The Wasp Factory (The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks)

Member Name: tyorkshirelass

Product:	The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks
Date:	22/09/09 (43 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Quick read, brilliantly written, excellent characterisation

Disadvantages: Not for the squeamish

It shouldn't feel right to sympathise with someone who's killed three people (that's not a spoiler, it's on the back of the book) but the neutral voice which Iain Banks gives to his main character makes it nigh on impossible not to connect with Frank on some level, making his actions towards both people and wasps seem strangely detached from the articulate and rational teenager the reader gets to know over 184 pages, particularly in comparison with Eric's reactions throughout the novel. Nonetheless, this dark presence of impending doom - both in the form of Eric and in the possibility of Frank's previous actions being found out - constantly stalks both protagonist and reader as the prose slowly sinks its hooks into you.

Whilst it's difficult to review The Wasp Factory without talking about its graphic violence, to focus only on this aspect would overshadow what would be a masterpiece by any writer, making the fact that this is Banks' debut nothing short of phenomenal. The slow torturous build up to Eric's return is completely and utterly gripping as he cuts in and out of the narrative, jolting the reader back when one of his ominous telephone calls cuts through Frank's peaceful if slightly twisted existence. It is this sense of foreboding which runs through the novel, and constantly encapsulates its central theme of fate - something which Frank has allowed others to control for him, on a subconscious level, all his life, despite his own ideas to the contrary. The wasps of the titular factory are not the predictors Frank views them as, but rather as the creators of their own destiny. It is only when the shocking final twist is revealed that one truly sees the book for what it is: a novel of how the positive comes from the negative in life, and how we are all masters of our own destiny and must rail against being controlled by others.

Summary: Not just a phase you'll go through, but one that lingers long after putting it down