The Insult (novel)

This article is about the 1996 novel. For other uses, see insult (disambiguation). For the 2017 film, see The Insult (film).

The Insult

First edition
Author	Rupert Thomson
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English
Genre	Novel
Publisher	Bloomsbury
Publication date	November 1996
Media type	Print
Pages	416 pp
ISBN	978-0-7475-2601-8
OCLC	60310496

The Insult is a 1996 novel by Rupert Thomson. The novel describes the life of Martin Blom, who is shot while walking to his car and consequently goes blind. While being treated in a clinic, he seemingly regains his vision, but only at night. While his doctors assure him he has Anton's syndrome, he believes adamantly in his ability to see, even going so far as to disguise it from others who think him still blind. The book is written as a first-person narrative.

The novel's title is a pun on the use of the word "insult" to describe traumatic brain injury and refers to the shock of losing one's sight as the ultimate insult.

Reception

In her The New York Times review of the novel, Michiko Kakutani praised Thomson as talented and capable of writing beautifully, while calling The Insult a self-indulgent and incoherent novel. In 2009, The Guardian included The Insult on its "1000 novels everyone must read" list. In 2018, David Bowie named The Insult one of his top 100 reads.

Awards and nominations

• The Insult was shortlisted for the 1996 Guardian Fiction Prize.