The Grotesque [Mass Market Paperback]

Patrick McGrath (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 13, 1990

This exuberantly spooky novel, in which horror, repressed eroticism, and sulfurous social comedy intertwine like the vines in an overgrown English garden, is now a major motion picture, starring Alan Bates, Sting, and Theresa Russell.


From the Trade Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Witty, weird and highly enjoyable, this gothic British tale is aptly titled. The set-up is macabre: a distinguished paleontologist is brain-damaged and slowly turning into a vegetable. He cannot speak, but narrates an interior monologue of all he sees and hears: a lot of sexual shenanigans and a particularly grisly murder, all centered around "Fledge," the butler, who has ambitions. The stylistic joke is that all these horrors take place in a quaint, genteel English country setting, where the village is "Pock-on-the-Fling," the pub, "The Hodge and Purlet" and the barrister, "Sir Fleckley Tome." However deadly the deed, the language is always decorous and impeccably mannered. The result is strangely hilarious--as if a Stephen King story were being told in the manner of a latter-day Anthony Trollope.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Scientific American

Magnificently grim ... [McGrath] serves up this cold slice of modern Gothic with the deranged relish of a Poe but also the acrid irony of a Waugh. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback
• Publisher: Ballantine Books (November 13, 1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0345364074
• ISBN-13: 978-0345364074
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,448,257 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars an early McGrath work lacking intensity, May 15, 2000

By 

lazza (Fort Lauderdale, Florida) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Grotesque (Paperback)

McGrath's popular works (Spider, Asylum, Dr. Haggard's Disease) are known for being compact, psychological dramas with a paranormal twist. These novels exhibit not only intriguing stories but also show the effectiveness of writing in the first person. The Grotesque is McGrath's first novel. Although it shows the promise of his capabilities as an author, the book does not compare to his later works.

The Grotesque is a relatively light-hearted "gothic comedy". It contains the requisite spooky house, sinister butler, a murder, and some strange happenings. But it is all rather tongue-in-cheek. This comedy aspect disarms the scary elements, which all seems to trivialize the novel. It comes off as a good made-for-TV movie script, and not a serious novel. In fact the characterizations in The Grotesque are surprisingly weak.

So The Grotesque is a "McGrath-light" sort of novel. I recommend seeing the film version of it, which is probably available on video, and invest your time on his other novels.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Butler Did It---Or Did He?, May 5, 2001

By 

Ms. Nancy F. Jones (Milwaukee, WI USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Grotesque (Paperback)

This is McGrath's first book, and it's a good one. A goof on the familiar Gothic novel, it tells the story of the hostile take-over of a creepy old estate by the owner's butler. However, since the narrator is in a state of complete paralysis, and quite possibly insane, his story is suspect. Is the butler really doing the nasty with Sir Hugo's wife? Who murdered the insipid fiance of Sir Hugo's daughter and fed him to the estate's pigs? What REALLY happened in Sir Hugo's barn workshop the day he became paralyzed?

A black comedy of murder and manners, THE GROTESQUE provides us with the requsite gloomy mansion, a dismal swamp, a suspicious servant, bad plumbing, and a possible inspiration for Thomas Harris's HANNIBAL. I recommend it.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Did the butler really do it?, December 22, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Grotesque (Paperback)

Having picked up this book rather randomly, I was pleasantly surprised to find a well written modern gothic tale. Narrated by an aristocrat who is confined to a wheelchair, the reader is never sure if his opinions are the ramblings of a man with an overactive imagination or an accurate account of the hostile takeover of his estate by a devious butler. Sir Hugo's observations and insights are always suspect but very entertaining. A masterpiece of black humor. McGrath is a great storyteller.