Product Description

On a bright spring day in Amsterdam, a man goes out to buy a packet of cigarettes. He is a dancer - charismatic, talented and physically beautiful. What happens next takes him completely by surprise and marks him for ever. He awakens to find that he has been abducted by three hooded strangers and subsequently imprisoned in a mysterious white room, which will have consequences that are both poignant and highly disturbing.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #245783 in Books
• Published on: 2000-06-05
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 272 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
Rupert Thomson has a reputation as something of a cult novelist: his earlier books have garnered increasing respect and acclaim without ever really propelling him into authorship's Premier League. His previous novel Soft marked an upswing in terms of recognition, and The Book Of Revelation, his sixth, succeeds in augmenting his reputation further, for it is both psychologically and formally daring in a precise and intelligent manner.

The narrator of the book is a dancer living in Amsterdam. One day he goes out to buy some cigarettes for his girlfriend--also a dancer--and is kidnapped and held for a period of time before being released. Although Thomson's book is not as plot-dependent as a thriller, for example, it would be unfair to give away too much, simply because the force of each development in the book and the response of the reader are part of the strength and psychological sharpness of the novel and its emotional geography, which is comparable to the narrator's own mental map of the city:

"There was a sense in which the city had been trying to tell me something all along. You'll never solve this case. You might as well forget it. But I had not been listening, of course. Look at the map. It's all there, in a way. The whole story".

At a time when so many writers are obsessed with trauma--particularly child-abuse and its psychological legacy--Thomson chooses to explore the concept through an event that is both more and less sensational. The narrator undergoes an ordeal that, given its aura of artifice and ritual, might find its literary parallel in, for example, The Story of O, but the book also distances the reader from the traumatic events by switching from first to third person narration--a simple device that complicates and deepens the effect of the book as a whole. This shift in narrative position suggests both a complex questioning of and reference to certain literary tropes of confinement and abuse as well as directing the reader to reflect on the psychological distancing perhaps necessary to deal with the trauma.

Charting the narrator's attempt to live with the ineradicable legacy of what he has experienced, his revelations are compellingly and acutely delineated: Thomson's strange, disturbing tale asks profound questions about the burden of the past, especially of past events that set one apart from others rather than providing a shared, communal retrospection: how do we relate to others when we have experienced events that defy rationality, explanation or resolution? --Burhan Tufail

Review
'An exceptional book It is perfect From beginning to end it is a true chiller' Guardian 'Intellectually intriguing, viscerally gripping and emotionally engaging. The only reason you'll put this book down is to postpone the dreadful moment when you finish it' Independent 'Gripping, original and intricately conceived and written' The Times 'Compelling A truly memorable book, full of insights into sexuality, and the dehumanisation of a man who loses everything through no fault of his own' Marie Claire

About the Author
Rupert Thomson is the author of seven novels. His books have been shortlisted for various awards including the Writer's Guild Fiction Prize for Air and Fire and the Guardian Prize for Fiction. He lives in Barcelona.

Customer Reviews

Excellent Novel
"The Book of Revelation" is a curious title for this disturbing and haunting story about the systematic ,trauma-induced destruction of an Amsterdam based male dancer's life. There are no Biblical references in the book so why does Rupert Thomson choose such a blatantly religious title ? I can only presume that the events he depicts and the attitudes and morals of his characters are compatible with the Biblical End Times ; a World Turned Upside Down.

Our male dancer endures a cruel and humiliating ordeal after being abducted by three random strangers - through no fault of his own. His total powerlessness and inability to identify , never mind get revenge on his captors leads to a chain of events which destroys the dancer's career, his relationships and ultimately his identity.

"The Book of Revelation" is superbly written and Thomson describes the emotional turmoil of the central character perfectly, from the dramatic effect of his ordeal on his sexual behaviour, to his desire for solitude and his disconnection from society.

However the main issues which this book tackles are broadly "Apocalyptic" , metaphysical ones. The author's Amsterdam (a symbol of secular Western society) is decadent and its inhabitants and their lives transitory. Love doesn't last, careers come first and families don't exist. The dancer's family in England are introduced briefly as a symbol of the Old Society, that which is being lost. The New Society which brutalises , traumatises and destroys our dancer is one in which traditional sexual roles are reversed, where extreme cruelty and torture is a form of entertainment and where justice is forever elusive. The New Society and its amorality would not be unlike the End Times as portayed in the Bible. Is this the reason for the Biblical title ?

However on a more down-to-earth level this is a harrowing account of the insidious effects of mental and physical torture on an individual and it's consequences . How much more terrible it is when the victim is unable to articulate his suffering for fear of disbelief.

I certainly would recommend this book. It is hard to put down and very evocative. Now, which Rupert Thomson novel should I read next ?

Brilliant writing, slightly frustrating structure
It's typical of this author to give us a book in two halves. He did it with 'The Insult' too. I found that frustrating because I found the first half incredibly exciting and was shocked to have the story end, only to be replaced with another, albeit connected tale.
This happens in this novel to some extent, and it's once again like having the floor fall from under you. You lose the satisfaction of the ending you're expecting. Is this a bad thing? Maybe, maybe not.
The first part of the book is stunningly well written, I think. Equal to anything Ian McEwan has written, inducing that same quality of dawning realisation that makes your heart beat faster. It's very cinematic, very visual.
The second part of the book is less successful, but after the initial disappointment, you get back into it and become excited again. It's a dangerous trick though.
Overall, I'd say this is his best work so far.

Excellent Novel
"The Book of Revelation" is a curious title for this disturbing and haunting story about the systematic ,trauma-induced destruction of an Amsterdam based male dancer's life. There are no Biblical references in the book so why does Rupert Thomson choose such a blatantly religious title ? I can only presume that the events he depicts and the attitudes and morals of his characters are compatible with the Biblical End Times ; a World Turned Upside Down.
Our male dancer endures a cruel and humiliating ordeal after being abducted by three random strangers - through no fault of his own. His total powerlessness and inability to identify , never mind get revenge on his captors leads to a chain of events which destroys the dancer's career, relationships and identity.

"The Book of Revelation" is superbly written and Thomson describes the emotional turmoil of the central character perfectly, from the dramatic effect of his ordeal on his sexual behaviour, to his desire for solitude and his disconnection from society.

However the main issues which this book tackles are broadly "Apocalyptic" , metaphysical ones. The author's Amsterdam (which is a symbol of secular Western society) is decadent and its inhabitants and their lives transitory. Love doesn't last, careers come first and families don't exist. The dancer's family in England are introduced as a symbol of the Old Society, that which is being lost. The New Society which brutalises , traumatises and destroys our dancer is one in which traditional sexual roles are reversed, where extreme cruelty and torture is a form of entertainment and where justice is forever elusive. The New Society and its amorality would not be unlike the End Times as portayed in the Bible.

However on another level this is a harrowing account of the insidious effects of mental and physical torture on an individual and the consequences of it. How much more terrible it is when the victim is unable to articulate his suffering for fear of disbelief.

I would recommend this book. It is hard to put down and very evocative. Now, which Rupert Thomson novel should I read now ?