In a word, this book is vile. There is not a single sympathetic character in this entire parade of wretchedness. The protagonist is beyond redemption, his father is (in equal parts) abusive and distant, and his brother is an almost comically exaggerated arsonist lunatic. The only characters who display even a whisper of human decency are bit-parts, too undeveloped to display any real qualities, whether positive or negative. Half of them end up dead anyway, in a variety of inventive and unpleasant ways.
“It is malicious and degrading and painful. I enjoyed it immensely.”
Yes, The Wasp Factory is probably the most unpleasant novel I have ever read. It is a catalogue of sociopathy, violence, isolation, body-horror and fear. It is malicious and degrading and painful. I enjoyed it immensely. It’s like a road accident – horrible, but you just can’t resist staring.
Summarising the plot is difficult. The narrator, Frank, drags the reader through an account of his bizarre daily routine, revealing snippets of his personal history along the way. His terrifying brother and his appalling father make occasional appearances, leading to several violent and (quite literally) explosive confrontations. It has all the usual elements of a gore-porn thriller, but with two redeeming features – Frank’s complex personal mythology, and his dry, detached narration.
The mythology is fascinating, reminiscent of stereotypical voudon and Salem-style ‘witchcraft’ without falling into cliché. The eponymous Wasp Factory is particularly imaginative, if a bit mechanically implausible. Frank’s detachment is both disturbing and refreshing; disturbing because he is apparently unaffected by the horrible events of the story, refreshing because the reader is spared the rigmarole of angst-ridden self-reflection. Frank is under no moral illusions about what he is – moral considerations don’t occur to him at all. Frank is certainly not a sympathetic character, but it is difficult to think of him as evil. Broken, perhaps, but not evil.
So, should you give The Wasp Factory a try? I suppose it depends on the strength of your stomach. If you enjoyed Trainspotting or Silence of the Lambs, this book will provide a challenging and stimulating experience. If not, then consider this book’s final virtue – it’s quite short. Short enough to read between one essay and the next, and short enough to avoid permanent emotional scarring and/or nightmares.
Three stars.
