Iain Banks fans?

grendo89 · 24-03-2008 3:59am #1

anyone like reading Banks?

tSubh Dearg · 25-03-2008 12:12am

His general fiction or his sci fi?

Personally I'm a fan of both though I find he can be a bit hit and miss with some books. Player of Games is my favourite of his Sci Fi stuff while either The Business or The Steep Approach to Garbadale would be my favourites of his general fiction. I did like The Wasp Factory but found a tiny bit too disturbing to fully enjoy it.

randomguy · 25-03-2008 1:01am

Have never read his sci-fi, but went through a phase of liking his fiction about 10 years ago. The Crow Road was a favourite of mine - re-read it recently and still rate it (I never got to see the BBC mini-series of it). The Wasp Factory is a stunning little book. But the others that I read (The Bridge, Complicity, and Whit) just seemed to be too much of the same thing. In a way he is like JG Ballard - so good that you want to read loads of his stuff, but then all his stuff is so alike and with the same moral/political point you end up overdosing on it really quickly.

The BBC did a version of University Challenge a few years ago, but with teams of writers and journalists and actors etc. He was by far the brightest person on it - unbelievably knowledgeable.

doonothing · 25-03-2008 5:48am

Aside from the Wasp Factory, which would be the best book to try next? Going by what you're saying, what would be the most different?

randomguy · 25-03-2008 12:00pm

doonothing wrote: »

Aside from the Wasp Factory, which would be the best book to try next? Going by what you're saying, what would be the most different?

I'd definitely read The Crow Road (after The Wasp Factory, which stands alone since it is unlike the rest in a lot of ways), just because it is the best all-rounder, and then see about one of the Whit/Complicity etc bunch.

Anyone have any recommendations for getting started on his sci-fi stuff?

ZOLTAN28 · 25-03-2008 12:07pm

Absolutely love his sci-fi - start with the first - Consider Phloebas.

The Culture novels are wonderful - many have intricate structures and all have wonderful narrative.

Gave up on his straight fiction but still look out for his sci-fi.

binncheol · 26-03-2008 3:39pm

I've only read 'The Wasp Factory' and I thought it was amazing. One day I'll buy another of his books... one day...

JaneHudson · 26-03-2008 8:23pm

I got a 3-in-1 book with the Wasp Factory, the Bridge, and Espedair street. I read the first two, so far, so good. Never read the sci fi stuff but loved the wasp factory

DapperGent · 26-03-2008 9:16pm

I think his best work has been his science fiction. Player of Games, Use of Weapons and Against a Dark Background are all brilliant, my personal favourite is Excession but it's not one to start with. I'd recommend Player of Games when starting his SF.

Fremen · 26-03-2008 9:20pm

Yeah, excession is amazing. I'm reading "Matter" at the moment.

BurnsCarpenter · 27-03-2008 11:30am

Of the ones I've read, Dead Air was pretty good. A Song of Stone is complete rubbish though.
Enjoyed the couple of SF ones I've read.

Memnoch · 27-03-2008 9:26pm

I started reading banks from his SCI-fi. Out of his contemporary stuff I've only read the Wasp Factory but plan on reading The crow road soon. His sci-fi is amazing though, and I think even non sci-fi readers should give it a chance.

He explores so many themes and modern day issues in such amazing ways. Excession is definately my favorite book of all time by any writer. But I agree, Player of games, look to windward ad consider Phelbas are great places to start before hitting it.

On a more sombre note, "Matter," is crap. Or at least, half of it is. Especially by his standards. Maybe others will disagree, but it almost seems like he's polished a trunk novel and put it out due to publisher demand.

Belfast_Hibby · 28-03-2008 3:19am

Iain Banks is a fantastic writer, The Crow Road or Espedair Street are two of my favourite books of all time. His non-fiction book "Raw Spirit" was great too, basically he got paid to travel up and down the length and breadth of Scotland, trying out different whiskys from different distilliries and regions, then writing about it.

Jammy b*****d.

eclectichoney · 28-03-2008 10:37am

I've been disappointed with Banksy - but maybe I shouldn't have read the Wasp factory first (it's like that whole don't read Big Sur as your first Kerouac all over again

). Espedair Street was quite good I'll admit (I remember reading the first page and thinking, Christ this is going to be amazing!), but I found Canal Dreams and The Bridge pretty unremarkable.

An important point is though, they do all have lovely matching covers

Belfast_Hibby · 28-03-2008 2:48pm

eclectichoney wrote: »

I've been disappointed with Banksy - but maybe I shouldn't have read the Wasp factory first (it's like that whole don't read Big Sur as your first Kerouac all over again ). Espedair Street was quite good I'll admit (I remember reading the first page and thinking, Christ this is going to be amazing!), but I found Canal Dreams and The Bridge pretty unremarkable.

An important point is though, they do all have lovely matching covers

Hahah, I know exactly what you mean. When trying to introduce my friend to Kerouac I made the fatal mistake of not telling him to start with On The Road or Dharma Bums, consequently he went right out and borrowed Big Sur from the library. He came back a few days later and said he was disturbed, depressed and unimpressed.

It took loads more wheedling before I was able to convince him to try again, this time with OTR. Thankfully he liked it!

eclectichoney · 29-03-2008 12:27am

Belfast_Hibby wrote: »

Hahah, I know exactly what you mean. When trying to introduce my friend to Kerouac I made the fatal mistake of not telling him to start with On The Road or Dharma Bums, consequently he went right out and borrowed Big Sur from the library. He came back a few days later and said he was disturbed, depressed and unimpressed.

It took loads more wheedling before I was able to convince him to try again, this time with OTR. Thankfully he liked it!

God no, I actually meant I read The Wasp Factory first and the other banks novels were not as good / something of a disappointment. Though maybe if I had read one of his lesser novels first it would have seemed more impressive. In that context, I actually meant that Big Sur is kerouac's best novel imho, so people shouldn't read it first or else they'll be disappointed by the rest of his stuff!

theCzar · 29-03-2008 10:25am

Just finished Wasp Factory yesterday, a very odd book, excellently written. I would definitely read more of his books.

plastic membrane · 01-04-2008 2:35pm

BurnsCarpenter wrote: »

A Song of Stone is complete rubbish though.
Enjoyed the couple of SF ones I've read.

Agreed, Song Of Stone was an awful chore. But The Crow Road i would rate high on my list of all time great reads (and to the guy who asked about the mini-series, it does justice to it. You should be able to get it on DVD), The Wasp Factory is a cracker too. The Players Of Games and Consider Phlebas are the obvious first choices with the Sci-fi. Im about to get going with Feersum Endjinn actually.

c0rk3r · 02-04-2008 2:57pm

The player of games is a fantastic read. Cant recommend it enough. Go out and buy it... now

The_Minister · 03-04-2008 9:10pm

I have only read The Business and The Algebraist, so the jury is still out on him in my mind.

Dunder Mifflin · 19-05-2009 4:54pm

I read and loved Consider Phlebas. I'm reading Matter now but finding it a bit tougher to get through. It's just not grabbing me the way Phlebas did. I'll get through it though and probably try something different next, then give Player of Games a shot at some stage later.

Dades · 19-05-2009 5:50pm

Dunder Mifflin wrote: »

I read and loved Consider Phlebas. I'm reading Matter now but finding it a bit tougher to get through. It's just not grabbing me the way Phlebas did. I'll get through it though and probably try something different next, then give Player of Games a shot at some stage later.

Am halfway through Player of Games... will be reading it on the train in 20 mins!

Going on holidays in a couple of weeks and can't wait to get stuck into a few more Culture novels.

The_Minister · 19-05-2009 9:39pm

I can't believe that I missed him when he was in Dublin last week - completely forgot:(

Blush_01 · 19-05-2009 10:02pm

Only read The Wasp Factory, absolutely loved it. Can't wait to read more of his stuff.

oxygen_old · 20-05-2009 1:18pm

Im a massive Iain M Banks fan. But there is a world of difference between Iain M Banks and Iain Banks. I dont read any of the Iain Banks stuff.

I started on Excession, then player of games, algerbrist, against a background darkly, etc etc. I have Matter at home to start reading, looking forward to it. Cant recommend any of them highly enough.

Someone mentioned previously, all the recent reissues have really nice covers. By the time Im finished reading them tho, they look like yesterdays dinner. I wonder if it would be crazy to buy the set, as a collectors thing. Ppl do it with dvd's

oxygen_old · 20-05-2009 1:19pm

The_Minister wrote: »

I can't believe that I missed him when he was in Dublin last week - completely forgot:(

AArrghh your f*kcing joking. Cant believe that. Crap, crap.

The Recliner · 20-05-2009 1:28pm

I have read all of Iain Bank and Iain M Banks books, read then in the sequence they came out in which I found to be the best way to read the Sci-fi stuff from talking to people

I find his Sci-fi to be more consistantly good than his fiction work

Favs would be The Crow Road, Espidar Street, The Business, The Steep road to Garibald, Consider Phleabas, Player of games and most culture novels

I have been disappointed by his last two sci-fi novels but that was bound to happen eventually

Also his sci-fi has generally been liked by anyone who I have convinced to read it who would normally be staunch anti-scf-fi people

dpk · 20-05-2009 1:35pm

I haven't been able to get into his Sci Fi beacuase I don't like Sci Fi. His general fiction though is generally fantastic, he does have some duds, but not many. I would read his books in the order he wrote them , you can follow his development as a writer, the Wasp Factory is a wonderfully written and very disturbing book, and should be read. My personal favourite is the Crow Road its a wonderful book which has hidden depts (the BBC adaptation is also very good and I would have no hesitation recommending it, in Fact Banks himslef gives an interview on the DVD extras bit). I personally didn't like Dead Air at all because I think Banks voice rings truer when he sets his stories in Scotland and was very glad to see him return there with his last novel And I didn't like the Bridge, I didn't like the story, of course that doesn't make it bad.

Regards

Morlar · 22-05-2009 12:30pm

oxygen wrote: »

Someone mentioned previously, all the recent reissues have really nice covers. By the time Im finished reading them tho, they look like yesterdays dinner. I wonder if it would be crazy to buy the set, as a collectors thing. Ppl do it with dvd's

I re-bought a set of signed Culture novels a few years ago as apart from the hardbacks all my originals looked like they had been through a washing machine. Read and re-read again takes it out of them. The original covers were better imo. I loved some of his early fiction ie wasp factory, crow road etc but the science fiction of his is a level above his straight fiction. Consider Phlebas, player of games, use of weapons etc are probably the best sci fi I have ever read. I will probably re-read them over the summer. Cant believe I missed him this time either - he has been in Dublin countless times over the last few years and I always manage to find out about a week later.

3DataModem · 22-05-2009 12:33pm

Love them all.

Would have to list the Algebraist and the Business as my faves for a re-read.

The audiobook version of the Business is excellent, as it is narrated in a scots female accent.

oxygen_old · 22-05-2009 12:58pm

Im surprised Im not hearing alot about excession from his sci fi fans. Thats my favourite culture novel, and the novel I assumed with hit the sci fi fans bones the most, since it is the most space shippy and hard tech sci fi of the lot. I think.

I remember the first chapter of that book, with the robot escaping in it, is brilliant brilliant stuff. No one can read that chapter, and not finish the book.

3DataModem · 22-05-2009 1:17pm

oxygen wrote: »

I remember the first chapter of that book, with the robot escaping in it, is brilliant brilliant stuff.

* plans to reread tonight

mawk · 24-05-2009 3:23am

read the snakes out of him a few years ago, espedair street, the business and the wasp factory being the standouts to my memory.

a song of stone DID pick up about halway.. thought it was ok overall,
but the first chapters were like chewing razor blades. also.. the ambiguity of the social breakdown was an interesting choice

nitrogen · 24-05-2009 4:19am

Read all his non-science fiction except Song of Stone (Even hardcore fans dismiss it, but I'm sure I'll pick it up some day). Easily my favourite writer, in order, my favourites are (Although the last two are quite poor):

The Wasp Factory
The Crow Road
The Bridge
Complicity
Whit
Walking on Glass
Espedair Street
Dead Air
The Steep Approach to Garbadale
Canal Dreams
The Business

Looking forward to getting into his science fiction.

DapperGent · 24-05-2009 4:44am

I am genuinely fond of his non-fiction but it quite honestly doesn't come close to his Sci-fi. I think the man himself concurs, I remember him being asked which of them he would continue to write if he was forced to choose and he picked the Sci-fi.

Quite honestly I think the idea of The Culture is the most important ones a Sci-Fi writer has ever come up with. I must say I am hugely jealous of you that his Culture and other Sci-fi books are waiting there for you. Enjoy!

Get the order right though. Consider Phelbas or The Player of Games first then the others. Personally I think The Player of Games is the best starting point rather than any other M books, though it's not the first he wrote.

ferrigan101 · 24-05-2009 4:52am

Love his stuff, prefer the sci-fi to the fiction but thats just 'cos I love sci-fi! Have met him a good few times and he is a very nice bloke. Player Of Games, Feersum Endjinn and Espedair Street are great. Wasp Factory was excellent and Complicity aswell (anyone seen the movie they made of it?). Yeah, I'm going to go and start re-reading stuff now!:pac:

nitrogen · 24-05-2009 6:09am

Yeah, picked up Complicity on DVD a few years ago. It was mediocre. It felt like an ITV Saturday night feature, and that can never be good. It could have been so much better with a different director and a bigger budget.

Cheers DapperGent, will pick up Consider Phelbas in the next few weeks. I have mates roaring at me for far too long telling me to read a Culture novel.

I hear his next non-M release, Transition, will be more like The Bridge and Walking on Glass (Loved both of these), and it will be published under Iain M. Banks in the US.

Spunge · 24-05-2009 4:02pm

Im nearly finished reading Use of Weapons. This is the first one of his books ive read and quite enjoyed it, well written, interesting characters and some humour in there. Heard theres a twist so have to wait and see.

Going to pick up another one of the Culture novels after this, not sure which one though.

Crazyivan 1979 · 27-05-2009 10:46am

my favourite is probably "use of weapons". "Consider phlebas" and "player of games" are also very, very good. In my opinion i enjoy his sci-fi rather than his fiction, although "the wasp factory" is a very disturbing book and a great read.

silverwater · 01-06-2009 4:39pm

Damnit!
Went to the signing (and also the reading and Q&A session in TCD) when he was over and got a book signed for my sister...
Unfortunately it was Song of Stone, just picked it up by random...

Read The Wasp Factory and The Steep Approach to Garbadale before that.
The Wasp factory was great, TSATG was ok. Some very good parts, but lacked the punch of TWF.
Would like to check out some more of his books...

BossArky · 02-06-2009 11:16am

I find his stuff very hit and miss.

Player of Games was good. The rest of that sci-fi series seems as if he is trying too hard.

Use of Weapons / Against a Dark Background ... etc...... terrible.

Have the Algebraist at home. Not sure if I'm up for reading it just yet.

peter1892 · 02-06-2009 11:25am

I read a lot of his stuff when I was younger. Complicity, Crow Road & The Wasp Factory are really good. Espedair Street is too, especially for a rock fan like myself.

Some of his books can be a bit hit & miss, both The Business & The Steep Approach To Garbadale are decent stories but lack punch and just seem to trail off towards the end. And I couldn't get into either Song Of Stone or Dead Air at all.

Raw Spirit is a great read, totally different being a non-fiction work & it made me want to go out & buy an obscenely powerful sports car (then I realised that I can't afford such things). Mr. Banks on the other hand sold all his fast cars in favour of a more eco-freindly hybrid...

paoloiaquinta · 02-06-2009 5:02pm

wasp factory was well good..and well weird too

paoloiaquinta · 02-06-2009 5:03pm

who is the irish iain banks - have we got any equivalent writer?

Morlar · 02-06-2009 5:04pm

paoloiaquinta wrote: »

who is the irish iain banks - have we got any equivalent writer?

Afraid not.

Iain Banks fans?

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