Wednesday, May 09, 2007

Espedair Street - Iain Banks


Banks has a bit of a reputation as a “cult” writer. But those who understand him don’t just like him, they love him. Whether it be straight “Iain Banks” the fiction writer or “Iain M Banks” the sci-fi writer, he has a deep insight into humanity and what drives us that can be, at times, unnerving.
Espedair Street is about a man who has everything and nothing. A man who feels ugly and out of place in a world that has adored and admired him. Banks weaves Dannys’ world together, the past, the future and the present. From the opening line “Two days ago I decided to kill myself” and drowning as “to be spun inside the whirlpool and listen with my water-logged deaf ears to its mile wide voice” you are caught within that whirlpool.
Banks plays with the reader, as ever. Snippets that you hope will later be explained. Elements of humour that make you feel guilty for laughing as a sadness unfolds. But more, you don’t just want to know, you need to know, what is happening. Can he find happiness in oblivion or simply anonymity? Once dreams have been answered can we recognise what resides in our hearts?

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Interesting to know.