Tag archives for Iain Banks
Fiction Bookshelf – Bookshelves Abound = #Shelfie 01
Bookshelves abound in my home and this is my fiction bookshelf. Every room has some books in it. So inspired by this tweet from @helionbooks I thought that it might be interesting to take pictures of all the bookshelves in my house and post them one at a time over the next couple of months with a little tiny bit of commentary on where it is and what the books are. Here is the first #Shelfie Fiction Bookshelf Fiction Bookshelf on the upstairs landing I've called this the Fiction Bookshelf because it is majority fiction, and most of my books aren't fiction. So this one is unusual because it houses most of the fiction titles in my house (well at least most of my fiction, there's a lot of other fiction belonging to my wife and children). This is a…
Influential Books – Ten Books You Should Read
Some of my most influential books A friend recently did a facebook list of the ten most influential books that had the most impact on his life, and he tagged me in it. This got me thinking. I found it hard to identify ten influential books. I firmly believe that every book you read is an influential book and has some sort of impact on your life. One of the issues I have is that I’ve read a lot of books. I’m reading 50-60 books a year just now. I read more before the internet. Doing an OU degree also cut down my reading rate. In 2012, just before my daughter was born, I gave up my study for her bedroom. I filled over 20 crates with books to keep, the ones I thought that I might re-read or refer to later. I gave…
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Book Review: The Quarry by Iain Banks
Sadly The Quarry is the last book Iain Banks ever wrote, and it is certainly a very poignant read. You can imagine him going through the same turmoil as Guy, one of the main characters who is dying of cancer. It certainly isn't my most favourite book by Iain (M) Banks, but it works better than some of the other non-SF books that I have read of his. The basic premise is one of a bunch of university friends gathering for a long weekend at the house they all lived in as students, which backs onto a Quarry - hence the book title. One of their number, Guy, still lives there with his son (who is the POV character for the whole story). Guy is dying from cancer and is nearing his final stages when the gang all arrive for…
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Stonemouth by Ian Banks – review
While there are familiar elements to the story, it being set in small town Scotland, it is a new tale from Ian Banks. The story is told in a first person point of view style, and on a first reading at least, realistically leaves some loose ends where the protagonist cannot be sure of who did what and why. Taking place over a long weekend the story unfolds with a mixture of narrative and flashbacks to explain the background relationships and the reasons why Stewart Gilmour ended up an exile from his home town. There is a believable cast of characters, they all seem real and with complex motivations, even the low-key gangster types. The underlying plot is one of relationships and how they interplay over time. It also covers some of the issues of the Scottish diaspora well, how…