Ingenious Pain

Andrew Millar

Doreen began her thoughts about 'Ingenious Pain' by talking about the cover of the paperback which depicts a scene of bedlam, a terrorised bird in a Gilded Cage. Doreen pointed how clever this cover was. This scene is part of a family portrait called 'The Graham Children' by William Hogarth. Doreen brought a copy of the Hogarth painting with her which she pointed out contained a likeness of a child that had died. The terrorised bird and small figure of death had been included in Hogarth's composition to represent the death of this child.

The book is about a man born without the ability to feel pain. The book follows this character through the changes in his life as he is taken up into a freak show coming to a point where he is able to feel pain at last. The central theme of the book could be characterised as a cold, unfeeling character who is redeemed. Doreen pointed out that the book was not like most first novels. It starts with a post-mortem ( for one thing). It is set in the 18th Century and establishes a good period. The book is full of good similes and metaphors and the writer really makes you look again at the 'gilded cage'. Doreen described 'Ingenious Pain' as highly recommended and concluded by saying the author was born as recently as 1960.
Doreen 26/4/98

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