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Acts of Revision
Acts of Revision plunges the reader into the world of Gregory Lynn--a place at once terrifying and irresistible, where fantasy and reality, guilt and innocence blur beyond recognition.
Gregory Lynn is thirty-five years old, a bachelor, and an only child from the age of four-and-a-half. Scarred by childhood trauma, he lives a solitary life, sequestered in his London house, drawing cartoon fantasies to pass the days. In his drawings, he has control; by drawing things, he sometimes makes them happen.
But the world has a way of creeping in. Gregory's mother dies. And he discovers, in a dusty box in the attic, the long-forgotten school reports whose words are the unending refrain of a man sentenced to failure at an early age. "Must work. Little progress. Disappointing."
Gregory Lynn reads, and teachers and subjects, names and places. The history teacher who humiliated him. The geography teacher who threatened to expel him. The gym teacher who called him donkey. And on and on until, as methodically as a professor laying out a lesson plan, Gregory Lynn prepares for the cold-blooded acts of revision that will even the score with those who make him the way he is--seven deadly subjects in all.
Gregory Lynn is thirty-five years old, a bachelor, and an only child from the age of four-and-a-half. Scarred by childhood trauma, he lives a solitary life, sequestered in his London house, drawing cartoon fantasies to pass the days. In his drawings, he has control; by drawing things, he sometimes makes them happen.
But the world has a way of creeping in. Gregory's mother dies. And he discovers, in a dusty box in the attic, the long-forgotten school reports whose words are the unending refrain of a man sentenced to failure at an early age. "Must work. Little progress. Disappointing."
Gregory Lynn reads, and teachers and subjects, names and places. The history teacher who humiliated him. The geography teacher who threatened to expel him. The gym teacher who called him donkey. And on and on until, as methodically as a professor laying out a lesson plan, Gregory Lynn prepares for the cold-blooded acts of revision that will even the score with those who make him the way he is--seven deadly subjects in all.
256 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1996
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87 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
May 2, 2021
Unforgettable.
I bought a copy of this book second hand a couple of years ago and was lax in writing a review straightaway. But something triggered a memory of its climax today, and I felt I had to share my thoughts on this book. A brilliant premise, an apt title, and a storyline that will keep you enthralled and horrified at the same time. And that memorable climax was mind blowing!
I bought a copy of this book second hand a couple of years ago and was lax in writing a review straightaway. But something triggered a memory of its climax today, and I felt I had to share my thoughts on this book. A brilliant premise, an apt title, and a storyline that will keep you enthralled and horrified at the same time. And that memorable climax was mind blowing!
May 19, 2020
The novels narrator and protagonist is Gregory Lynn, a disgruntled, former student of a school from he attended as a child. Always a difficult student, he is expelled for an attack on a teacher, and in the intervening years, between then and the present, his rancor grows. Encompassing each teacher he had, Gregory hatches a plan for revenge. It results in the murder of a teacher.
Reading this now, the portrait that emerges is of a school shooter whose fantasies and obsession overtake him. The supposed slights that he believes each teacher is guilty of don’t necessarily tell the whole story. Gregory has a weird way of seeing things, the world and his interactions within it. He isn’t a character one empathizes with. Finding his old school report cards is enough to set him off on his path of revenge. His plans are cartoon images. All in all he’s one creepy individual.
Reading this now, the portrait that emerges is of a school shooter whose fantasies and obsession overtake him. The supposed slights that he believes each teacher is guilty of don’t necessarily tell the whole story. Gregory has a weird way of seeing things, the world and his interactions within it. He isn’t a character one empathizes with. Finding his old school report cards is enough to set him off on his path of revenge. His plans are cartoon images. All in all he’s one creepy individual.
January 16, 2021
This novel plunges readers into the warped psyche of Gregory Lynn, a 34-year-old London man who has lived his entire life in the house with his mother. After her death, he inventories the house and finds old school reports about himself that prompt him to revisit memories and old teachers.
Gregory is by turns socially awkward, hilariously funny, sharply observant, pathetic, disgusting, heartbreaking, deranged, brilliant, violent. We see the world through his eyes, both as a child and as an adult. As the book takes us deeper into this man, we gradually understand his half-formed logic, a combination of received wisdom and misperceptions based on what he hears from parents, teachers, siblings, and others.
This is not a comfortable read, but it is definitely a fascinating one.
Gregory is by turns socially awkward, hilariously funny, sharply observant, pathetic, disgusting, heartbreaking, deranged, brilliant, violent. We see the world through his eyes, both as a child and as an adult. As the book takes us deeper into this man, we gradually understand his half-formed logic, a combination of received wisdom and misperceptions based on what he hears from parents, teachers, siblings, and others.
This is not a comfortable read, but it is definitely a fascinating one.
November 7, 2018
Really great book. I was deeply involved from page one. First person narrative follows the psychopath Protagonist in preparations for his trial .... to discover what he did and why.
He remains unlikeable, disturbing and yet we the reader want to know what he did and why - to understand - and indeed by the end we do.
He remains unlikeable, disturbing and yet we the reader want to know what he did and why - to understand - and indeed by the end we do.
August 5, 2024
3.5/5⭐️ the book was interesting but i sometimes felt myself being confused or bored and having to reread stuff. the chapters were long but there were breaks in between some the plot. seeing how greg twisted the plot to his ideal outcome was kooky but created a nice depth to his character.
July 27, 2020
This the first book I've read by this author but it won't be the last. I can't believe it's his debut novel. It reminds me of novels by Barbara Vine. Excellent
February 8, 2012
I liked the brutality of the novel and the depravity of the protagonist. The author brings you right into his twisted universe and you are there watching as he dishes out his revenge. The writing is only sub-par and therefore only three star worthy.
August 13, 2009
Some might not like this book but I found it very well done. It's from the eyes of a crazy nut. If you're a teacher, in anyway, you'll hope you were always nice to all your students.
Want to read
August 11, 20111st edition
December 3, 2011
Interesting idea but not quite as good as I expected.
February 26, 2016
Psychopath wreaks vengeance on teachers who wronged him in childhood
May 21, 2012
pretty good but weird
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews