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ronanmcd's review
4.0
I read this post-Bosnia, 18 years ago, when it was published and I was in school. Revisiting, I expected a fast read. The earthy sodden language stopped me in its get bleakness. Banks used words with a spartan beauty, describing a loss of social order, magnitudes of transgression, and a decent to hell. A landed bon vivant has his possessions and heritage taken from him as social order falls apart. A stark, harsh story full of the imbecilic and profound stupidity of armed conflict.
eccles's review
adventurous
dark
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
Horrible book, not sure what the author was trying to do with it. A first-person account the horrors of war in some dystopian future English(?) anti-idyll, descending from confused terror into manic torture and cruelty. Our narrator, Abel, seems to be some kind of reluctant lord of a castle, a building that serves as the mute centre of his story, which is captured, shelled and later sacked by one of the roving bands of militia. The grim tale is periodically deadened by Abel’s ruminations on the strange sexual adventures of his youth, his privileged place in the old world and how ill-prepared he is for the hard exigencies of the new one. This voice is written, I suppose, to sound archaic, aloof and diffident, as landed gentry might be, but for me it was just stilted, false and in the end tedious. Tedium and horror: not a great recommendation.
mattlaw290's review
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
1.5
pinch's review
DONT READ THIS FUCKING FILTH.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Child abuse, and Rape
lazygal's review
3.0
I'm not sure that I got the Balkan tie-in, but it's certainly about some European country under some military distress. The era is uncertain, but there are roving (marauding?) bands of militia in the country, and Abel and Morgan decide to leave their castle for a safer area. Unfortunately they are stopped not terribly far from the castle by one such militia group, and returned to the castle as host/captives.
Abel is certainly Lord of the Manor, and takes housing these ruffians as an affront. At first, Loot (the leader) agrees that there will be no damage done to the house, that they will treat the contents with respect. Within a day or so, a shell strike damages the castle, leading to the Old Retainer, Albert, having a heart attack - the first casualty. Only a few days later, they capture the gun the shot the shells, and a raucous celebration (complete with unwilling refugee women) takes place. The contents of the house are destroyed, Loot and Morgan have an "intimate" moment and Abel, either by accident or by reason of distraughtness over the castle and Morgan, shoots Loot (and misses). You can imagine the ending.
At times this is an uncomfortable read, but Banks is such a good author that you don't want to put the book aside.
Abel is certainly Lord of the Manor, and takes housing these ruffians as an affront. At first, Loot (the leader) agrees that there will be no damage done to the house, that they will treat the contents with respect. Within a day or so, a shell strike damages the castle, leading to the Old Retainer, Albert, having a heart attack - the first casualty. Only a few days later, they capture the gun the shot the shells, and a raucous celebration (complete with unwilling refugee women) takes place. The contents of the house are destroyed, Loot and Morgan have an "intimate" moment and Abel, either by accident or by reason of distraughtness over the castle and Morgan, shoots Loot (and misses). You can imagine the ending.
At times this is an uncomfortable read, but Banks is such a good author that you don't want to put the book aside.
6th_extinction's review
4.0
Banks is often best when brutish, and this is a truly despondent, despairing, brutal book. Better than the credit it's getting here but admittedly not everyone.
It's at times abstract and philosophical and the narrator is far from likeable. Yet, its a gripping, poetic portrayal of post-war / post-apocalyptic brutality and the breakdown of moral and societal codes.
It's at times abstract and philosophical and the narrator is far from likeable. Yet, its a gripping, poetic portrayal of post-war / post-apocalyptic brutality and the breakdown of moral and societal codes.
loudandlittle's review
1.0
I couldn't finish this one. too bleak and ugly for me and I found little beauty in the language.
tartancrusader's review
3.0
Very dark, very bleak, very unforgiving. I can see why so many of Banks's fans dislike this. It's a several-orders-of-magnitude departure from his (mostly) otherwise lighter-in-tone works where everything, for the most part, turns out all right in the end. Nevertheless, I enjoyed it; not his best work, by quite some distance, but still worthy of your attention.
kristian26's review against another edition
challenging
dark
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5