The Spire is a story of creative obsession and its consequences. Dean Jocelin believes God has chosen him to build a spire on top of a cathedral, an enterprise with costs that are not merely financial.
Set in medieval England, The Spire tells the story of one man’s vision – the construction of an enormous spire on a cathedral without foundations. Believing himself to be chosen by God, Jocelin, Dean of the Cathedral, insists that the spire must rise higher and higher, despite the singing pillars and the creeping ground. Told with an inventive narration that reflects Jocelin’s ever-increasing madness, The Spire is an astonishing portrait of obsession, betrayal, and arrogance. Jocelin’s vision produces terrible consequences for those around him; the human ‘cost’ of one man’s folly.
Golding had the initial idea for The Spire in 1959 and originally intended the book to be a comedy. As he wrote multiple drafts during a year in America, the tone of the novel gradually shifted. Almost until the final submission of the typescript to Faber, Golding played around with sections featuring a contemporary narrative. The Spire was inspired by Salisbury Cathedral, which Golding could see from the window in his classroom at Bishop Wordsworth’s School. He described gazing at Salisbury Cathedral’s spire and saying to himself: ‘If I were to build a spire, how would I go about it?’
If you have enjoyed The Spire’s exploration of madness and hypocrisy, and its conflict between medieval rationality and spirituality, check out the second part of The Sea Trilogy, Close Quarters.
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