The Spire - Kirjakasa

228 pages

English language

Published March 30, 1984 by Harvest Books.

ISBN:: 978-0-15-684741-4
OCLC Number:: 46597384

(1 review)

Told in a stream-of-consciousness narrative, this is a story of obsession. Against the advice of his builder, the Dean of Salisbury Cathedral, slowly dying from tuberculosis, plans the construction of a towering spire atop the cathedral as the culmination of his life’s work but becomes increasingly deranged as the construction faces constant problems due to the sheer grandiosity of the work.

11 editions

Thom reviewed The Spire by William Golding

Review of 'The Spire' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

Unreliable narrator (and Dean of the church) drives all around him to build a spire on the cathedral which has no foundations. As the plot unfolds, we catch glimpses of the actual story, and symbolism gives us clues also. It was easy to get lost in the various threads.

Golding taught within sight of Salisbury Cathedral, which similarly has no foundations but is built on a "raft of stones". The story of its spire, leaning pillars and braces all add to this novel, his fifth. Of all the symbolism I did see, perhaps the most interesting was the conflict between his faith (the vision of the spire and "God will provide") and the secular wisdom of the master builder. Both representatives had their own failings, showing neither to be complete. They also don't complement each other in this case, leading both to ruin.

There is a lot more symbolism, and …

Unreliable narrator (and Dean of the church) drives all around him to build a spire on the cathedral which has no foundations. As the plot unfolds, we catch glimpses of the actual story, and symbolism gives us clues also. It was easy to get lost in the various threads.

Golding taught within sight of Salisbury Cathedral, which similarly has no foundations but is built on a "raft of stones". The story of its spire, leaning pillars and braces all add to this novel, his fifth. Of all the symbolism I did see, perhaps the most interesting was the conflict between his faith (the vision of the spire and "God will provide") and the secular wisdom of the master builder. Both representatives had their own failings, showing neither to be complete. They also don't complement each other in this case, leading both to ruin.

There is a lot more symbolism, and probably much I didn't catch. These various threads and ideas were tangled (partly due to the narrator) and dense, and I did get lost at times. The guidance of a teacher or re-reading this may help. My initial impression is that [b:Lord of the Flies|7624|Lord of the Flies|William Golding|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1327869409s/7624.jpg|2766512] was a better book.