Spider (novel)
Encyclopedia
Spider is a novel by the British novelist Patrick McGrath, originally published in the United States in 1990. Its eponymous character, birth name Dennis Cleg, is a recent arrival from a lunatic asylum to a halfway house in the East End of London
-- just a few streets away, by strange coincidence, from the very house where he grew up, and the scene of some barely visible but tremendous trauma which peeps out at the reader gradually from the fog of Spider's reminiscences.
As the story opens, Spider has just taken up residence in the halfway house
, under the stern eye of Mrs. Wilkinson, along with a handful of others he calls "dead souls." He takes daily walks to the Thames, following the old canals and towpaths that run along the edge of his memories, under the shadow of the immense oil and gas tanks that dominate the industrial landscape. As he sits on a bench, rolling his own cigarettes, he begins to tell us the tale of his childhood, of his remote, emotionally brutal father and slight, quiet, protective mother. He is, or so he tells us, writing all this down in a notebook which he keeps hidden, variously, under a newspaper drawer-liner, under the damaged linoleum floor of his room, or up the chimney of a disused gas fire.
Like many of McGrath's narrators, Spider is unreliable
, but like those of Edgar Allan Poe
, he lures the reader onward deeper into his mental catacombs with his lyrical prose and extraordinary lucid moments. Spider was adapted as a film
by David Cronenberg
in 2002; the title role was played by Ralph Fiennes
.
East End of London
The East End of London, also known simply as the East End, is the area of London, England, United Kingdom, east of the medieval walled City of London and north of the River Thames. Although not defined by universally accepted formal boundaries, the River Lea can be considered another boundary...
-- just a few streets away, by strange coincidence, from the very house where he grew up, and the scene of some barely visible but tremendous trauma which peeps out at the reader gradually from the fog of Spider's reminiscences.
As the story opens, Spider has just taken up residence in the halfway house
Halfway house
The purpose of a halfway house, also called a recovery house or sober house, is generally to allow people to begin the process of reintegration with society, while still providing monitoring and support; this is generally believed to reduce the risk of recidivism or relapse when compared to a...
, under the stern eye of Mrs. Wilkinson, along with a handful of others he calls "dead souls." He takes daily walks to the Thames, following the old canals and towpaths that run along the edge of his memories, under the shadow of the immense oil and gas tanks that dominate the industrial landscape. As he sits on a bench, rolling his own cigarettes, he begins to tell us the tale of his childhood, of his remote, emotionally brutal father and slight, quiet, protective mother. He is, or so he tells us, writing all this down in a notebook which he keeps hidden, variously, under a newspaper drawer-liner, under the damaged linoleum floor of his room, or up the chimney of a disused gas fire.
Like many of McGrath's narrators, Spider is unreliable
Unreliable narrator
An unreliable narrator is a narrator, whether in literature, film, or theatre, whose credibility has been seriously compromised. The term was coined in 1961 by Wayne C. Booth in The Rhetoric of Fiction. This narrative mode is one that can be developed by an author for a number of reasons, usually...
, but like those of Edgar Allan Poe
Edgar Allan Poe
Edgar Allan Poe was an American author, poet, editor and literary critic, considered part of the American Romantic Movement. Best known for his tales of mystery and the macabre, Poe was one of the earliest American practitioners of the short story and is considered the inventor of the detective...
, he lures the reader onward deeper into his mental catacombs with his lyrical prose and extraordinary lucid moments. Spider was adapted as a film
Spider (film)
Spider is a 2002 Canadian/British drama film produced and directed by David Cronenberg and based on the novel of the same name by Patrick McGrath, who also wrote the screenplay....
by David Cronenberg
David Cronenberg
David Paul Cronenberg, OC, FRSC is a Canadian filmmaker, screenwriter and actor. He is one of the principal originators of what is commonly known as the body horror or venereal horror genre. This style of filmmaking explores people's fears of bodily transformation and infection. In his films, the...
in 2002; the title role was played by Ralph Fiennes
Ralph Fiennes
Ralph Nathaniel Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes is an English actor and film director. He has appeared in such films as The English Patient, In Bruges, The Constant Gardener, Strange Days, The Duchess and Schindler's List....
.