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4.04 AVERAGE
4.04 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
adventurous
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I liked it, but it’s slightly different to the other culture novels in that it’s the story of one character as we learn more about his history. The narrative structure is not straightforward and it’s dark at times.
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
2.5 stars. I am not certain but this feels like my least favorite Culture book. Maybe it was because of how I read it (spanning the holidays, so a busy time) but it felt like there were many loose ends everywhere, and reading other reviews or wikipedia did not help. But I enjoyed the ending and in all, found it to be an enjoyable read.
Si je devais décrire ce livre en un mot, je ne dirais que : Brilliant. Et ce pour une raison : Je ne m’attendais absolument pas au déroulement de l’histoire.
En plusieurs années de lecture, il m’arrive rarement d’être véritablement surprise par le déroulé d’une histoire ou sa fin. Use of Weapons est un vrai tour de force. L’histoire fait de réguliers bonds dans le passé et le futur, et suit plusieurs timelines en même temps. S’il est parfois difficile de s’y retrouver à cause de cela, il n’en est que plus intéressant.
Le livre est composé de plusieurs différentes aventures et suit principalement deux personnages, Cheradenine Zakalwe et Diziet Sma, dont les histoires s’entremêlent et se croisent à mesure que l’on avance dans le récit.
Use of Weapons fait parti de cette catégorie de livre dont il est difficile de parler sans révéler le twist, et qui est trop complexe pour en explorer les termes vaguement. Poétique, dur, cruel parfois, violent à certains moments, mélancolique, cynique. Un vrai chef d’oeuvre, et pour l’instant mon préféré de la série des Culture Novels. Du beau space opéra et un incontournable, selon moi.
En plusieurs années de lecture, il m’arrive rarement d’être véritablement surprise par le déroulé d’une histoire ou sa fin. Use of Weapons est un vrai tour de force. L’histoire fait de réguliers bonds dans le passé et le futur, et suit plusieurs timelines en même temps. S’il est parfois difficile de s’y retrouver à cause de cela, il n’en est que plus intéressant.
Le livre est composé de plusieurs différentes aventures et suit principalement deux personnages, Cheradenine Zakalwe et Diziet Sma, dont les histoires s’entremêlent et se croisent à mesure que l’on avance dans le récit.
Use of Weapons fait parti de cette catégorie de livre dont il est difficile de parler sans révéler le twist, et qui est trop complexe pour en explorer les termes vaguement. Poétique, dur, cruel parfois, violent à certains moments, mélancolique, cynique. Un vrai chef d’oeuvre, et pour l’instant mon préféré de la série des Culture Novels. Du beau space opéra et un incontournable, selon moi.
Basic premise rundown: Tired of a lifetime of war and interference, former Special Circumstances agent Cheradenine Zakalwe is trying to retire and disappear off the grid -- but the Culture isn't done with him yet. So his handler Diziet Sma (and her dry, sarcastic drone companion) descend to pull him out of retirement for One Last Job: to similarly pull an old politician out of retirement and use him to quell a brewing war in the system.
---
(Sidebar: I like how the premise strangely reflects the book's very creation on a meta level, which is shown in the acknowledgments: "I blame Ken MacLeod for the whole thing. It was his idea to argue the old warrior out of retirement, and he suggested the fitness program, too." I didn't find out until after reading the book that it was one of the very first that Banks ever wrote, back in 1974 -- the first Culture novel wasn't published until 1987, and Use of Weapons in 1990 -- and so he essentially dusted off the novel itself and brought it back out of the cupboard.)
---
Review: Approaching the end of this book, I was prepared to give it 3 stars... but then the ending blew me away and boosted it an entire star rating. I won't spoil it, but suffice it to say that making it to the end is very, very worth it, although overall I preferred other Culture novels.
This book cements Banks, in my mind, as one of the most innovative writers I'm currently reading. What I love about him is that he plays around with narrative techniques, format, and structure so much -- sometimes it doesn't quite work, and that's fine, but at least he's exhibiting a playfulness with form that prevents his writing from being dry and predictable. Whether it's epistolary transcripts, dual narrators, hopping perspective between universes, or -- in this case -- two narrative threads moving forward and backward in time: one following Zakalwe's present-day adventures, the other counting backwards through his history and origins. It's hard to describe this, but TV Tropes summarised it nicely: "The two main approaches to the ending is one story working forwards towards the events, and a second story working backwards to their meaning."
I think I would've liked to know that element going in; to my shame, it took me quite a while to get into this book and understand what the hell was going on with the chapters. That very narrative experimentation also cripples the pace of the book somewhat, making it surprisingly sedate despite all the action -- all of the flashbacks and shifts away from the present-day arc make it slow down, depicting Zakalwe marinating in his guilt, trying to find some meaning in his life, taking a break from everything in order to (almost quite literally) stop and smell the roses.
That said, those very flashbacks are a wonderful depiction of a soldier trying to escape the soldiering life despite that being the only thing he's good at -- especially aligned with the present-day arc and thus proof that his retirement obviously failed, because he's back in the saddle all over again. War is also one of the few things that makes him happy. The character arc of Zakalwe coming to terms with this fact about himself is pretty poignant; you don't want to think of him as unhinged, but when he takes mass death in such stride and approaches war like a delightful mathematical problem to be untangled, well... (I also liked the juxtaposition of poetry & war; Zakalwe tries to write poems, and he is terrible at it.)
Use of Weapons is also another nice exploration of the Culture + Contact + Special Circumstances and their tendency to use people as unwitting pawns. One of my favourite throwaway quotes is from close to the end (not really a spoiler though):
What's brilliant is that 'bizarre and perverse' is supposed to refer to the man, but can be applied even better to the drone... and in that moment, Skaffen-Amtiskaw's aimless, omnipotent meddling stands for the entire Culture's insatiable curiosity & meddlesome nature.
The book is melancholy, twisty, and disturbing, and explores how people (and even the most innocuous objects) can become weapons. Again, to quote TV Tropes (SORRY I JUST LOVE THAT SITE): "It's not called Use of Weapons just because of the guns." The whole way through, the ubiquitous references to the chair made me roll my eyes -- what could possibly be so traumatising about a chair? -- but knowing Banks' capacity for twisted sordidness, I should never have freaking doubted it. Just... Oh.
Anyway. This leaves me with only one Culture novel left, the brand-new Hydrogen Sonata, and I've been dragging my heels because I don't want to run out. The Culture is one of my favourite settings to romp around in.
---
(Sidebar: I like how the premise strangely reflects the book's very creation on a meta level, which is shown in the acknowledgments: "I blame Ken MacLeod for the whole thing. It was his idea to argue the old warrior out of retirement, and he suggested the fitness program, too." I didn't find out until after reading the book that it was one of the very first that Banks ever wrote, back in 1974 -- the first Culture novel wasn't published until 1987, and Use of Weapons in 1990 -- and so he essentially dusted off the novel itself and brought it back out of the cupboard.)
---
Review: Approaching the end of this book, I was prepared to give it 3 stars... but then the ending blew me away and boosted it an entire star rating. I won't spoil it, but suffice it to say that making it to the end is very, very worth it, although overall I preferred other Culture novels.
This book cements Banks, in my mind, as one of the most innovative writers I'm currently reading. What I love about him is that he plays around with narrative techniques, format, and structure so much -- sometimes it doesn't quite work, and that's fine, but at least he's exhibiting a playfulness with form that prevents his writing from being dry and predictable. Whether it's epistolary transcripts, dual narrators, hopping perspective between universes, or -- in this case -- two narrative threads moving forward and backward in time: one following Zakalwe's present-day adventures, the other counting backwards through his history and origins. It's hard to describe this, but TV Tropes summarised it nicely: "The two main approaches to the ending is one story working forwards towards the events, and a second story working backwards to their meaning."
I think I would've liked to know that element going in; to my shame, it took me quite a while to get into this book and understand what the hell was going on with the chapters. That very narrative experimentation also cripples the pace of the book somewhat, making it surprisingly sedate despite all the action -- all of the flashbacks and shifts away from the present-day arc make it slow down, depicting Zakalwe marinating in his guilt, trying to find some meaning in his life, taking a break from everything in order to (almost quite literally) stop and smell the roses.
That said, those very flashbacks are a wonderful depiction of a soldier trying to escape the soldiering life despite that being the only thing he's good at -- especially aligned with the present-day arc and thus proof that his retirement obviously failed, because he's back in the saddle all over again. War is also one of the few things that makes him happy. The character arc of Zakalwe coming to terms with this fact about himself is pretty poignant; you don't want to think of him as unhinged, but when he takes mass death in such stride and approaches war like a delightful mathematical problem to be untangled, well... (I also liked the juxtaposition of poetry & war; Zakalwe tries to write poems, and he is terrible at it.)
Use of Weapons is also another nice exploration of the Culture + Contact + Special Circumstances and their tendency to use people as unwitting pawns. One of my favourite throwaway quotes is from close to the end (not really a spoiler though):
Spoiler
The man was a walking mess and there were still two bullets inside him, but he refused to accept any treatment until he'd seen this woman. Bizarre, Skaffen-Amtiskaw thought, using an extended field to block the path of a small insect as it felt and picked its way up the trunk of the tree. The insect changed direction, feelers waving. There was another type of insect further up the trunk, and Skaffen-Amtiskaw was trying to get them to meet, to see what would happen.
Bizarre, and even — indeed — perverse.
What's brilliant is that 'bizarre and perverse' is supposed to refer to the man, but can be applied even better to the drone... and in that moment, Skaffen-Amtiskaw's aimless, omnipotent meddling stands for the entire Culture's insatiable curiosity & meddlesome nature.
The book is melancholy, twisty, and disturbing, and explores how people (and even the most innocuous objects) can become weapons. Again, to quote TV Tropes (SORRY I JUST LOVE THAT SITE): "It's not called Use of Weapons just because of the guns." The whole way through, the ubiquitous references to the chair made me roll my eyes -- what could possibly be so traumatising about a chair? -- but knowing Banks' capacity for twisted sordidness, I should never have freaking doubted it. Just... Oh.
Anyway. This leaves me with only one Culture novel left, the brand-new Hydrogen Sonata, and I've been dragging my heels because I don't want to run out. The Culture is one of my favourite settings to romp around in.
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes