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The Book of Revelation
In an edgy psychological thriller that is as mesmerizing as it is profound, Rupert Thomson fearlessly delves into the darkest realm of the human spirit to reveal the sinister connection between sexuality and power.
Stepping out of his Amsterdam studio one April afternoon to buy cigarettes for his girlfriend, a dashing 29-year old Englishman reflects on their wonderful seven-year relationship, and his stellar career as an internationally acclaimed dancer and choreographer. But the nameless protagonist's destiny takes an unthinkably horrifying turn when a trio of mysterious cloaked and hooded women kidnap him, chain him to the floor of a stark white room to keep as their sexual prisoner, and subjected him to eighteen days of humiliation, mutilation, and rape. Then, after a bizarrely public performance, he is released, only to be held captive in the purgatory of his own guilt and The realization that no one will believe his strange story. Coolly revelatory, meticulously crafted, The Book of Revelation is Rupert Thomson at his imaginative best.
Stepping out of his Amsterdam studio one April afternoon to buy cigarettes for his girlfriend, a dashing 29-year old Englishman reflects on their wonderful seven-year relationship, and his stellar career as an internationally acclaimed dancer and choreographer. But the nameless protagonist's destiny takes an unthinkably horrifying turn when a trio of mysterious cloaked and hooded women kidnap him, chain him to the floor of a stark white room to keep as their sexual prisoner, and subjected him to eighteen days of humiliation, mutilation, and rape. Then, after a bizarrely public performance, he is released, only to be held captive in the purgatory of his own guilt and The realization that no one will believe his strange story. Coolly revelatory, meticulously crafted, The Book of Revelation is Rupert Thomson at his imaginative best.
272 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1999
33 people are currently reading
1156 people want to read
About the author
Rupert Thomson
34 books315 followersRupert Thomson, (born November 5, 1955) is an English writer. He is the author of thirteen critically acclaimed novels and an award-winning memoir. He has lived in many cities around the world, including Athens, Berlin, New York, Sydney, Los Angeles, Amsterdam, and Rome. In 2010, after several years in Barcelona, he moved back to London. He has contributed to the Financial Times, the Guardian, the London Review of Books, Granta, and the Independent.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 113 reviews
September 11, 2015
At first I could barely put down The Book of Revelation, but about halfway through my interest in it has started to wane and essentially diminished as I reached the end. The strong opening and first half are both an asset and a disadvantage - we have to keep reading to know what will happen, but our hopes are ultimately not met and we end up feeling at least slightly disappointed.
The Book of Revelation begins with the first person of an unnamed English ballet dancer, living and working in Amsterdam. He is 29 years old, internationally acclaimed both as a dancer and a choreographer, very in love with Brigitte - his girlfriend and fellow dancer, with whom he has been for seven years. At the time, his life could not be better - until one day everything changes.
Despite disagreeing with Brigitte about smoking, the narrator agrees to go and buy her a pack of cigarettes. As he goes along the streets of Amsterdam, thinking about his next performance, he is accosted by three women - dressed in hoods and cloaks. At first he thinks that they are just going to a costume party, but they reveal that they know him - they have seen him dance and are delighted to finally meet him. Before the narrator can do anything, he feels the prick of a needle and his consciousness evaporates. He wakes up in an unfamiliar white room, lying on his back, his wrists and ankles chained to the floor; suddenly the women are there too, hidden in their cloaks. You belong to us, says one of them. You're ours now.
The first part of the book takes place during the eighteen days that the narrator will spend in captivity - the fact that his captivity will end (and when) is revealed by him at the beginning, which in my opinion was not a good decision; even if we know that the narrator is telling us the story that already happened, I would prefer to not know how it ends before he even began telling it. This does not ruin the story, but I think it removes an element of suspense from which could have enhanced it.
The Book of Revelation makes up for this slight flaw by its main theme - exploration of sexual abuse and male sexuality. The three women kidnap the narrator to keep him as their personal sex slave, and during these eighteen days he will be raped, mutilated and made to perform and participate in bizarre acts. As a dancer, he mastered his own body to perfection, he is disgusted as he sees it betraying him. As he is molested against his will, the same body has an erection as if to spite him; he is disgusted with being physically aroused during his violation. Although the book opens in the first person, this section is narrated in the third - as if to signify the split between the physical and psychological: the narrator's mind observes from the outside as his physical body responds to unwanted stimulation.
To survive his ordeal, the narrator gives each of the women a name and tries to remember the differences between their bodies, wanting to discover any detail which would give him a clue about their identity - but his captivity ends as suddenly as it has begun, and he is free again. Or is he? The second half of the book focuses on the narrator's long walk back to the world - he is unable to communicate the truth of what happened to his friends and girlfriend, who believes that he was with another woman. Not able to tell or explain, the narrator leaves to seek refugee elsewhere - he travels the world but finds that he is unable to settle anywhere and with anyone, and decides to return to Amsterdam to find the women who have done this to him.
The second part of the novel is nowhere near as suspenseful and disturbing as the first one - it's erratic and fragmented, understandably much like the narrator's psyche. However, despite the rush and movement and the smells and sights of all the new venues the narrator travels to, it is poignant and haunting as his obsession with finding the three women strips him of his identity more than anything they could have done. The aftermatch of his rape is worse than the rape itself, since the eighteen days of his captivity are over but the rest of his life is still there.
The Book of Revelation stands out in the sea of novels about abduction and rape as it involves a man being captured, held, tormented and raped by a woman - in the vast majority of cases it's the other way round. John Fowles's famous debut novel and grandfather of all such fiction, The Collector, has the narrator kidnap a young girl whom he admires from a distance, with hope that she will eventually grow to love him. The Silence of the Lambs features a serial killer kidnapping a senator's daughter. Examples can be counted in the hundreds, if not thousands - and the only other example of a book featuring a man being abducted and tormented by a woman is Stephen King's Misery, in which Kathy Bates imprisons her favorite novelist, Paul Sheldon.
Even though I thought that The Book of Revelation meandered in the second section and the end is ultimately unsatisfying, it is still definitely worth reading as a rare take of a male protagonist trying to recover after being raped. The New York Times described it as "An erotic horror story, which is a peculiar way to describe it - would the description be the same if it featured a woman being abducted and held against her will for eighteen days and repeatedly raped by three masked men?
The Book of Revelation begins with the first person of an unnamed English ballet dancer, living and working in Amsterdam. He is 29 years old, internationally acclaimed both as a dancer and a choreographer, very in love with Brigitte - his girlfriend and fellow dancer, with whom he has been for seven years. At the time, his life could not be better - until one day everything changes.
Despite disagreeing with Brigitte about smoking, the narrator agrees to go and buy her a pack of cigarettes. As he goes along the streets of Amsterdam, thinking about his next performance, he is accosted by three women - dressed in hoods and cloaks. At first he thinks that they are just going to a costume party, but they reveal that they know him - they have seen him dance and are delighted to finally meet him. Before the narrator can do anything, he feels the prick of a needle and his consciousness evaporates. He wakes up in an unfamiliar white room, lying on his back, his wrists and ankles chained to the floor; suddenly the women are there too, hidden in their cloaks. You belong to us, says one of them. You're ours now.
The first part of the book takes place during the eighteen days that the narrator will spend in captivity - the fact that his captivity will end (and when) is revealed by him at the beginning, which in my opinion was not a good decision; even if we know that the narrator is telling us the story that already happened, I would prefer to not know how it ends before he even began telling it. This does not ruin the story, but I think it removes an element of suspense from which could have enhanced it.
The Book of Revelation makes up for this slight flaw by its main theme - exploration of sexual abuse and male sexuality. The three women kidnap the narrator to keep him as their personal sex slave, and during these eighteen days he will be raped, mutilated and made to perform and participate in bizarre acts. As a dancer, he mastered his own body to perfection, he is disgusted as he sees it betraying him. As he is molested against his will, the same body has an erection as if to spite him; he is disgusted with being physically aroused during his violation. Although the book opens in the first person, this section is narrated in the third - as if to signify the split between the physical and psychological: the narrator's mind observes from the outside as his physical body responds to unwanted stimulation.
To survive his ordeal, the narrator gives each of the women a name and tries to remember the differences between their bodies, wanting to discover any detail which would give him a clue about their identity - but his captivity ends as suddenly as it has begun, and he is free again. Or is he? The second half of the book focuses on the narrator's long walk back to the world - he is unable to communicate the truth of what happened to his friends and girlfriend, who believes that he was with another woman. Not able to tell or explain, the narrator leaves to seek refugee elsewhere - he travels the world but finds that he is unable to settle anywhere and with anyone, and decides to return to Amsterdam to find the women who have done this to him.
The second part of the novel is nowhere near as suspenseful and disturbing as the first one - it's erratic and fragmented, understandably much like the narrator's psyche. However, despite the rush and movement and the smells and sights of all the new venues the narrator travels to, it is poignant and haunting as his obsession with finding the three women strips him of his identity more than anything they could have done. The aftermatch of his rape is worse than the rape itself, since the eighteen days of his captivity are over but the rest of his life is still there.
The Book of Revelation stands out in the sea of novels about abduction and rape as it involves a man being captured, held, tormented and raped by a woman - in the vast majority of cases it's the other way round. John Fowles's famous debut novel and grandfather of all such fiction, The Collector, has the narrator kidnap a young girl whom he admires from a distance, with hope that she will eventually grow to love him. The Silence of the Lambs features a serial killer kidnapping a senator's daughter. Examples can be counted in the hundreds, if not thousands - and the only other example of a book featuring a man being abducted and tormented by a woman is Stephen King's Misery, in which Kathy Bates imprisons her favorite novelist, Paul Sheldon.
Even though I thought that The Book of Revelation meandered in the second section and the end is ultimately unsatisfying, it is still definitely worth reading as a rare take of a male protagonist trying to recover after being raped. The New York Times described it as "An erotic horror story, which is a peculiar way to describe it - would the description be the same if it featured a woman being abducted and held against her will for eighteen days and repeatedly raped by three masked men?
March 22, 2017
Impressive and rather gripping. Read it in one setting, despite apprehension about potentially gruesome content. (The gory stuff is done with quite early and isn't lingered upon. Some of the front cover designs for this are unfortunate: damn you, publishers' marketing departments.). It has an interesting and provocative structure - and quite a risky one, given that the APPARENT action peaks quite early in the novel. I shall definitely read more by this author.
October 12, 2010
After reading (and hating) The Hunger Games I wondered whether I simply hate all dark and disturbing works of fiction. And then I remembered this book, which I read years ago and loved. It is deeply disturbing, but the author explores the results of extreme physical, mental and emotional violation in a profound way.
August 9, 2024
(I have revised this review to correct errors in selling or expression - March 2024)
Rupert Thomson is an author whose short fiction I have loved and admired but whose novels, despite their literary quality, have failed to engage me yet I will continue to read him. I find it very difficult to rate this novel, if I had read it closer to its date of publication (2000) I might have awarded it four or five stars but reading it now I am giving it my three star rating for books which though I don't care for I cannot condemn.
The novel is a work of two parts - in the first a young man is kidnapped by three women, whose faces he never sees, who, along with occasional invited guests, sexual use and abuse him.
The second part of the novel tells how the young man tries, after being released, tries to find the women who used/abused him which is part of his coming to terms with what happened.
The novel attracted considerable attention when published and was thought 'shocking' and 'challenging', reading a selection of reviews on Goodreads posted in the last three years many reviewers still do so but, maybe I am just so incredibly jaded or simply perverse, nothing in the novel shocked or surprised me.
When this novel was published in 2000 it was at the end of a decade that began with the image of 21 year old Mark Wahlberg in nothing but his Calvin Klein underwear on a giant Billboard in Times Square in New York finally putting the sexualised young male body back into 'cultural' awareness and media discussion (that young male bodies had always been an object of sexual fantasy I have no doubt). Many people found, and maybe still find, this disturbing. There were, and apparently still are, many who have huge problems dealing with men as objects of sexual fantasy in the way women have been, in Western culture, for centuries. Mr. Thomson was the first literary author to tackle the subject of a man being used as a sexual object by women (of course by the 1990's men as sexual objects to other men was, to use a loaded term, 'out'. But that left the male still in the 'driving seat', it was a 'he' who was in charge even if it was a scenario where a man was also the object of lust. To be bluntly vulgar, a man was still the penetrator. So Thomson's book was timely, and challenging, by presenting the male body as the one used and women as the users. But is it now?
The problem I find is that I don't find the premise of the novel shocking or surprising. The internet has transformed our awareness of the myriad niche sexual interests that exist (or are well all going to pretend that 'we' are separate and different from the consumers of porn? Even if you find porn boring, I know I do, are you going to insist it is something you know nothing about?) I can remember back in the early 1990's drifting through the rapidly disappearing detritus of 42nd Street and its environs as the centre of strip shows and pornographic theatres and wandering through emporiums where their were still aisles of video tapes (this was pre DVD - hahaha I wonder how many people have never seen a video or DVD player?!) on more types of sexual activity then I had ever imagined or wanted to imagine. But now-a-days the idea of shopping for porn, never mind for videos, seems so quaint, like a crinoline, as does paying for it - is anyone now unaware at the sheer volume of free images and films on the internet? Now if you feed in the words men, naked, humiliated into your search engine you will be referred to, probably (I haven't bothered to count), hundreds of sites of CFNM films, TV, photographs and a surprisingly large number of sites were you can read stories, many purporting to be true, of men being sexually humiliated and used by women. One of the set pieces of the novel, were the protagonist is forced to lie naked on a table while covered in hors d'oeuvre which his kidnappers and their friends, including men, eat from him as if he is nothing more than a superior chafing dish. In less than twenty years the image of a naked man (or women) as a surface to eat off of has gone from phonographic trope to a reality in high end specialty catering to the commonplace of hen nights and stag nights.
This is not to condone sexualisation or abuse only to acknowledge that our culture has omnivorously adapted itself to the abuse and misuse everyone, despite the prevalence of trigger warnings against any chance of offence or upset. These laundry lists of things potentially shocking or offensive are as much advertisements, as warnings. They sell and are as sought out as the condemnations of Catholic Church were sought as a way to boost sales (many UK publishers, back in the 1950's and 60's loved adding a strap line to their books 'Banned in Ireland' as sure fire way of gaining sales for novels headed for failure).
My real problem with the novel is that as it is told purely via the young man who is kidnapped and used/abused we never really gain any insight into the motivation of the kidnappers, or their circle of acquaintances invited to certain of the more theatrical acts they indulge in. There is no context. Equally the young man's response to what he endures is simplistic and barely examined - it is enough that he is male and perpetrators women - which might have done in 2000 but seems enormously simplistic today. I can't help thinking that Mr. Thompson never got to grip with either his character nor the situation he places him in.
This is even more true after the young man is released and has to return to his life and eventually deal with what has happened. In 2000 the idea of a man being sexually used by women was inconceivable, just like it was inconceivable that a teenage boy could be abused by a teacher, family member, sports coach and not resist. If it happened it meant somehow they wanted it - which was not so far from the cliched thinking about females' who were sexual assaulted or raped. We were all trapped in the delusion that these actions were about sex - thank God we now accept them as about power - and because this novel never manages to place what happens outside of anything but sex, even if tastefully done, it really doesn't have anything to say.
Oddly enough if you were to peruse the various internet porn sites offering the type of fantasy which this novel attempts to deal with in a literary, serious way, you find a great deal more honesty - ugly honesty but it is there - the abuse of power and also a staggering amount of, probably, unacknowledged racism. But it only takes a moment to see that above anything else it involves the use of a beautiful young, poor, foreign and unskilled and maybe not very bright male by others older, richer and probably uglier. It is about power and money not about sex or gender. Getting some young man or woman, because they are desperate and poor without opportunity or alternates, to perform 'willingly' in some sexual tableaux is an obscenity. By removing the motivation the novel never rises above rather tepid titillation.
Rupert Thomson is an author whose short fiction I have loved and admired but whose novels, despite their literary quality, have failed to engage me yet I will continue to read him. I find it very difficult to rate this novel, if I had read it closer to its date of publication (2000) I might have awarded it four or five stars but reading it now I am giving it my three star rating for books which though I don't care for I cannot condemn.
The novel is a work of two parts - in the first a young man is kidnapped by three women, whose faces he never sees, who, along with occasional invited guests, sexual use and abuse him.
The second part of the novel tells how the young man tries, after being released, tries to find the women who used/abused him which is part of his coming to terms with what happened.
The novel attracted considerable attention when published and was thought 'shocking' and 'challenging', reading a selection of reviews on Goodreads posted in the last three years many reviewers still do so but, maybe I am just so incredibly jaded or simply perverse, nothing in the novel shocked or surprised me.
When this novel was published in 2000 it was at the end of a decade that began with the image of 21 year old Mark Wahlberg in nothing but his Calvin Klein underwear on a giant Billboard in Times Square in New York finally putting the sexualised young male body back into 'cultural' awareness and media discussion (that young male bodies had always been an object of sexual fantasy I have no doubt). Many people found, and maybe still find, this disturbing. There were, and apparently still are, many who have huge problems dealing with men as objects of sexual fantasy in the way women have been, in Western culture, for centuries. Mr. Thomson was the first literary author to tackle the subject of a man being used as a sexual object by women (of course by the 1990's men as sexual objects to other men was, to use a loaded term, 'out'. But that left the male still in the 'driving seat', it was a 'he' who was in charge even if it was a scenario where a man was also the object of lust. To be bluntly vulgar, a man was still the penetrator. So Thomson's book was timely, and challenging, by presenting the male body as the one used and women as the users. But is it now?
The problem I find is that I don't find the premise of the novel shocking or surprising. The internet has transformed our awareness of the myriad niche sexual interests that exist (or are well all going to pretend that 'we' are separate and different from the consumers of porn? Even if you find porn boring, I know I do, are you going to insist it is something you know nothing about?) I can remember back in the early 1990's drifting through the rapidly disappearing detritus of 42nd Street and its environs as the centre of strip shows and pornographic theatres and wandering through emporiums where their were still aisles of video tapes (this was pre DVD - hahaha I wonder how many people have never seen a video or DVD player?!) on more types of sexual activity then I had ever imagined or wanted to imagine. But now-a-days the idea of shopping for porn, never mind for videos, seems so quaint, like a crinoline, as does paying for it - is anyone now unaware at the sheer volume of free images and films on the internet? Now if you feed in the words men, naked, humiliated into your search engine you will be referred to, probably (I haven't bothered to count), hundreds of sites of CFNM films, TV, photographs and a surprisingly large number of sites were you can read stories, many purporting to be true, of men being sexually humiliated and used by women. One of the set pieces of the novel, were the protagonist is forced to lie naked on a table while covered in hors d'oeuvre which his kidnappers and their friends, including men, eat from him as if he is nothing more than a superior chafing dish. In less than twenty years the image of a naked man (or women) as a surface to eat off of has gone from phonographic trope to a reality in high end specialty catering to the commonplace of hen nights and stag nights.
This is not to condone sexualisation or abuse only to acknowledge that our culture has omnivorously adapted itself to the abuse and misuse everyone, despite the prevalence of trigger warnings against any chance of offence or upset. These laundry lists of things potentially shocking or offensive are as much advertisements, as warnings. They sell and are as sought out as the condemnations of Catholic Church were sought as a way to boost sales (many UK publishers, back in the 1950's and 60's loved adding a strap line to their books 'Banned in Ireland' as sure fire way of gaining sales for novels headed for failure).
My real problem with the novel is that as it is told purely via the young man who is kidnapped and used/abused we never really gain any insight into the motivation of the kidnappers, or their circle of acquaintances invited to certain of the more theatrical acts they indulge in. There is no context. Equally the young man's response to what he endures is simplistic and barely examined - it is enough that he is male and perpetrators women - which might have done in 2000 but seems enormously simplistic today. I can't help thinking that Mr. Thompson never got to grip with either his character nor the situation he places him in.
This is even more true after the young man is released and has to return to his life and eventually deal with what has happened. In 2000 the idea of a man being sexually used by women was inconceivable, just like it was inconceivable that a teenage boy could be abused by a teacher, family member, sports coach and not resist. If it happened it meant somehow they wanted it - which was not so far from the cliched thinking about females' who were sexual assaulted or raped. We were all trapped in the delusion that these actions were about sex - thank God we now accept them as about power - and because this novel never manages to place what happens outside of anything but sex, even if tastefully done, it really doesn't have anything to say.
Oddly enough if you were to peruse the various internet porn sites offering the type of fantasy which this novel attempts to deal with in a literary, serious way, you find a great deal more honesty - ugly honesty but it is there - the abuse of power and also a staggering amount of, probably, unacknowledged racism. But it only takes a moment to see that above anything else it involves the use of a beautiful young, poor, foreign and unskilled and maybe not very bright male by others older, richer and probably uglier. It is about power and money not about sex or gender. Getting some young man or woman, because they are desperate and poor without opportunity or alternates, to perform 'willingly' in some sexual tableaux is an obscenity. By removing the motivation the novel never rises above rather tepid titillation.
January 14, 2018
V original. As always. Seems to understand the people he describes.
April 13, 2008
I love this book. The morbid detail of the dancer's abduction, his subsequent confusion and reactionary behaviour, right through to a chance of redemption - fascinating.
July 7, 2019
I like Rupert Thompson's books. He deals with subjects or takes viewpoints different from any other writer. This book made me ponder on the impact of a traumatic event in our lives and how that plays out in the subsequent days, months and years. A bit slower in the second half but compelling.
August 1, 2017
This is an unusual and disturbing book, which was refreshing. You didn't know where it was going to go next and that kept me reading.
August 17, 2010
A tough one to review, this. I'm getting sick of saying that the books I read start out good and then run out of steam, that they don't have enough ideas to justify their length, but here I am, about to say it yet again. It's not me, I swear, it really is the books! This one though has a lot more going for it than those three stars might lead you to believe, so please do read on...
The Book of Revelation doesn't start out merely good, I'm happy to be able to say - it starts out very good indeed. I'm not going to give anything at all away, which only makes the Book even tougher to review, but part two of the story - basically the first third of the Book - is both gripping and viscerally affecting: arousing and horrifying in equal measure. Thomson is on top form here, his writing so deft and well-judged that it's almost a relief to experience it, so rarely do you encounter such a pleasing balance of positive characteristics. He combines a great, suspenseful storyline with subtle and original observation, an engaging main character and an exploration of high emotion that never feels like well-trod ground. It's fantastic stuff, and makes me wish once again for those half-star gradations...
Because I can't give this book four stars I'm afraid, I just can't. Part three might well be necessary, but it's also bland, too long, overly familiar and too lacking in substance for a four-star book. Like I said, I'm not going to tell you a thing about it, because I still think you should read this and I don't want to spoil it for you, but it's pretty disappointing after so great a start.
Things pick up again somewhat at the end, and a little of the gut-wrenching emotional force returns, but it's not the same, and on finishing the book I felt ever so slightly betrayed by the experience, despite having enjoyed most of it quite intensely and having been grabbed so tightly by the opening that I could barely put the book down until all of its secrets had been revealed to me. I'll say no more though, because now it's your turn to be hooked and led on a merry dance...
The Book of Revelation doesn't start out merely good, I'm happy to be able to say - it starts out very good indeed. I'm not going to give anything at all away, which only makes the Book even tougher to review, but part two of the story - basically the first third of the Book - is both gripping and viscerally affecting: arousing and horrifying in equal measure. Thomson is on top form here, his writing so deft and well-judged that it's almost a relief to experience it, so rarely do you encounter such a pleasing balance of positive characteristics. He combines a great, suspenseful storyline with subtle and original observation, an engaging main character and an exploration of high emotion that never feels like well-trod ground. It's fantastic stuff, and makes me wish once again for those half-star gradations...
Because I can't give this book four stars I'm afraid, I just can't. Part three might well be necessary, but it's also bland, too long, overly familiar and too lacking in substance for a four-star book. Like I said, I'm not going to tell you a thing about it, because I still think you should read this and I don't want to spoil it for you, but it's pretty disappointing after so great a start.
Things pick up again somewhat at the end, and a little of the gut-wrenching emotional force returns, but it's not the same, and on finishing the book I felt ever so slightly betrayed by the experience, despite having enjoyed most of it quite intensely and having been grabbed so tightly by the opening that I could barely put the book down until all of its secrets had been revealed to me. I'll say no more though, because now it's your turn to be hooked and led on a merry dance...
August 17, 2021
This is another reread of a book I consider to be one of my personal classics.
The story turns the trope of a woman held captive by a man/men, on its head---the main character cannot comprehend what happened to him, even as a dancer who is used to having his body be the possession others prize most. Because he is a man, because his captors were women, he cannot imagine explaining his ordeal to others. The few times he even tries, he is ridiculed and implied to be a liar---or implied to have enjoyed what transpired.
While the possibility of an unreliable narrator is always an issue, it was strange to me that a person who seemed so sympathetic and generally dependable and likable, was immediately assumed by everyone around him to have been 'cheating', and that nobody questioned his mysterious disappearance in any depth. Though this could be classified as a plothole (to facilitate his life falling apart and the subsequent isolation, that turned later into desperation) it didn't detract anything from the novel for me. Rather, the novel read like a nightmare, where everything fits in a certain way, but certain details glaringly do not make sense. No matter----
How would it have been different if the man had been captured by other men? How, if he had been captured by women, but gay? (I found it also interesting, that the author chose specifically a dancer, and seemed to be going out of his way to show that the protagonist was 1. straight 2. successful with women (both before and after his capture). Now, of course, it is not like EVERY professional male dancer is gay---still, it seemed to me an interesting choice. I would have been interested to have talked to the author about it.
A haunting book, just as wonderful on this second reread as it was on the first.
The story turns the trope of a woman held captive by a man/men, on its head---the main character cannot comprehend what happened to him, even as a dancer who is used to having his body be the possession others prize most. Because he is a man, because his captors were women, he cannot imagine explaining his ordeal to others. The few times he even tries, he is ridiculed and implied to be a liar---or implied to have enjoyed what transpired.
While the possibility of an unreliable narrator is always an issue, it was strange to me that a person who seemed so sympathetic and generally dependable and likable, was immediately assumed by everyone around him to have been 'cheating', and that nobody questioned his mysterious disappearance in any depth. Though this could be classified as a plothole (to facilitate his life falling apart and the subsequent isolation, that turned later into desperation) it didn't detract anything from the novel for me. Rather, the novel read like a nightmare, where everything fits in a certain way, but certain details glaringly do not make sense. No matter----
How would it have been different if the man had been captured by other men? How, if he had been captured by women, but gay? (I found it also interesting, that the author chose specifically a dancer, and seemed to be going out of his way to show that the protagonist was 1. straight 2. successful with women (both before and after his capture). Now, of course, it is not like EVERY professional male dancer is gay---still, it seemed to me an interesting choice. I would have been interested to have talked to the author about it.
A haunting book, just as wonderful on this second reread as it was on the first.
July 24, 2018
It's always a thrill to discover a new writer with a substantial back catalogue to explore. Rupert Thomson has been writing for many years, but this is the first book of his I've read. On one level it is a gripping thriller with a mysterious and brutal crime at its heart, at another it's a story about trauma, loss and the unexpected outcomes of a crime on a victim. The Book of Revelation is beautifully written and compulsively readable, gripping and thought-provoking in equal measure. On the basis of reading it, I can't understand why Thomson isn't better known. I look forward to reading more of his books.
March 27, 2019
I actually enjoyed this book which given the subject matter really quite surprised me ..... Its a wonderfully dark idea that is truly beautifully imagined and written.
I was fully engaged with the character and it really makes you question how you would react to the same situation ...... I'm not sure I would do the same things that the main character ends up doing but that's the beauty of this book ..... you just never know!
How far would somebody go once subjected to such a traumatic experience!
I was fully engaged with the character and it really makes you question how you would react to the same situation ...... I'm not sure I would do the same things that the main character ends up doing but that's the beauty of this book ..... you just never know!
How far would somebody go once subjected to such a traumatic experience!
May 24, 2008
this was a like more intense, leaner version of john fowles the magus. i can't recommend this more highly -- rupert thomson's name should be being shouted from the rooftops a hell of a lot louder than some of the other writers who get stupid amounts of praise whilst possessing little talent.
May 29, 2018
Difficult to review in the sense that I found so much of it horrifying, yet it’s beautifully written.
Ultimately I think most will find this a difficult read, emotionally, yet it is that strong element of empathy that is the strength of this novel.
Ultimately I think most will find this a difficult read, emotionally, yet it is that strong element of empathy that is the strength of this novel.
November 18, 2013
I loved this book. The start: the first third of the book was enough to keep you hooked to the end. It is not a spoiler to say the main character - ex-ballet dancer and choreographer is kidnapped and sexually exploited by three unknown women. It reads like a thriller and the kidnap is an allegory for female rape and abuse (by men). It does run out of steam a little bit and would have been better if it was shorter. It is also frustrating, if I tell you why it would be a spoiler. If you want a great beach read, don't take a mainstream Thriller, take this instead, you will not only enjoy it more, you will learn a lot more as well. I cannot think of a book that both me and my partner have both read that has generated so much debate. There is also a clever device when the main character is kidnapped, when the POV shifts from the first person to the third, you will see why that is clever if you read it. A thumpingly good read. Be fantastic for a book group.
June 24, 2016
"Accidental treasure"
This book is an accidental treasure to me. I picked it up at the library by chance, partly turned off and partly enchanted by what was to expect from a book talking about sexual exploitation of a male dancer by three unknown females - surprise, surprise. There were many times I almost put down the book and thought of not continuing when the depression and helplessness portrayed was palpable and suffocating; it took me a long time to finish this book, as I read every line and every word so slowly to savour its emotion and beauty. It's just like life, you won't know what to expect until you immerse yourself and taste its full flavour.
This book is an accidental treasure to me. I picked it up at the library by chance, partly turned off and partly enchanted by what was to expect from a book talking about sexual exploitation of a male dancer by three unknown females - surprise, surprise. There were many times I almost put down the book and thought of not continuing when the depression and helplessness portrayed was palpable and suffocating; it took me a long time to finish this book, as I read every line and every word so slowly to savour its emotion and beauty. It's just like life, you won't know what to expect until you immerse yourself and taste its full flavour.
March 27, 2014
This the second book I've read by this author the first being 'Death of a Murderer', and I have to say I'm somewhat hooked! 'The Book of Revelation has a unique and unpredictable storyline; refreshingly original with an interestingly erotic undertone. Definitely a book for 'grown ups'. I'm ready for another Rupert Thomson masterpiece!
January 17, 2015
I really liked this book. It was thought provoking and well written. I found it difficult to put down, but I was frustrated with the ending. This is not to say that the ending was bad. In fact, my frustration may have stemmed from it being good. It evoked emotion in me, and that's always a positive in my opinion.
February 9, 2019
It was a story of living in secrecy, of an unspeakable traumatic event. A book that catches my heart not by surprising twists; the words have their own voices. Rupert Thomson is cultured and reflexive. The Book of Revelation is a book filled with loneliness and burdens yet in the experience of reading, bringing out so much compassion and presence, from us readers, to ourselves.
November 2, 2018
I felt the narrative trailed off before the halfway point, but the book is beautifully written, one of those rare novels where you really feel every word has been chosen with care.
July 15, 2024
No as strong, believable and compelling as How to make a bomb
May 31, 2015
What a strange little book, this Book of Revelation. It centers around a 29-year-old British male dancer who lives and works in Amsterdam. He and his girlfriend Brigitte, who is also a dancer, live together and work for the same dance company. He's happy. As he steps out to buy cigarettes for his girlfriend - he tells her cigarettes will give her cancer but she doesn't care - he reflects on how perfect his life is at that moment. He knows his career as a dancer is nearing its end, but he has a burgeoning career as a choreographer and he has Brigitte.
On his way to purchase the cigarettes, the man is approached by three women. They begin to praise his dancing. He is gracious. Then he feels something prick his arm and the world goes black. The man wakes up chained in a room. Over the course of the next eighteen days the women force him to have sex with them and to engage in various humiliating situations. They tell him that he is theirs. They mutilate him. Once the women are finished with him, they release him. The man is left confused, embarrassed, ashamed, and humiliated. He returns home.
I am not sure what to think of this book. With such a provocative plot I would expect that the author is trying to say something but I have no idea what that is. I was reading reviews of this book on the web and saw at least one that suggested that at least up until the mutilation scene, the idea of a man getting kidnapped by three women who want to have sex with him is a typical male fantasy but I don't think that is what The Book of Revelation is about. At no point is the man happy with being kidnapped. He doesn't appear to enjoy the sex. Before the kidnapping and during the ordeal a large part of what gets him through it all is thinking about Brigitte with whom he is so in love. Nor does this book appear to be about society's treatment of male victims of sexual abuse because aside from Brigitte, no one gets a chance to react because no one knows what happened to the man. Maybe this book is little bit about how one's life changes after experiencing such an ordeal, but even that's a stretch because the man himself does little to confront his own feelings about his experience.
The most confounding and frustrating thing about the book is the lack of resolve. The book ends rather abruptly and it is entirely unsatisfying. I wanted, if not resolution, some sense of how the man plans to continue on in life. If anything The Book of Revelation is a good conversation starter. It provides no answers but may get you thinking.
On his way to purchase the cigarettes, the man is approached by three women. They begin to praise his dancing. He is gracious. Then he feels something prick his arm and the world goes black. The man wakes up chained in a room. Over the course of the next eighteen days the women force him to have sex with them and to engage in various humiliating situations. They tell him that he is theirs. They mutilate him. Once the women are finished with him, they release him. The man is left confused, embarrassed, ashamed, and humiliated. He returns home.
I am not sure what to think of this book. With such a provocative plot I would expect that the author is trying to say something but I have no idea what that is. I was reading reviews of this book on the web and saw at least one that suggested that at least up until the mutilation scene, the idea of a man getting kidnapped by three women who want to have sex with him is a typical male fantasy but I don't think that is what The Book of Revelation is about. At no point is the man happy with being kidnapped. He doesn't appear to enjoy the sex. Before the kidnapping and during the ordeal a large part of what gets him through it all is thinking about Brigitte with whom he is so in love. Nor does this book appear to be about society's treatment of male victims of sexual abuse because aside from Brigitte, no one gets a chance to react because no one knows what happened to the man. Maybe this book is little bit about how one's life changes after experiencing such an ordeal, but even that's a stretch because the man himself does little to confront his own feelings about his experience.
The most confounding and frustrating thing about the book is the lack of resolve. The book ends rather abruptly and it is entirely unsatisfying. I wanted, if not resolution, some sense of how the man plans to continue on in life. If anything The Book of Revelation is a good conversation starter. It provides no answers but may get you thinking.
April 28, 2014
I found it incredibly easy to read, but not so enjoyable. I felt a bit numb, to be honest, not really engaging with the protagonist at all. Even with all that sex and torture in the first half, the whole thing felt tacky (I really could have done without the strip-tease and all the PVC or leather or whatever it was). Also the fact that you knew from the beginning that he was going to get out somehow created some sort of distance.
I found the second half much more interesting, especially the reaction he gets when he is released and how he doesn't feel he can tell his ordeal to anyone. It’s fascinating to think how different it would have been if the genders were reversed. But society thinks that a man in his situation must have at least enjoyed part of it. However, I have always said that just because a man has an erection, it does not mean that he wants to have sex. Not a thing you see very often in any type of fiction, where men are usually portrayed as ruled by their desires: once your penis gets hard, your brain stops to function. Fuck that. That can never be an excuse for anything.
Anyway, the best bit for me was his quest to find his aggressors and how all the bodies get blurred after a while.
So yes, the whole thing had a lot of potential and I like the underlying themes, but it’s not particularly well written and I am sure I will forget it in 3, 2, 1… The Book of what?
I found the second half much more interesting, especially the reaction he gets when he is released and how he doesn't feel he can tell his ordeal to anyone. It’s fascinating to think how different it would have been if the genders were reversed. But society thinks that a man in his situation must have at least enjoyed part of it. However, I have always said that just because a man has an erection, it does not mean that he wants to have sex. Not a thing you see very often in any type of fiction, where men are usually portrayed as ruled by their desires: once your penis gets hard, your brain stops to function. Fuck that. That can never be an excuse for anything.
Anyway, the best bit for me was his quest to find his aggressors and how all the bodies get blurred after a while.
So yes, the whole thing had a lot of potential and I like the underlying themes, but it’s not particularly well written and I am sure I will forget it in 3, 2, 1… The Book of what?
November 6, 2019
I picked this book at random as I wanted a book to read during my house move. There was no indication of the subject matter but it caught my eye. I actually didn't get around to reading it until nearly three months later.
It appears to have had mixed reviews and I have to admit that during the first part of the book I almost gave up on it; I couldn't decide whether the explicit descriptions were meant to titillate or shock. I felt a growing sense of unease at the plight of the main character and wanted to know where the story was going.
Having read parts one and two (finishing part two with a certain amount of relief), I felt that I needed to finish the book. It seems that many reviewers were less happy with part three, however, in some ways, this is really where the main protagonist's life begins. It's about how he deals with his abuse, which indeed it is, although I struggled with part two in deciding how much was written to arouse the reader rather than engage with the actual seriousness of the situation.
From my point of view it deals with a subject that is rarely discussed and how it can change the course of a life, not always in obvious ways; it is more subtle and anyone who is hoping for an easy solution may be disappointed, although on the closing page of the book, there is hope.
I have tried as far as possible not to go into specific detail because the story unfolds and I feel that readers need to draw their own conclusion, as I did.
It appears to have had mixed reviews and I have to admit that during the first part of the book I almost gave up on it; I couldn't decide whether the explicit descriptions were meant to titillate or shock. I felt a growing sense of unease at the plight of the main character and wanted to know where the story was going.
Having read parts one and two (finishing part two with a certain amount of relief), I felt that I needed to finish the book. It seems that many reviewers were less happy with part three, however, in some ways, this is really where the main protagonist's life begins. It's about how he deals with his abuse, which indeed it is, although I struggled with part two in deciding how much was written to arouse the reader rather than engage with the actual seriousness of the situation.
From my point of view it deals with a subject that is rarely discussed and how it can change the course of a life, not always in obvious ways; it is more subtle and anyone who is hoping for an easy solution may be disappointed, although on the closing page of the book, there is hope.
I have tried as far as possible not to go into specific detail because the story unfolds and I feel that readers need to draw their own conclusion, as I did.
May 9, 2024
Rupert Thomson occupies a similar place in my reading history to Iain Banks. They both create worlds that seem familiar and real, year are also slightly ‘off’. There is always something which seems slightly unreal or fantastical. He has also been a prolific novelist so I am always stumbling across books I haven’t read before.
This is a novel of two halves. The first half is about the abduction and torture of a male dancer by three hooded and masked women in Amsterdam. I found this a difficult read, mainly because I don’t like horror/abduction narratives. His reversal of gender ‘norms’ in this situation is both effective and obvious.
Looking at other reviews, most find this first section the most effective. Personally I preferred the second half which details his life after his release, the extremes he goes through to deal with the trauma of his ordeal and the eventual (inevitable?) consequences.
The calm first person narrative wrong footed me to a degree. I began to feel that this was the confession of a psychopath and that nothing in the first section had really happened. This is not a book that feels any need for a nest conclusion or to tie up loose ends.
Not my favourite of his, but an engaging read nonetheless. I would recommend Dreams of Leaving or The Five Gates of Hell if you feel the need to read more of his work
This is a novel of two halves. The first half is about the abduction and torture of a male dancer by three hooded and masked women in Amsterdam. I found this a difficult read, mainly because I don’t like horror/abduction narratives. His reversal of gender ‘norms’ in this situation is both effective and obvious.
Looking at other reviews, most find this first section the most effective. Personally I preferred the second half which details his life after his release, the extremes he goes through to deal with the trauma of his ordeal and the eventual (inevitable?) consequences.
The calm first person narrative wrong footed me to a degree. I began to feel that this was the confession of a psychopath and that nothing in the first section had really happened. This is not a book that feels any need for a nest conclusion or to tie up loose ends.
Not my favourite of his, but an engaging read nonetheless. I would recommend Dreams of Leaving or The Five Gates of Hell if you feel the need to read more of his work
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 6, 2015
I was excited to read this, the storyline sounded great. The story peaked in the first half although from then on it fell flat. The story didn't really know where it wanted to go. Easy to read though it left me annoyed in the direction it went. I think Rupert Thompson needs more real life sexual experience as I think his writing is amateur in that department. Apparently the book of revelation is meant to shock - I'm guessing only prudes will get the shock factor out of it.
June 7, 2018
Not easy to keep my head around this one. Mixed emotions, really. I watched the movie first and I was almost sure that I would love the book better but I have the same taste in my mouth just as the movie which is.. I don’t know.. Not bad but not brilliant either. / 2.5
November 5, 2022
Ok now this book surprised me. Random find at a market, seemed interesting and it certainly was! It was also entirely fooked up!! The torture! The trauma! Golly goodness. It was sad to say the least.
The more I think about it, the more I’m amazed by it. Idk what else to say. 🤯🤯
The more I think about it, the more I’m amazed by it. Idk what else to say. 🤯🤯
February 12, 2013
I'll start right off by saying this book isn't quite as graphic as it suggests. At least, not persistently. There are definitely moments that will make even the hardest reader squirm, but mostly, if you've ever read an M rated fanfic, this won't be too bothersome. Mild in some ways, even, if you ignore the mutilation scene, which by the way, is NOT a spoiler. The darned book gives away so much detail in its synopsis, that the majority of the plot is revealed before you open the first page. I suppose though, that's the draw - the book's unusual premise and what promises to be a shocking and bold novel. Does it live up to those expectations? Eh... not quite.
Stylistically, it was very well balanced, with just the right amount of poeticism and clear description, but part of my discontentment with this novel is its balance. Particularly with the lead character. He was so accepting to everything that happened to him. Yes, he fraught back, yelled, screamed, but it seemed like days had passed before any real effort was made. And his mind, it wasn't horrified and it wasn't pleased. He came off discomforted at best. He was so disconnected, almost as if this had happened to another person. Which could have been what the author intended, but for me, it just made him seem out of touch with the gravity of what was happening. He wasn't particularly girl-crazy, so his passivity can't be excused as him living out some kind of bizarre fantasy either. In my opinion, mentally, the character was emotionally repressed to begin with, and this experience only worsened his state. That, in itself, makes for an interesting psychological case study, but for a novel that boasts raw, gritty emotion as its selling point, it left me feeling cold.
The real shocker is toward last third of the book. His lifestyle takes a complete 180, and while he still comes off as emotionally mechanical, he becomes obsessed with finding his captors. Why? He's unsure. Part it seems like it's more for closure than for bringing them to justice. Or maybe just to prove that it happened? I guess that was what the author succeeded in doing, showing the damages rather than telling. Which is fine, but as I said, I want to feel as much as I was shown, especially in a novel that is written mostly in the first person.
Really though, it was an enjoyable enough of a read, and it had an interesting cast of quite distinctive characters. If you get through the first half, just finish it. Will you be satisfied? Probably not. The ending is left rather open, but seeing how things pan out helps to keep the pages turning.
Stylistically, it was very well balanced, with just the right amount of poeticism and clear description, but part of my discontentment with this novel is its balance. Particularly with the lead character. He was so accepting to everything that happened to him. Yes, he fraught back, yelled, screamed, but it seemed like days had passed before any real effort was made. And his mind, it wasn't horrified and it wasn't pleased. He came off discomforted at best. He was so disconnected, almost as if this had happened to another person. Which could have been what the author intended, but for me, it just made him seem out of touch with the gravity of what was happening. He wasn't particularly girl-crazy, so his passivity can't be excused as him living out some kind of bizarre fantasy either. In my opinion, mentally, the character was emotionally repressed to begin with, and this experience only worsened his state. That, in itself, makes for an interesting psychological case study, but for a novel that boasts raw, gritty emotion as its selling point, it left me feeling cold.
The real shocker is toward last third of the book. His lifestyle takes a complete 180, and while he still comes off as emotionally mechanical, he becomes obsessed with finding his captors. Why? He's unsure. Part it seems like it's more for closure than for bringing them to justice. Or maybe just to prove that it happened? I guess that was what the author succeeded in doing, showing the damages rather than telling. Which is fine, but as I said, I want to feel as much as I was shown, especially in a novel that is written mostly in the first person.
Really though, it was an enjoyable enough of a read, and it had an interesting cast of quite distinctive characters. If you get through the first half, just finish it. Will you be satisfied? Probably not. The ending is left rather open, but seeing how things pan out helps to keep the pages turning.
August 20, 2010
A good example of not judging a book by the movie adaptation.
Having seen the movie, I approached this book with more trepidation and prejudice than it deserved.
I actually enjoyed the second half of the book more than the first, probably because the way in which our dancer deals with his ordeal is what drew me to the story in the first place. Though I must admit a slight disappointment, had Thomson actually approached his subject matter with the depth I would have liked to see, he would have run the risk of writing a very tedious and perhaps boorish kind of story.
Instead he wrote it with the right balance of humanism and egocentrism, drawing you in, making you share the frustration, the anger and the hopelessness of the situation. Nothing seemed tied up or really finished.
The whole point of which was to make you ask questions and force you to draw your own conclusions, because Thomson isn't giving anything away.
Having seen the movie, I approached this book with more trepidation and prejudice than it deserved.
I actually enjoyed the second half of the book more than the first, probably because the way in which our dancer deals with his ordeal is what drew me to the story in the first place. Though I must admit a slight disappointment, had Thomson actually approached his subject matter with the depth I would have liked to see, he would have run the risk of writing a very tedious and perhaps boorish kind of story.
Instead he wrote it with the right balance of humanism and egocentrism, drawing you in, making you share the frustration, the anger and the hopelessness of the situation. Nothing seemed tied up or really finished.
The whole point of which was to make you ask questions and force you to draw your own conclusions, because Thomson isn't giving anything away.
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