| Product: |
The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks |
| Date: |
15/05/01 (89 review reads) |
| Rating: |
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Advantages: vademecum of murder methods
Disadvantages: shameless exploitation of shock descriptions for notoriety
My modest suggestion: bonsai ops which can be (hopefully) thorough in just 250 words - and I mean *exactly* 250 words, excepting this brief introduction (count them! - quotes don't count, as per dooyoo instructions)
And before you think I'm taking shortcuts to gain reads, let me assure you having written this op that writing a 250-word op was far more difficult than writing a long-winded one (shameless plug: crown awarders take note please ;-) )
______
THE WASP FACTORY (TWF) is Iain Banks' debut from way back in 1984 - I loved Banks' COMPLICITY, though his latest THE BUSINESS was somewhat disappointing. With TWF it's 2 negatives out of 3, I'm afraid.
I know this will rattle the hordes of Banks fans, but I found TWF about as fascinating as curdled soup. Was I meant to be shocked by the descriptions? Horror horror! They were just boring - been there, done that. Mr Banks, you're not the first to have discovered the selling power of shock. It's all been done in far more original and stimulating ways.
Of course Banks knew, even at this early stage, how to weave a story, and I admire his talent for unveiling layer after layer on a pay-per-need basis. But please, give us more than mere ramblings on the atrocities a kid can inflict on unsuspecting children and animals. The story is that of Frank living out his fantasies as a mentally-twisted kid who takes perverse pleasure in killing. The de rigueur quote:
"That's my score to date. Three. I haven't killed anybody for years, and don't intend to ever again. It was just a stage I was going through."
The chief redeeming factor is the analysis of Eric's tribulations (Frank's brother, escaped from a mental institution).
The ending, I must admit, I did not see coming - it was unexpected and in another book could have been pleasant. But in TWF it felt like a bad episode from "Days of our Li
ves".
Summary:
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Last comments:
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- 21/05/01 I enjoyed the novel because of the story, not just the shock factor. It's annoying that it's been so long since I read it, because I can't remember too much detail. But the end was one hell of a surprise.
If you want something that will shock you, try The Player of Games (an "M" novel). I think anyone who can claim to be cynical after that one is worrying ;) |
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- 18/05/01 Ok, semi-granted (but not quite!) about the shock thing. Perhaps that ties in with Switch's desensitisation point... More than anything, though, my first Banks was COMPLICITY, which I thought was great - the torture scenes there DID shock me in fact! |
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- 18/05/01 Bonsai?? Well, I like the idea but I would have preferred a more descriptive review - guess that's just me! And I disagree about the power to shock thing - it depends on whether the reader has read any of the 'more original' books/authors before. For me - TWF was the first book I read that had that power (at about age 14?) and thus I thought it was great! Still do! moomin |
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