Spire [Paperback]

William Golding (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: 1965

The vision that drives Dean Jocelin to construct an immense new spire above his cathedral tests the limits of all who surround him. The foundationless stone pillars shriek and the earth beneath them heaves under the structure's weight as the Dean's will weighs down his collapsing faith. Meanwhile, the towering spire casts a shadow of dread on all those who behold it.

Editorial Reviews

Review

In the 14th century, when men broke their backs and lost their lives toiling with stone to build the great cathedrals, Den Jocelin is visited by an angel who tells him to erect a spire upon a building that has no foundations. Despised as a lunatic and self-deceiver, Jocelin's will forces the spire upwards, course by course, until the pillars begin to sing and the earth to crawl. Golding's exposition of one man's struggle with the noble and ignoble sides of his nature confirmed him in 1964 as a writer of fantastic imaginative power, and the magic of this book is still extraordinarily potent to me today. (Kirkus (UK) ) --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

About the Author

Born in Cornwall, England, William Golding started writing at the age of seven. Though he studied natural sciences at Oxford to please his parents, he also studied English and published his first book, a collection of poems, before finishing college. He served in the Royal Navy during World War II, participating in the Normandy invasion. Golding's other novels include Lord of the Flies, The Inheritors, The Spire, Rites of Passage (Booker Prize), and The Double Tongue.

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Faber Faber Inc (1965)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0571064922
• ISBN-13: 978-0571064922
• Product Dimensions: 7.2 x 4.7 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,701,990 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

32 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An Ode to Obsession, September 16, 2002

By 

Eric Wilson "novelist" (Nashville, TN United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 100 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: The Spire (Paperback)

"The Spire" manages to brush up against the successful elements of Golding's best work. Although it never reaches the heights of the brilliant "The Lord of the Flies," it does paint vivid and fragmented pictures of man come undone.

William Golding, after seeing the horrors of war firsthand, rejected the foundational thought of humanism that "man is basically good." In "The Lord of the Flies," he used concise language and haunting symbolism to validate his thoughts. And, by creating sympathetic characters, he drew us into his viewpoint. Few of his other novels create such sympathy. It is as though he bought into his own philosophy so deeply that he no longer found value in his fellow man. "Pincher Martin" and "Free Fall" left me impressed with his skills, but intellectually unmoved.

In "The Spire," he moves me again. At first, his protagonist--an anti-hero in every sense--is hard to sympathize with in any fashion. The man, Dean Jocelin, is driven to the point of obsession and insanity by his need to serve God, or, ultimately his need to feel worthy in God's sight. He demands obedience and servitude from those around him, driving them to complete his vision of a 400 ft spire above his cathedral. In the process, some will die, others will lose faith, hope, and love. Only as Jocelin comes to terms with his fallibility do we begin to care about the doomed outcome of his dream. Only as he admits his own pride and stubborness do we hope for his absolution, deserved or not.

This book is an ode to all those who become obsessed by religion and love, who strive for something to the point of sacrificing everything of true value along the way. Here, finally, Golding once again finds a way to show the madness of humanity while still proferring a glimmer of hope.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Superior Fiction, January 17, 2006

By 

B. J Robbins (La Quinta, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Spire (Paperback)

Golding constructs a fictional account around a real occurrence, the building of a tall spire at Salisbury Cathedral, near where Golding lived.

It is Golding's "Macbeth", whereas "Flies" may be seen as "Hamlet". Short, impressionistic, unrelenting, "The Spire" is writing at its best. There is a lack of physical description, leaving that to the reader's imagination, but much fine dialogue. This is why I have always thought it would make a sensational film (I have always seen Alec Guiness in the role of Jocelyn).

Characters are well drawn, there are inter and intra personal conflicts between Roger, the Master Builder, and Jocelyn, who thinks he is doing God's work and that Roger's skills are his instrument.

Jocelyn, who rose rapidly to become Dean of the Church, is resented by others who had been there longer. At the end, Roger is a drunken wreck, and Jocelyn finds out the truth about his appointment as Dean. It is a crushing revelation, which finally kills him. On his deathbed, he asks to be helped up so that he can see the Spire, which has finally been completed. It took a terrible toll in human life, but this tribute to God is still standing today and can be seen for miles on the flat Salisbury Plain.

This is a much less symbolic story than "Flies", and a lot less heavy handed, and that is why I feel it is much superior. It is a very human story of hubris, obsession, false hope, and ultimate ruination, and Golding accomplishes all this in a very short book. It is like a long epic poem, and while its writing style may take a little getting used to, it is well worth the effort.

To me, this book is a bona fide classic. Do yourself a favor and read it. You will never forget it.

18 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the finest novels in the English canon., May 31, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Spire (Paperback)

William Golding's reach in this novel is prodigious. Not only does he demonstrate that the one historical constant is human nature, he also manages to flesh out the scope of behaviour admitted in one particlar human being. The novel takes the reader back in time and to an historically, as well as geographically, foreign place. It deals with how human beings cope with pain, loss, ambition, vision and the tenderest of feelings. The novel is a tour de force.