Rating: 
Summary: Harrowing Narrative
Review: Spider is Mcgrath's third novel which recounts the life of a schizophrenic young male named Dennis. Spider is the nickname bestowed on him from Dennis' deceased mother (a woman who the reader learns is the victim of matricide). "Spider" is assorted diary journals recorded by Dennis in a vain effort to sustain his mental state which he fears (justifiably) is rapidly deteriorating. Ultimately, the journal becomes a prolonged confession of sorts, and Dennis' madness causes him to deny his own actions by erringly reconstrucing events and ascribing blame to others, sometimes in fantastical ways.
Mcgrath succeeds in convincing the reader of Dennis' reality, despite its delusional aspects, and the contempt one will naturally harbour towards his father. Mcgrath even instills terror in the reader when he depicts Dennis skuling the streets in an insectile manner, or when he stations himself in a desolate area, paying careful attention to every sound and detail of his surroundings. To reiterate, most of Dennis' insights are fallacious, due to his psychosis. He comes across much like Gardner's portrayal of Grendel. Both Spider and Grendel are intelligent and eloquent, but characters in both novels impetuously deem them as unintelligible and taciturn. Time and again, Spider is impelled by others to own up to his actions. In his condition, however, Spider tends to compartmentalize the real world so that it has little bearing on his own. More insect imagery arises as dennis is described retreating to the recesses he believes exists in the back of his mind, in effect sheltering him from any remonstration by others. This is a vital coping mechanism, especially since Spider's mother was apparently the most important person in his life. Spider shares some parallels with Shelley's "frankenstein" in that he feels emancipated by being so dissimilar in comparison with others, and a perceived "cunning" personality trait.
Spider is a fascinating exploration of altered realities and alienation that arise in psychosis. the interior states of Dennis are very vivid and haunting. Like any compelling remus, the reader must delineate the veracity of events and decide for oneself whether or not Spider is being victimized strictly from within.
Rating: 
Summary: NEVER MIND HIS PARLOUR....
Review: ...take a step into Spider's mind -- and after you do that, you'd better pray that the door didn't slam shut behind you. You're definitely going to want a way out -- this is a pret-ty scary place.Of the three novels and one book of short stories I've read by Patrick McGrath, this, I believe, is his masterpiece. As Spider narrates his story -- in an almost-torrential syntax that in itself reveals a lot about him -- the reader is inexorably drawn further and further into the mind of a man who is slipping away before our eyes. Spider is hanging on to the ledge of reality by his fingernails, while events conspire to take their turn trodding on his fingers. His thoughts and fears are as real to us as if they were our own. His world -- more-or-less present-day London -- seems as alien to us as a Martian landscape. Everyday people, events, objects and places leap out of the mist at him with frightening intensity -- we feel our breath and our pulse quicken repeatedly as he/we attempt to deal with the ever-more threatening reality of daily life in a halfway house, as images and ghosts from the past intermingle with pieces of the present, and it gets harder and harder to tell one from the other. McGrath is, at the core, a master story-teller. His interest in the psychological most likely stems from his father's work at Broadmoor Hospital in England, where he grew up. All of his works share an eye for detail, and the care he takes in doing his homework is very apparent. This book is one of the most compelling, captivating and frightening portraits of madness I have ever read -- and it's thoroughly entertaining as well. It's staggering how much power McGrath has been able to cram into this slim volume -- without crowding out a fine story, told with a uniquely fractured clarity and in an unforgettable tone. The reader is also encouraged to check out a couple of his other fine novels: ASYLUM and THE GROTESQUE. The former is one of the most unusual love stories I've ever run across, and the latter will surprise and reward you with its combination of suspense and wickedly funny humor. I'll take Patrick McGrath, a true modern master of the Gothic style, over any of the mass-producing 'scary novel' writing machines (who are so in vogue) any day. The quality of his work will surely stand the test of time. I would suggest not reading any of these with the light off, but that would be difficult, would it not...
Rating: 
Summary: Mood Vs. Action
Review: A novel of murderously dark mood but little to no action; and by action I do not mean what you'd expect to find between the pages of a David Morrell page-turner. I mean something, anything, happening.
While at times disturbing and skin-crawling, there is little plot to this novel and what little plot there is is too often made questionable by the narrator's mental state. Just when the reader believes they know what's going on, thier preconceptions are tossed out by alternative possibilites, most of which seem to be hallucination. By the end of the novel one doesn't really know what was supposed to be real and what was supposed to be the workings of a sick mind, though we suspect that the majority of the action in the novel was nothing more than imaginary madness.
Now while this can be aggrivating and can make the novel seem unfullfilling, the sheer gloom and harrowing nature of this book make it worth reading. While sometimes rambling, the narrations are often unnerving and McGrath's horrible images stick to the mind like syrup, haunting you well past the time you've finished reading.
I must say I appreciate SPIDER, despite it's flaws in the entertainment department, because it continues to trouble my thoughts though I finished it long ago and have since read other books.
For those of you who enjoyed this, I must suggest the film CLEAN SHAVEN starring Peter Green. It is the most frighteningly realistic look at schizophrenia that cinema has ever produced.
Rating:
Summary: Brooding, atmospheric and very disturbing
Review: By chance, I saw previews to the David Cronenberg film, "Spider," and I was mesmerized by the film clips. When I discovered that the film was based on the book, "Spider," by Patrick McGrath, I decided to read the book while waiting for the release of the film. "Spider" is quite unlike any book I've read before. The narrator is Dennis Cleg, but he uses his childhood nickname Spider. Spider returns to his old neighbourhood after twenty years spent in "Canada," and within a few pages of the novel, it's clear that something is really quite wrong with Spider. Spider has problems with his memory, and he hears voices. He takes up residence in a shabby boarding house, and he spends his days wandering around old haunts--including the canal, local pubs, and his father's old allotment. Memories begin to return, and a partial explanation of Spider's history emerges. Spider tries to piece together the mystery of his past and records his thoughts in a hidden journal "to create some order in the jumble of memories."
Spider records memories of his brutal father, Horace Cleg, his mother, and a prostitute named Hilda Wilkinson. Spider describes his father's hideous temper and the dreadful beatings he endured at his father's hands in the cellar. The beatings led to the creation of a necessary mental escape--a part of the mind that Dennis scuttles to for sanctuary, and it is in this part of his mind, that Dennis Cleg lives safely as Spider. Spider's memories are interlaced with life in the stark boarding house, and here he is haunted by the unexplainable smell of gas, and a constant, growing dread that his "body is being prepared for something ... so as to make room for something else." McGrath's hypnotic prose mesmerized me from page one, and I was fascinated by Spider's horrific journey towards the truth. As Spider's fragile mental state disintegrates, McGrath manages to keep up the pace, and Spider's thoughts are always lucid--just deranged. McGrath shows admirable talent and discipline by sustaining Spider's character through insane inner monologue. McGrath's father was a medical superintendent at Broadmoor hospital, and no doubt this experience gives this novel its authenticity. The novel reminded me very much of some essays I received years ago from a seriously disturbed student. Last month, I read "Grotesque"--also by Patrick McGrath, and Spider is a much superior novel. I recommend it without hesitation, but with the single warning that "Spider" is a chilling read-displacedhuman.
Rating:
Summary: Blowed away
Review: I picked this book up because it was part of a summer reading program and did not know what to expect. Surprise, I could not put it down. Thru books and movies we sometimes see the actions of the criminally insane but this story shows what is going on inside the mind. The thought precedes the deed, and what a tangeled web of thought does this Spider weave. A dark dirty spiral into total distortion.
Rating:
Summary: Brooding, atmospheric and very disturbing
Review: Patrick McGrath's debut novel is in the spotlight once again more than a decade after its original publication, thanks to David Cronenberg's dark and deeply disturbing adaptation of "Spider" in which Ralph Fiennes delivers a finely calibrated tour de force in a virtually non-speaking role that shows us what great acting is all about. Except for its subtle timeline shift, the movie is uncannily faithful to McGrath's novel. I read the book after I watched the movie and scene after scene, it was almost identical, except that Cronenberg decided to leave out the scenes relating to Spider's period of incarceration in a nuthouse. McGrath is a master of the dark, disturbing and macabre. He doesn't mess about and knows how to tell a good story. Brooding and deeply atmospheric, the reader believes what Spider tells him about his childhood, his relationship with his adored mother and hated father, his father's cheap and nasty affair with the neighbourhood barmaid and its fatal consequences. Although a little slow and repetitive when McGrath takes us through Spider's routine as he takes temporary refuge in a half-way house after his release, this is unavoidable and in fact a realistic depiction of the circular illusions in Spider's head. There's a twist - more than a little twist - at the end which isn't just clever but credible. Quite clearly, Spider didn't just turn loony from his father's beatings. There is just a whiff of a hint of the underlying cause in Cronenberg's movie - I won't say what it is - but I think it's a perceptive take on a less than pat ending. Those who discovered McGrath through his later works like "Asylum" will find "Spider" an excellent novel. It deserves the attention it is now getting. Recommended.
Rating:
Summary: Spider weaves creepy tale of darkness
Review: Reading this book, it is easy to see why Cronenberg decided to film it-- it takes place in the macabre world of the mind of a mentally deranged man, a schizophrenic who obsesses over the mysterious death of his mother. Those looking for Stephen King-type thrills should look elsewhere, as this book's chills are much more subtle and realistic. I haven't seen the movie yet, but if any filmmaker could capture the twisted gothic atmosphere of the book, it is Cronenberg.
Rating:
Summary: An amazing peice of literature
Review: Spider, by Patrick McGrath is one of the best books I have ever read. The language is beautifully entwined with horror and physchological maddness. The way McGrath describes things and the way he speaks through Spider's thoughts is truly maddness, and deeply terrifying. My first McGrath book, and I can bet you it won't be the last...
Rating:
Summary: Tread carefully in Spider's world
Review: This is a compelling and disturbing little book that leaves the reader with a truly distorted sense of reality. Spider's world is tormented and confused, a very unpleasant place to be. The narrative shifts between the present and Spider's tortured childhood, but all is not as it appears or is it? Is Spider's reality the one we should ultimately believe? You'll just have to pick this one up and decide for yourself.
Rating:
Summary: Trapped in a Spider web
Review: This is my third Patrick McGrath's novel and my favourite so far. I've read 'Asylum' and 'Dr. Haggard's Disease' . The first is a haunting and dark love story --quite different, and very touching--, the second is interesting, however I don't know what happened, but I couldn't click with the book. But 'Spider' became my favourite, and it is unforgettable to me. It is a story of man, named Dennis 'Spider' Cleg, a man who lives in a kind of halfway house for the mentally ill in London. As he is both protagonist and narrator, we are never sure of what he is talking about. Maybe things happened the way he says, maybe he is alucinating. Who knows? He is a man with mental problems that is followed by the image of his father killing his mother and bringing a whore to substitute for her. And we learn all that happened from Spider's sick mind. Until the surprising end. I highly recommend this novel to readers who like dark thrillers, with psycological undertones. The characters are very well developed. Spider is a human being as any other, we can easily understand what happened to this man that led him to be the way he is.
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