See? (The Crow Road - Iain Banks)

Member Name: Paradox

Product:	The Crow Road - Iain Banks
Date:	24/07/01 (391 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Fun, Interesting, Witty

Disadvantages: Sometimes requires concentration

‘ “…all your nonsenses and truths, your finery and squalid options, combine and coalesce, to one noise including laugh and whimper, scream and sigh, forever and forever repeating, in any tongue we care to choose, whatever lessened, separated message we want to hear. It all boils down to nothing, and where we have the means and will to fix our reference within that flux; there we are. If it has any final signal, the universe says simply, but with every possible complication, ‘Existence,’ and it neither pressures us, nor draws us out, except as we allow. Let me be part of that outrageous chaos…and I am.” ’

I wasn’t even aware there was a TV series until I read it in the only other opinion on this book (at the time of writing).

My first encounter with Banks, was ‘The Wasp Factory’, and that started a twisted fascination with the author. Gothic horror isn’t usually my chosen genre, but I think that Banks is now a chosen author.

The book opens with the remarkable, and now over-repeated line,
“It was the day my grandmother exploded.”
That is the line that got me interested in this particular book, so when my grandmother leant it to me, I was already more than eager to read it.

The book’s activities concern Prentice McHoan, his family and friends. He dwells on the existence of a supreme being, a deity, while death draws him back to Gallanach time and time again.

Amongst all the other goings on a particular interest of his, is his Uncle Rory. Rory is his father’s brother, and is missing. He’d published one travelling book about 10 years ago, and a few years back borrowed his friend’s bike to go somewhere, and never turned up.

So comes about the title of the book, to be ‘away the crow road’, you can do your own Scottish accents in your heads, means to be dead, and is also the name of a mysteriou
s folder which Rory has started, a compilation of poetry prose, and just general notes. Prentice deduces that this was meant to be Rory’s attempt at a great project, something to re-launch his career, and tries to decipher and gather more of Rory’s work.

Intertwined with Prentice’s life is his good friend Ash. She’s got long legs and likes drugs, and Prentice spends a lot of the book idly flirting with her, and then starts to wonder if he actually is in love with her or not.

My favourite bit in the book is the beginning of one of the many stories that Prentice’s father used to tell him as a child, and it goes like this:

“… ‘Were they Slow Children?’
‘Some of them were, as a matter of fact, but at the time they didn’t have the signs to tell them so.’
‘Are the Slow Children only in Lochgair, dad?’
‘No; there are Slow Children in various places; watch out for the road-signs…’”

I would recommend Banks to anyone who just likes a good read, it’s far from boring, and although ‘The Wasp Factory’ is probably a little garish for an introduction, ‘The Crow Road’ is not, so, go ahead and start reading.

I think I’ll buy ‘The Business’ next…

Summary: