The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks Reviews

This book was controversial in it's time, and the graphic depiction of a family of psychotics has some disturbing elements. When you realise towards the end the price the main character has paid for his fathers mistreatment, the evil he has committed makes a kind of awful sense. To say that the Wasp Factory's humour is dark is an ...  Read the complete review

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 ...  Read the complete review

Seventeen year old Frank is a killer. He kills birds, mice and other small animals. Fortunately, he doesn't kill people any more - it was just a passing phase, when he killed Blythe, Paul and Esmeralda (not all at once, mind you). Frank's brother Eric is also deeply unhinged, with a penchant for burning dogs, and his father isn't entirely ...  Read the complete review

This book is written to be a shocker, it unabashedly describes every mundane event in minute detail, sometimes rendering it dull, and sometimes just plain disgusting. The story is of Frank, a 16 year old, with strange and unusual views of death and murder. We try, as readers, to understand his odd sentiments, but struggle to achieve the mindset ...  Read the complete review

I picked up this book at Waterstones after I saw it was in it's 3-2 offer. Summary: Frank is a 17 year old boy who lives a somewhat strange existance. Living on a island in Scotland with his single aging father and spending his days on the island chasing rabits and living the life of a "soldier" of the Wasp Factory ...  Read the complete review

I won a copy of The Wasp Factory by Iain Banks on a local radio station recently, I remembered the book caused a bit of a furore when it was first published in the 80's but it's not the kind of book that would have ever appealed to me so the controversy went in one ear and out of the other. I was drawn in by the words 'Gothic Horror' ...  Read the complete review

The Wasp Factory is Iain Banks debut novel. The story opens pretty graphically with Frank topping up his sacrifice poles, these contain the bodies and skulls of animals he has previous killed. These sacrifice poles are used to protect the territory that Frank and his father live on; a small island. We hear early on about Frank's older ...  Read the complete review

'If you are squeamish or easily frightened, then leave the wasp Factory severly alone... Read if you dare,' said the Daily Express. The book follows the extraordinary and private world of Frank, providing an insight into those excluded from society, Obsessive Compulsive Disorders and a mind so brutal it will horrify you. With vivid ...  Read the complete review

“Sick”. “Disturbing”. “Disgusting”. Just glancing through some of the other reviews of Iain Banks’s debut novel, The Wasp Factory, these seem to be the most commonly used words. But I think they’ve missed out the most important one: FUNNY. The Wasp Factory is described on the front cover as “a gothic horror”, and sure, it does ...  Read the complete review

The Wasp Factory. ********************* I spotted Iain Bank's the Wasp Factory on a friend's bookshelf at the end of last year. It was the title that intrigued me more than anything. The book is described on the front as a 'gothic horror novel' and the back page reads: Enter - if you can bear it - the extraordinary private ...  Read the complete review

A brilliant insightful novel. This was recommended to me ages ago and I finally got round to picking up a copy, and I'm glad I did. Although hard to follow at times, it is well worth your patience and persistance. I laughed out loud at times (met with weird looks on the train!) and cringed at others. This is a must read and a great way to ...  Read the complete review

I first read ?The Wasp factory? after a teacher recommended it, initially I had high expectations as I had already read many of the writers science fiction novels where he writes as Iain M Banks. The story follows a sixteen year old called Frank who, during the book reveals three murders he committed in the past. Whilst this takes place ...  Read the complete review

What a messed up book, but wow, it rocks! This is a twisted novel written in the third person about a sixteen year old named Frank. ?I had been making the rounds of the sacrifice poles the day we heard my Brother had escaped? Those are the first lines of the most messed up novel you will ever read, and it just keeps on ...  Read the complete review

This book, much like the others by Iain Banks that I have read, is incredibly complex and leads the reader through several seemingly seperate storylines simultaneously. All these individual threads all come together in the end with a climatic result. This was the first of several books I have read by Iain Banks and the one that I consider to be ...  Read the complete review

The Wasp Factory was Iain Banks first novel, and what a First it was! It is without doubt one of the most disturbing novels I have ever read. I found when trying to describe this book very few words that could accurately convey what I thought about it, Bizarre, Twisted, Compulsive, Disturbing and Cruel, are you getting the picture? ...  Read the complete review

Three murders and the boy is only 16 - that is quite a tally for one so young. The book is written in the first person by Frank, our 'hero'. Frank lives with his father but has never been registered with the authorities and so doesn't really exist as a legal entity. He is left to his own devices each day by his old ...  Read the complete review

If ever a book made me sit up and take notice then this book is it! I've just finished reading The Wasp Factory and a lot of the story continues spinning around my head, in the way only a really brilliant, engrossing book can. I borrowed this from my boyfriend (mo79, who's done an excellent review on it too!) and I see that lots ...  Read the complete review

The only bad publicity is no publicity. So if you want a book to sell or a film to be seen, don't worry about negative reviews. In fact, be pleased about them. In fact, *encourage* them. If someone hears that a book 1) is sick; 2) is corrupting; 3) is misogynistic; 4) shouldn't be read, they will naturally want to read it. And if ...  Read the complete review

The Wasp factory is a dark novel, the first by Iain Banks. Its plot hooks you early on and keeps you thoroughly entertained with the various gruesome deaths inflicted on various members of the hero/heroines?? family and various wildlife of the island.For a first novel this is an excellant read and would recommend people to start off with this ...  Read the complete review

This book has a great twist at the end. I would recommend it to anyone who has an intrest in horrors - Advantages: very easy to read, compelling reading - Disadvantages: I did not guess the twist hmmmm