I managed to read another book in less than a week. Miracle.
I picked up the latest book by Iain Banks on Thursday. I've read lots of his stuff since I was a young teenager. I did my higher English dissertation on The wasp factory when I was at school. I love many of his books (especially The Crow Road) because of the Scottish feel to his writing. I really enjoyed his last book Dead air although I realise that it was not one of his more popular novels.
Banks is back on familiar ground with this tale of a messed up family. The family in question are the Wopulds, possibly a cipher for Waddingtons, who have made their fortune with the Empire! board game. The central character is Alban who has ran away from the family business due to liberal attitudes and unresolved emotional issues from his incestuous adolescent love affair with his cousin Sophie. His grandmother, matriarch Win, is a dark and manipulative force who he feels has interfered with his life.
This book has themes in common with many of Banks' previous works; incest, dysfunctional family life, left wing politics and corporate life. It probably isn't his best work but it is worth a read. A new reader should start with The Crow Road.
funky
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2 comments:
hurray for the crow road - i love it for, amongst other things, the fact that it's first line is "It was the day my grandmother exploded"....
i've been running out of stuff to read - i might well indulge in the new book at the weekend :)
This one is cool although read Complicity and Dead Air first if you haven't got them.
The Prestige bu Christopher Priest is well worth a go too
N
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