commafruit.co.uk. welcome.

It may be that I’m just a good fit for it, or maybe it just came at the right time, because despite a somewhat lukewarm critical reception¹, I loved Iain Banks’ latest effort.

The Steep Approach to Garbadale tells the story of Alban, a renegade member of the successful Wopuld family, who is asked to return to his family in order to persuade them not to sell out the business to a huge American firm. But it’s not the only thing Alban has to think about: returning to his family means he must confront his feelings for his cousin Sophie, a lust he’s harboured for years, and one which has impaired more obvious relationship opportunities. There is also the looming issue of his mother’s suicide, little discussed since his childhood.

All this is nicely interspersed with contributions from Alban’s new friends (who are far more vulgar than him, and even more so than his family), flashbacks from the gap year he spent travelling, and other international trips he’s been on. Laugh-out-loud funny in places and touching in others, the novel is certainly a page-turner, even if the “twist” at the end is a long way from a revelation.

My only complaint is that Banks can’t help throw in his own² attacks against Bush, the Iraq war and feeding them through his characters like they were marionettes. Even though I agree with his politics, I’d prefer that he kept such sensitive subjects out of a book that really, doesn’t need them. The fact that having an American firm try to take over a smaller, British concern is a major plot point does not mean it needs to be politicised, even if it looks like it’s begging to be.

¹ I mean proper critics. See the Guardian review for reference.
² highly unsubtle, especially noticeable when coming from one with such a powerful command of the language

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This is, to my knowledge, Banks’ first science fiction novel which takes him away from his “Culture” universe. This was alarming at first, since we associate his SF with the Culture, but here there is enough background material packed into one book to create an equally vibrate world (or, rather, galaxy).

Here we find the hero (”Fassin Taak”) is summoned to a distant world to find a long lost piece of information which is thought will help his people in an imminant war. Most of the story deals with this; but perhaps feeling that he needs to match the depth he provides in the culture novels, Banks provides a wealth of context for his characters. Taak’s experiences in childhood are used to introduce relevant characters, and every new race is described with such detail (down to the political and social levels) that the reader feels comfortable in understanding them.

As usual, it’s hard not to be drawn in to the authors imagination - this is an epic story, stretching from the tiniest nuaces of people interaction to galaxy-wide war - and it just makes you wonder what was left out. If this much detail has been crammed into a single volume, there must be so much more Banks could have included, and you’re left wanting even more.

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Been reading a lot lately, perhaps more than I should have been considering I have four exams this month, but this is how it goes.

Firstly, two sides of Iain (M.) Banks, with The Wasp Factory having been released under the name Iain Banks, and Use Of Weapons under the name Iain M. Banks. Friends have described Banks as pretentious for making a subtle distinction between the two writing styles he employs (broadly, “M. Banks” writes science fiction, plain old “Banks” does not), but I like the idea that he employs two personae for his books, yet through the similarities in the names used he is open that they are the same person.

Anyway, two fabulous books: firstly The Wasp Factory is widely (and rightly) regarded a modern classic. It’s tense, and mysterious in an understated way – it’s not really a thriller in the sense that the author is holding back information on purpose, more that the style of narration means that new information is portioned out slowly, allowing the plot to benefit from the reader’s ignorance. I was gripped until the last with this.

Use of Weapons also takes advantage of the authors ability to define the level of reader knowledge. Not a good book for one unused to Culture stories to start with, but a real treat for loyal readers. Though dealing with one continuous story, the novel is split into two halves, quickly alternating between chapters. In an clever twist however, one of the series of chapters are actually in reverse chronological order, meaning that the reader learns more and more about the sordid past of one of the characters as they go, thus gaining more insight for the rest of the story. Ingenious stuff, and another enjoyable read, but as I’ve said, perhaps not a good place to start one’s journey into the Culture.

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