القفص الزجاجي

by Colin Wilson, كولن ولسون, سامي خشبة (Translator)

A series of brutal and bizarre murders has London on edge. Near the dismembered corpse of each victim, the killer has scrawled cryptic quotations from the eighteenth-century mystic poet William Blake. Baffled, the police enlist the aid of Damon Reade, a brilliant but reclusive Blake scholar, who reluctantly agrees to help. Reade's combination of instinctive deduction and psychic penetration leads him to Gaylord Sundheim, who may be the murderer. But when Reade befriends Sundheim and becomes convinced he is incapable of having committed the crimes, is he right and Sundheim innocent? Or is Reade falling into a clever psychopath's deadly trap that could make him the next victim?

Genres: Horror, Fiction, Mystery, Thriller, Literary Fiction, Crime

422 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1966

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.

Colin Henry Wilson was born and raised in Leicester, England, U.K. He left school at 16, worked in factories and various occupations, and read in his spare time. When Wilson was 24, Gollancz published The Outsider (1956) which examines the role of the social 'outsider' in seminal works of various key literary and cultural figures. These include Albert Camus, Jean-Paul Sartre, Ernest Hemingway, Hermann Hesse, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, William James, T. E. Lawrence, Vaslav Nijinsky and Vincent Van Gogh and Wilson discusses his perception of Social alienation in their work. The book was a best seller and helped popularize existentialism in Britain. Critical praise though, was short-lived and Wilson was soon widely criticized.

Wilson's works after The Outsider focused on positive aspects of human psychology, such as peak experiences and the narrowness of consciousness. He admired the humanistic psychologist Abraham Maslow and corresponded with him. Wilson wrote The War Against Sleep: The Philosophy of Gurdjieff on the life, work and philosophy of G. I. Gurdjieff and an accessible introduction to the Greek-Armenian mystic in 1980. He argues throughout his work that the existentialist focus on defeat or nausea is only a partial representation of reality and that there is no particular reason for accepting it. Wilson views normal, everyday consciousness buffeted by the moment, as "blinkered" and argues that it should not be accepted as showing us the truth about reality. This blinkering has some evolutionary advantages in that it stops us from being completely immersed in wonder, or in the huge stream of events, and hence unable to act. However, to live properly we need to access more than this everyday consciousness. Wilson believes that our peak experiences of joy and meaningfulness are as real as our experiences of angst and, since we are more fully alive at these moments, they are more real. These experiences can be cultivated through concentration, paying attention, relaxation and certain types of work.

Reviews

[mark monday · Rating 4 out of 5]

in a box there lives a snake. it eats, it sleeps, it sheds its skin, it is let out from time to time and then put back in. the walls of its box are made of glass; perhaps it can fool itself into thinking it does not live its life in a cage. so it is with the snake and so it is with its owner, the killer of the novel, a man who lives in his own kind of glass cage.

or so it is according to Colin Wilson. as an author, he had one overriding concern: the exploration of human consciousness and human potential, and the way the boundaries of society and self put fetters on that consciousness and potential. Wilson wrote in many different genres, science fiction and horror and young adult and biography and personal narrative, but no matter what the genre, Wilson's gotta be Wilson. his themes are his passions; artists will always revisit and reshape their passions throughout their careers. he's one of my favorite authors.

The Glass Cage is a curious sort of thriller. for one, it is not remotely thrilling. Wilson is an intensely cerebral writer and so he crafts very intellectual entertainments. the appeal of The Glass Cage - and I found it to be very appealing - is in the small and the large things going on, rather than in the narrative itself. the small: understatement, nonchalance, quiet, thoughtfulness, carefully chosen details that make the story feel entirely real despite the basic oddness of what is going on. the large: Wilson advances his theme of how humans are caged in traps of their own making through his depiction of the unusual killer and the even more unusual protagonist. the narrative: a serial killer is carving people up and leaving quotations by Blake at the scenes of his crimes... our hero is England's foremost expert on Blake; he decides to figure out not just who the killer is, but why this obviously intelligent man even deigns to engage in something as base and unsavory as serial killing. after all, the killer reads Blake - surely he must be a man of some depth and refinement? at least per our hero's world view.

Wilson's refusal to engage in what he probably considered to be trite emotionalism and dramatics means that the story holds things at a certain distance. sexuality in particular, race to a lesser extent. our hero Damon Reade is a 35-year old virgin living in self-imposed exile in the country, and little is made of that. Wilson writes Damon - who gets frequently depressed at the slightest hint of pettiness or banality, including mean looks from people annoyed by him - as if he were a perfectly regular guy. Damon suddenly gets engaged to a 15-year old schoolgirl who he's been an uncle to since she was 10, and little is of made of that. Damon goes to stay in London with his extremely horny composer friend, and little is made of the revolving cast of women in the composer's life. little is made of the sex workers who live on the composer's first floor, or of Damon's first time with a girl, or of a visit to a gay club by Damon and his widening circle of amateur sleuths. little is made of the fact that the killer butchers his victims! Damon figures out who the serial killer is and meets with him several times; he ends up being intrigued and then, finally, rather bored and annoyed by him. the serial killer is just too clingy and fake for Damon. the lack of drama in what would usually be a very dramatic tale made reading this book a striking experience. I also often saw a lot of myself in Damon's weary irritation after spending too much time with his fellow humans... which was a bit disturbing to realize.

there was one place that the lack of emotion really bothered me, and that was in the offhand way Damon's 15-year old paramour's home life is described. she's regularly subjected to repulsively handsy behavior from her repulsive uncle; at one point he casually flips up her skirt to show off her new underwear to Damon. Damon rationalizes away the implications of what this could mean about the young lady's life, and Wilson is likewise coolly distant. this whole sequence was revoltingly creepy and, worst of all, entirely unnecessary.

but I wouldn't change the low-key distance of the narrator or the writing because it made for a fascinatingly idiosyncratic book. and it pays off richly in the end, when...

SPOILER ALERT! but really, are you even going to read this?

...the killer is holed up in his home, surrounded by the police and then joined by our hero. as Damon calms said killer down, he considers the matter. oh the tiresome banality of the police, oh the idea of a life spent in tedious confinement! great minds are not meant for such things. Damon promptly comes up with a way for his pet serial killer to outwit the police and avoid blame and retribution for his crimes. Damon makes his choice, and chooses against "the system" and for the killer. I did not expect that. it was certainly an unusual sort of a happy ending.

[Phil · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lovely book by Wilson with completely misleading blurbs on the cover of my edition. FYI, this is not a extraordinary novel of occult and evil obsession, but a rather odd and charming mystery story (thriller would be misleading again!) set in London during the swinging 60s (first published in 1966). Our lead, Damon Reade, starts the novel off in his forlorn cabin in the Lake District. Being England's premier scholar of William Blake and having penned several authoritative on Blake, he likes spaces for relaxing contemplation. One day after returning from the 15 mile or so walk from the nearest town, he finds a cop at his place. What would a detective sergeant what with Reade?

Well, it turns out a serial killer is haunting London and leaving quotes from Blake near the remains of the dismembered dead bodies. The cop wants to know if Reade perhaps had some correspondence with a lunatic to help move the case along. Reade, who seldom even reads letters addressed to him, has no idea. After his conversation with the cop, Reade heads back to town to tell his only real friend in the area, an odd proprietor of a bookstore in the village. The old proprietor basically dares him to visit London ("to go back to the real world") to see if he can help, so off he goes the next day...

Such a simple plot, but Wilson weaves in a complex philosophy throughout the tale, in part inspired by Blake himself. Thoughts about what does it mean to be alive and other existential concepts litter the text and make for an erudite read for sure. Plus, this is set in London during the swinging 60s and oh yeah do Reade's pals in London swing! Scads of sexual innuendos also litter the text as the sexual revolution hit London hard in this era! Besides lots of playing around, we have lots of boozing and such as well. Reade does not want to go to the police, but makes solving the mystery of the serial killer something of a thoughtful mystery. How can someone who loves Blake possibly be a serial killer? Maybe his father or school forced him to read Blake and the quotations are a form of displaced revenge? I will stop here to avoid spoilers, but so much fun! 4 captivating stars!!

[Kenneth McKinley · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Glass Cage starts out as a murder mystery where the killer leaves quotes from Blake at the murder scene. The authorities consult an expert on Blake, Damon Reade, with the hope he’ll shed some wisdom that leads to the killer’s identity. Along the way, The Glass Cage morphs into a psychological study in what makes a serial killer tick. There are fascinating bits throughout the story, but the reader only gets to experience glimpses here and there without ever getting a more in-depth study or conclusion. Wilson wrote the book in 1966, but there are some pretty risque pieces sprinkled within for its time, as well as some that don’t age very well. Our protagonist gets “engaged” to a 15-year-old he’s known since she was 10. They assume the suspected murderer is a homosexual, yet their reasoning is flimsy. Stuff like that. Wilson presents an interesting, multi-layered killer with a devious mind, yet I feel there were more loose ends than answers by the closing pages.

3.5 Snakes Shedding Their Skin out of 5

[Axolotl · Rating 3 out of 5]

A friend, John Mundy, says that he is convinced that Thomas Harris read this book and borrowed heavily from it in order to write Red Dragon and I can see what he means. But if this theory is true, then Harris really tightened things up a lot. The construction and plotting of RD really cooks and, interesting and readable though GC is, RD is the superior of the two. It is easy to see Damon Reade as Will Graham and Francis Dollarhyde as George "Gaylorde" Sunderheim. I am a fan of Red Dragon (the book, not the movie or any of the spin offs, except The Silence of the Lambs) and was surprised I enjoyed it as much as I did.
The Glass Cage is good, too, and worth approaching on its own merits.
As someone who has read non-fiction, as well as fiction, by Wilson, I can say that, as interesting as Colin Wilson's personal philosophy (regarding man's "faculty X", etc.) could be (in small doses, like here), it proves a little intrusive and showy in a fictional context (like here) and isn't that well integrated into the story (as I felt it was in, say, The Mind Parasites) with a main character simply acting as a transparent mouth-piece for the views of the author, which at times Reade--a complex character in many ways--is, at times, reduced to. Another reviewer made a very apt comment regarding the delicious understatement of this book---I am in this camp of readers also: the ones who love that so little is made of details like Reade's "underage" bride, his friend's utter lechery, the obvious fairy-tale motifs (which surprisingly abound), the killer's sexuality, the fact that he meets the killer several times and ends up liking him quite a bit, and on and on. In a word this book is subtle, except when it comes to Wilson adding his idiosyncratic philosophy to the mix. The characters in what they do and don't react to have a life-like quality and characterization which I feel is missing from a lot of more overwrought creations. The ending was "ok" but felt out of place given what came before: not that great--possibly for the same reason that the rest was so good (and oh so refreshingly odd).

I say "3" stars but probably more on the lower side of "3.5", actually. ;)

[Diletta · Rating 4 out of 5]

Un altro giallo di Wilson anche se in questo caso, a differenza di Riti notturni dove gli si snocciolavano i ruoli nei personaggi, il vero outsider è proprio il killer, solo lui. Nel povero Damon scorre sotterranea la consapevolezza che c'è qualcosa di più oltre il giusto e sbagliato, eppure sta al killer, seppur restando sulla soglia, dimostrare che si può cambiare la propria pelle, cercando di evolvere.

[Luce Cronin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thorougly enjoyed this novel. Wilson has a way of using a popular genre, in this case a murder mystery, to introduce and perhaps popularize his existentialist views of mankind. On the surface a very readable novel, full of suspense. But under all that , Wilson poses questions about alienation, and peak experiences of human consciousness.

[Eugene Pustoshkin · Rating 5 out of 5]

In this book Colin Wilson provides an interesting phenomenology of how a serial murderer’s mind phenomenology might unfold and why it does so. According to Wilson, such pathological murderers are mortally afraid of the existential emptiness and the sense of meaninglessness which appears in their life as dullness and some kind of psychological dying, so they attempt to find intensity of meaning through putting themselves to extreme and dangerous situations and transgressing various inhibitions. Yet such a solution is only a temporary due to the lack of mental discipline and overall trauma; it provides only a temporary and illusory release. Of course, there are more nuances in Wilson’s view.

[Lord Bathcanoe of Snark · Rating 3 out of 5]

First published in 1966, Colin Wilson paints a different picture of London to that usually portrayed in the swinging sixties; this one slightly seedy and unlikeable.
I always find Wilson's attitude towards his female characters as somewhat patronising and condescending, and they are too often portrayed merely as sex objects.
And he must hold the world record for using the word panties in his books. He also appears to have something of an obsession with teenage girls.
I've never rated his work in the field of true crime, too many errors, and too much going over the same old cases in book after book, but I do enjoy his novels (with a few reservations as previously mentioned)
This book was written over fifty years ago, ( I have the Pan paperback from 1968) and it contains a few words pertaining to race and sexual orientation that would be rightly frowned upon today. But it's the product of a different era and should be seen in that light.
By no means a classic of literature, but a pleasant enough read.

[Erika Marzano · Rating 1 out of 5]

Il vero problema di questo libro che dalla trama aveva i supposti per piacermi è che non ha spessore in nessuna delle sue componenti: i personaggi sono bidimensionali, leggermente accennati, a parte le donne che non svolgono nessun vero ruolo o funzione se non oggetti sessuali o vittime. I principali protagonisti ovvero "l'investigatore" e "l'assassino" sono cliché di loro stesso solo accomunati dalla passione per Blake. Il mistero non c'è neppure perché fin dall'inizio viene presentata una sola possibile soluzione al caso e in fatti è quella.

[Nik Maack · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book is readable. Wilson can write. But the big question is, why these same themes over and over again? What is the point?

Our hero, Reade, sides with the serial killer for seemingly no reason. Because the killer is a rebel? A "new man"? Because the killer is mentally ill? He gives the killer advice on how to get away with murder. He sympathizes with the killer. It's bizarre.

Reade's friends regularly call him on it. Surely we have to stop this man so he doesn't kill again? What is wrong with you, Reade?

Reade gets annoyed. No, he's pretty sure the killer won't murder anyone in the next 24 hours. It's fine. Reade will go off with the killer for drinks. No big deal.

And then there's the underage sex weirdness of the book, which is another theme Wilson seems fond of. Reade is 20 years older than the 15 year old girl he gets engaged to. He admits he is a sheltered virgin. He gets into bed with the girl, she gets naked, they cuddle and stuff.

Later he has sex with another woman and justifies it to himself in the most bizarre way. Surely the girl he's engaged to wouldn't mind, because love is infinite, right?

And then after he bangs the woman, Reade realizes his sex partner isn't intelligent but has some sort of animal.cunning. and he dismisses her from his mind like she's little more than a sex toy.

There's the girl's uncle, who has been getting the girl to strut around in her underwear and who has been fondling her. Reade and the girl seem to think this is totally fine. No big deal.

Wilson is a weird writer and I don't know why I keep reading his books. The point of them is lost one me. Reade seems to believe everyone in the universe is one. And maybe his morality stems from that. If you kill someone, it's just a sort of error in thinking. I cannot get past this part. Especially the way that victims don't get named or are casually ignored.

It's a weird book. The same way all of Wilson's books are weird. To the point where I know I have not read this book before, but it sure feels like I have.

[Eddie Smyth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Maybe I should be writing about Colin Wilson’s interests in the powers of the mind and of mysticism, but The Glass Cage will stay with me for different reasons.
If a good book should draw you wholly into its world, then The Glass Cage is a resounding success. A bygone and now unfamiliar world, wherein people smoked and drank with impunity, wherever and whenever they liked. Where visitors, even strangers, are welcomed and, if their timing is right, invited to join in meals. And although they might be content with a mere cup of tea, there’s often something stronger an offer, and, if the need seems to be, even a bed for the night.
A world where our central character, apparently in his thirties, without any batting of eyelids, gets engaged to a fifteen-year-old girl. It’s okay though, he doesn’t plan on marrying her until she’s sixteen! Or could it be that he agreed just out of politeness, or to save her from the lustful advances of the relative who she lives with? But, all the same, said lecherous relative he still regards as his closest of friends. Even our serial killer is portrayed as a hospitable bloke!
From the bleakness and desolation of a rain swept, rural cottage to the cluttered streets of 1960s London, we inhabit a world where manners still reign supreme, and that's in spite of the working man not being credited with having much intelligence, but which carries within it a bubbling undercurrent of violence, always likely to erupt.
If I have an issue with the book, it’s surely a positive one: It could have been longer, populated as it is with colourful characters who I would have liked to have seen developed; I was sorry that it ended so quickly. Anyway, back to the future.

[Laura · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ho come l'impressione di non aver capito il libro. Mi sembra alquanto assurdo che un eremita ossessionato da Blake si improvvisi detective e psicologo e sociologo e amico e si irriti pure se i suoi, pochi, veri amici si preoccupano nel vederlo rincorrere un serial killer. "Voi non capite quello che vedo io", dice Damon. Mi dispiace caro Damon, ma non l'ho capito manco io. Poi da tralasciare stereotipi e luoghi comuni a volte anche beceri, ma è pur sempre un libro degli anni 60.

[Sarah Alawami · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good read with a somber end

[Art · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well crafted and written novel.. you will come away with a new understanding of the Chinese, Christian missionaries and military men.

[Anders · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nice slow British murder story from the 60's with some interesting psychological touches, not very philosophical which I had expected after reading on the back of the book and his work "Necessary doubt". Still a decent mystery with few red herrings.

[Lynn · Rating 5 out of 5]

l found it a nice read, and a nice ending.

[Erik Graff · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've read two of Colin Wilson's murder mysteries, neither of which impressed me very much.

[Lynn Kelleher · Rating 3 out of 5]

l liked this book.
colin is a weird writer lol

[Nicole Marble · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting look at the plusses and minuses of computing. His points could have been condensed to a paragraph or two.

[Eric · Rating 4 out of 5]

An existential-murder novel set in the English Lake District. The murderer leaves quotes from William Blake at the scene of the murders. If you are a fan of CW it won't disappoint.

[Frank · Rating 4 out of 5]

Colin Wilson thriller that I read back in 1973.

[belacqua · Rating 3 out of 5]

essas traduções dos anos 70 ma ra vi lho sas hahaha

[Sawsan Jamil · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have read the translated one, so i wrote my review in Arabic. Actually it is about the idea of thoughts and how it can destroy or save a human. Wilson understands the world and humanity in a very deep and exclusive way. This my second book written by Colin and i think i will read all of his books. Here i would like to attach my Arabic version of the review.
"انك تضع نفسك مكانهم وهذا خطأ
من المحتمل أنك تتخيل كيف يمكن ان تتصرف لو ان ذلك حدث معك،
ليس لهؤلاء الناس قيم ليس للحياة معنى عندهم، انه فقط لم يهتم "
بهذا الاقتباس يمكنني ان ابدأ مراجعتي للقفص الذهبي الذي انهيته للتو، الفكرة القائمة في هذا الاقتباس تقول انك عندما تضع نفسك في مكان الآخرين فانت ما زلت تحكم عليهم استنادا إلى مبادئك انت وقيمك انت، ما عليك فعله حقيقة هو ان تتقمص الآخرين بشكل كامل بحيث يندرج تحت ذلك عقليتهم وقيمهم حتى تفهم.
هذا ما قام به ريد ادمون ليحل لغز القاتل البشع بنظر المجتمع و الضحية بنظر نفسه. المؤسف ليس ضحايا القتل بحد ذاتهم او القاتل ومصيره المشؤم لأن ذلك بديهي،، ولكن ما يؤسفني حقاً ان فكرة ما يزرعها الإنسان في داخله بناءً على تأثير الاهل والمجتمع يمكن ان تدمر إنسان ذكي كان من الممكن ان يستخدم ذكاءه بشكل صحيح مفيد له وللعالم فان اغلب الناس يتميزون بشئ ما ولكن عليهم فقط ايجاد ذلك الشئ ذلك المعنى الذي يجعله يستمتع بالقيام بالأشياء التي تتكون منها الحياة علي حد تعبير كولن.
يؤلمني أيضاً ما قاله القاتل لريد ادمون "انك في حالة طيبة انك تتمتع بمزاج الرجل القادر على الدرس والبحث فانت ما زلت قادراً على تأليف الكتب، ولكن ماذا عن الناس الذين لا يستطيعون تأليف الكتب، الناس الذين لا متنفس لهم في هذه الحضارة؟ ماذا عن البشر الذين لا يعرفون ماذا يمكنهم عمله؟" وذلك انه كان من الممكن ايجاد ذلك المتنفس للقاتل وبالتالي تجنب الجرائم والمأساة.
في لقاءي الثاني و كولن ولسون لا يسعني ان اقول سوى انه إنساني اكثر من اللازم و يدرك المعنى والحقيقة بقدر ما يدرك اللامعنى واللاحقيقة، لم افهم حتى اللحظة كيف له ان يفهم الى ذلك الحد الا انني سعيدة جداً ان الفرصة اتيحت لي لقراءته ولربما تسرب جزء من هذا الفهم لي.