edgar who is in the asylum for brutally murdering his wife. Stella blindly gives up everything and everyone for him even when Edgar is abusing her. A very disturbing story depicting why some women stay with abusive partners. It is very well written.

Rating:
Summary: A beautiful and disturbing book.
Review: When you start reading you feel detached from the story, as it is told by a professional psychiatrist, but as the story progresses you might start feeling that some of the characters, and maybe you yourself are being manipulated.
Is the manipulation real, was it intended? I still wonder after finishing the book.
This is part of the beauty of it since I don't think anyone can tell for sure.
Read the book and decide for yourself.

Rating:
Summary: hallucinatory descent into hopelessness and despair
Review: patrick mcgrath is not a writer of 'horror' in the supernatural sense, but in the psychological sense-he wants us to feel real discomfort about our own lives and the motives behind our actions when we read his work. he succeeds, and how. after more or less drenching myself in "spider" and reading it nearly cover to cover, i'm convinced that mcgrath is a writer of the profoundly pessimistic persuasion, with the poetic credentials and talent to back it up. the quite insane young man who narrates the novel recounts his horrific life with an alcoholic, abusive father and a sweet mother, the only woman who really loves or cares about him. and she is murdered.

one doesn't get the feeling that spider is schizophrenic in an organic or chemical sense, but is a young man who has been so severely battered by life that he has nothing other to do than to withdraw into the delusions and hallucinations that mcgrath weaves into the novel flawlessly. although the style is a bit perplexing at times, it never gets so self indulgent as to be completely confusing or impenetrable. mcgrath takes his cue from beckett and describes everything seedy in spider's observation of the miserable lives around him in disgusting, minute detail. his father's affair with a cold barfly is obsessively focused on throughout the narrative, and the sexual scenes between them in the novel are pathetic and revolting. mcgrath is obviously trying to say something cynical about non platonic relationships between men and women, just as he seems to be commenting on the profoundly evil and brutal nature of existence as a whole by forcing us to experience madness in all of its horror and despair.

the ending is a jolt, but is not what makes the novel. for anyone who enjoys literature of dementia and insanity, mcgrath is a must read.

Rating:
Summary: Anatomy of Obsession
Review: This is a story told from the outside: an observing psychiatrist narrates a colleague's wife's adulterous infatuation with a criminally insane inmate named Edgar Stark on the grounds of a forensic asylum. Edgar Stark, a brilliant and murderous sculptor, seduces Stella Raphael and manipulates her into unwittingly assisting his escape. Unfortunately, his departure does nothing to sever the ties of her sexual attraction to him, nor does it enlighten her to the dangers of associating with such a man. When a liaison of Stark's tells Stella that Edgar is waiting for her in London, she abandons her ten year-old son and husband, Max and runs away to meet him.

Unfortunately, Edgar Stark's madness consumes him until he is suspicious of all those who surround him. This includes Stella. Left no option, she flees with his friend and abettor Nick, to his nearby flat. However, this is only temporary, Stella tells herself, for she will return to her lover when his temper has subdued and he no longer threatens to murder her. She will help him get well. True to her word, she returns to Edgar's flat only to find police investigators waiting there. Thus, she is returned to her waiting husband.

Unfortunately though, her psychiatrist-husband is unable to remain objective and analytical in the case of his wife. He regards her with bitterness and contempt, blaming her for his dismissal at the hospital and other misfortunes. A move to Wales only worsens the situation as Stella becomes more isolated and depressed, fantasizing about her lover. In the end, Peter Cleb, the aloof yet ever-observant narrator tries to intervene. However, the cyclone of seduction and deception is whirling at full-speed and all those involved are swept away...

This acclaimed novel by Patrick McGrath frustrates me and here's why: the first half of the book is unconvincing enough to detract from the four-star rating which I feel the second half of the book utterly deserves. There just was not enough passion for me. The love affair was told in a completely emotionless way. You could not feel anything which justified the compelling attraction of the affair. I really could not understand Stella's obsession or Stark's madness. There was not enough suspense or terror for me. I guess I was hoping for more of a thriller than an analytical novel. The scenery is quite delicious and romantic though, and McGrath's description of the hospital grounds is marvelous.

The second half of this book was, as I said, brilliant. Although it was quite a bit of analytical study rather than thriller, it was both intriguing and intense to watch Stella and Max alienate each other in their marriage, and the great tragedy that needlessly occurs. I won't spoil the ending but there were many twists along the way, including but not limited to, Peter Cleb's own eerie quality.

Patrick McGrath is a good writer but it is hard to fit him into a specific category.

Rating:
Summary: Throw caution to the wind & just enjoy the ride!
Review: An excellent story! Stella finds herself married to the rather dull forensic psychiatrist Max Raphael; they have a child named Charlie. Life is good yet predictable. They move into a house on the grounds of the asylum where Max works. Stella always feels like a woman playing the role of staff wife and mother. It's a skin that never seems to fit (very similar to Nora in Isben's "A Doll House"). When she lays eyes on Edgar Stark she is at once completely lost and found. Edgar is the forbidden fruit, a dark dangerous and sexy patient in residence. He awakens a hunger so forceful Stella could not - would not ignore. The reckless decisions she makes slowly destroys the prison that was her life leaving her no choice but to continue moving ahead. Away from Max who treats her like a fragile lady; towards Edgar who treats her like a woman and makes her feel alive! Although they all meet a rather tragic end, what a ride!

Rating:
Summary: A melodramatic tale of sexual obsession and madness.
Review: "Asylum," by Patrick McGrath, is the tragic story of Stella Raphael, the wife of a psychiatrist, Max, who works in a rural mental hospital outside of London. Stella feels stultified by her dull and routinized existence. Her marriage to Max has long ago withered and died and she is emotionally distant from her ten-year-old son, Charlie.

Stella's sexual "awakening" (with a nod to Kate Chopin) occurs when she embarks on a tempestuous affair with a mental patient, Edgar Stark, who had previously murdered and mutilated his wife in a paranoid and jealous rage. This torrid affair endangers not only Stella's family life and her position in society, but her sanity, as well.

McGrath explores some of the same ground that Kate Chopin did in the aforementioned "The Awakening". What happens to a woman who feels like an ornament, and for whom taking care of household, husband and family isn't quite enough? Like the heroine of "The Awakening," Stella starts to inhabit a fantasy world and she becomes delusional in her thinking. Her deterioration ultimately has disastrous consequences for herself and for her family.

Another theme of "Asylum" is the shortcomings of psychiatry. The psychiatrists in this novel, including Max, Peter (his colleague and the narrator of the novel), and Jack, the superintendent of the asylum, all come across as clueless bureaucrats who are incapable of curing anyone. Furthermore, McGrath depicts all the men in this novel as insensitive clods who try to exploit Stella for their own gratification.

"Asylum" is not an easy book to read. Stella's behavior is extremely off-putting, and it is hard to sympathize with her. However, "Asylum" does hold the reader's interest, in spite of its shortcomings. McGrath is extremely skilled at vividly describing Sheila's psyche, which is a frightening emotional roller coaster without any brakes. "Asylum" is extremely depressing, but it does plumb the darker side of human nature very effectively.

Rating:
Summary: The Other Side of Hart
Review: Certainly this is a chilling read, one that cannot be put down. McGrath is an excellent stylist and a master of plot structure. He seems to be saying that true love is obsession and obsession destroys, ultimately. This book compares favorably to another of my favorites, DAMAGE by Josephine Hart. She does it with a terse, minimalism--you will finish it in one sitting; he does it with lushness and a "peculiar" point of view narrator--you will savor the virtuosity of his prose. But don't be fooled. They are both intelligent and stark, both beautifully frightening.

Rating:
Summary: Interesting, but soulless
Review: If ever there were a sterling example of why NOT to pay attention to the critics' blurbs on book-jackets, "Asylum" might well be it. The lavish praise heaped on this squalid little book seemed to come out of left field entirely. This book was unsatisfying on many levels. Not the least of these was the lack of any sympathetic characters, or even any characters I could like the littlest bit. This story of madness and despair amongst despicable people takes place in the 50s in England, in a remote insane asylum. The main characters are the wife of a prissy psychiatrist who works at the Asylum and the insane man she falls madly in love with. This is the least-convincing tale of love I have ever read, though it is a decent portrait of someone in the grips of unreasoning obsession and alcoholism. Yes, one of the main characters in this book is gin, which is gulped down by the tumblerful at every opportunity. At least this is a rather recognizable and well-understood motivation, even if the point is belabored after a while. The woman has no thought for her child, with disastrous results. The entire book is told from the perspective of an outside person, another doctor at the hospital who becomes fixated on the ex-wife of his colleague eventually as well. I suppose I had a hard time getting behind all these obsessions because none of these people were even remotely likeable to me, so I couldn't get behind the feelings any of them supposedly had for one another. For a book that was supposed to be about rich and destructive emotions, it felt cold and emotionless to me. One thing I'll give Patrick McGrath is his power of description - when the family relocates to the west, out to the moors, the landscape is painted very vividly and well. Of course, it is painted as a horrid, barren, rainy, cold mess, but convincingly so! Basically, this book left me as cold as a consumptive waif in an ill-fitting coat left to her own devices out on the desolate moors.

Rating:
Summary: Nice Building of Tension to a Slow Release
Review: Patrick McGrath's Asylum is certainly a well written book that builds a chilling story of obession. Stella Raphael, the main character, is slowly entwined into the web of Edgar Stark, a patient at the asylum where her husband works. The reader will watch (read) in horror as this relationship sends all of the characters spiraling downwards. It is wonderfully Gothic with a very contemporary feel for the characters. All of this delicious tension build and grows with restrained ferocity during the novel and this reader found the ending of little release for all that came before it. Still, an interesting and excitingly depressing read.