Going Wrong [Paperback]

Ruth Rendell (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1, 1991

The dark, good-looking Guy is from a council flat. Leonora has a mews house in Holland Park, and her mother doesn't care for Guy - or the way he makes his money. His obsession with Leonora increases, even after they have grown apart, until eventually it creates in him a murderous madness.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“Rendell is a master of depicting the long, slow slide into madness, making each tiny step toward the abyss resound with chilling logic.” —Publishers Weekly

 

“In Going Wrong [Rendell] has quite simply transformed the genre of crime writing. She deploys her peerless skills in blending the mundane, commonplace aspects of life with the potent, murky impulses of desire and greed, obsession and fear . . . This is a book that cannot be taken for granted, and no reader should pass it by.” —The Sunday Times

--This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Arrow Books (August 1, 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0099808404
• ISBN-13: 978-0099808404
• Product Dimensions: 4.3 x 6.8 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #226,726 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of Rendell's All-Time Classics, December 30, 2010

By 

Olga Bezhanova (Edwardsville, IL) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Going Wrong (Kindle Edition)

Rendell is one of my favorite authors, and I am overjoyed that Amazon's Kindle store keeps adding more and more of this writer's classic mysteries. GOING WRONG is a powerful suspense novel that narrates a story of a man's obsession with his former girlfriend.

Guy, who made his fortune through all kinds of criminal activities, is obsessed with his childhood girlfriend Leonora. GOING WRONG traces in the most minute and stunningly realistic detail imaginable the progression of a stalker's descent into insanity and the unhealthy dynamic of his relationship with his - I cannot possibly say 'victim' in this case - fully participating enabler. Guy and Leonora haven't been romantically involved for years, yet they continue a decidedly unhealthy relationship that distorts reality for both of them and that can only lead to tragedy.

Rendell knows how to make you see the world through the eyes of a disturbed individual. GOING WRONG continues the great tradition she started in her award-winning A Demon in My View of depicting how unstable the human psyche can be. This is a novel of psychological suspense, not a police procedural. It is very different from Rendell's Inspector Wexford series which in no way detracts from the value of this outstanding novel.

23 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A TWISTED TALE OF OBSESSIVE LOVE..., July 31, 2005

By 

Lawyeraau (Balmoral Castle) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)    (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Going Wrong (Paperback)

British author, Ruth Rendell, is, undoubtedly, the doyenne of psychological suspense, painting subtle portraits of offbeat, quirky characters that are just a tad off the beaten path. Delving into their psyches, she draws the reader into the slightly skewed world that they inhabit. Their world then becomes that of the reader, as the author weaves a tapestry of a world that is just a bit awry, deftly letting the reader know that something is wrong, so very wrong.

The author does no less in this well-written novel, as she leads the reader into the mind and world of Guy Curran, a handsome, young man from the slums who has led a hard scrabble life, elevating himself from the bowels of poverty by dint of his own hard work and acquiring great wealth in the process. Unfortunately for him, that hard work included some less than reputable dealings in the drug trade, which provided the capital for his now legitimate businesses.

For years, Guy has been obsessively in love with Leonora Chisholm, an upper class miss who, after years of being his reluctant childhood sweetheart, has rejected him and all the trappings of wealth and comfort he has to offer her. She prefers to live in genteel poverty with her friends, while acquiring a new boyfriend whom her family and friends like. Guy is convinced some of his past, shady dealings have come to the attention of someone in Leonora's family or inner circle. He believes that that individual has persuaded Leonora to turn away from him.

Now, who would go and do such a thing? Read this well-written book and join Guy in the process of eliminating the likely suspect in this twisted tale of obsessive love.

12 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars My favorite Rendell novel, December 30, 2007

By 

AoMo (NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Going Wrong (Paperback)

Rendell deserves all of the superlatives heaped upon her- I won't go into them here, just read any other review.

I enjoyed Going Wrong book even more than the other Rendell/Vine titles in my library. However, as much as I love delving into the worlds she created, I have to say they always leave me emotionally unsatisfied. One of the best rewards for spending time with good (or great) literature is, in my opinion, that moment of identification, where the author nails and names something that has always existed under the radar of the average person's consciousness, some feeling or experience that is common to the human condition.
For all of Rendell's clinically accurate descriptions of the asocial or otherwise unwell mind, there are no such revelatory moments in any of her works.

Furthermore, empathy seems to lie outside of the emotional spectrum available to most of Rendell's characters and, more importantly, to the narrator/author herself.

There is wit, there is accuracy and there is irony in the way Rendell presents her characters, but there is no warmth or compassion. I think Rendell considers showing the weaknesses and faults in one character (lets say Leonora) tantamount to showing compassion to another (here, Guy). I'd venture to say that the author does not like any of the characters she has created (with the possible exception of C.I. Wexford).

I think in future I'll indulge in Rendell/Vine books only when in the grips of severe misanthropy.