The Wasp Factory

Strange, violent, disturbing. Don't know what to make of it. Certainly original but at its heart a bleak tale of terrible parenting. Not enough humour to be a black comedy as others have suggested, and not enough heart or hope for the surprise ending to resolve the madness. What is the point of this story?

In parts funny, disturbing and (most worryingly) relatable, this is a tale of violence, identity and sympathetic magic. The problem is I am not entirely sure what it is trying to “say”. It is well written, imaginative, well structured and ensures you keep turning the page through the narrator’s statement of accepted “facts” which are not explained until a later chapter. The brutality is sometimes without context, and Eric’s depraved psychoticism stretched credulity as a result of a single horrendous experience and a series of everyday disappointments. But, if taken as a fairy story, with the island representing a fantasy kingdom, it has the same gothic appeal as an Angela Carter story. The exploration of gender identity is not entirely (or at all) convincing, however, again, if taken as metaphor for the realisation as we leave adolescence that we may not be the person we ascribed to, be it works. What astonished me is how “normal” and likeable the author himself is (was, R.I.P.) in interview, giving the impression that the “ultraviolence” was intended to have an air of slapstick about it (Ye ken me droogs? What a mash-up sequel that would be!) The sense of the ordinary within the extraordinary and description of place was extremely effective. I had mapped out Frank’s kingdom in my head, sacrifice poles and all! However, I am still not entirely sure why or how this novel has found its way onto the A-Level course syllabi? It’s a rural, Scottish, teenage American Psycho before there was an American Psycho, a fictionalised Confessions of a Sociopath crossed with a Little-Red-Riding Hood style bildungsroman. It is unique and I imagine for the time ground-breaking, and difficult to pin down- hence the plethora of references to other similar-but-not-really-that-similar texts. And it is also extremely entertaining. I disagree with many reviewers that it conveys a sense of the macabre and depicts graphic scenes of animal torture. Yes there is death and yes the torture is disgusting, but it feels so over the top as to be implausibly ridiculous. It feels to me much more of a black comedy- the novel equivalent of The League of Gentlemen. It is simply too absurd, incredible and frankly silly to be otherwise.

Just had to read this book for my a-level and couldnt put it down! Woudnt call it a horror although some attempts of humor and quiet grotesque but not in the least scary. Highly recommend it :)