Reviews

Canal Dreams by Iain Banks

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knod78's review against another edition

4.0

I needed a day to process this book. WHOA! My husband encouraged me to read this book and I'm glad he did. However, the write up on the back jacket is not at ALL what I thought would happen on these pages.

It started out slow and I worried I would have to break my husband's heart. Then, I got into it and I couldn't stop. Hisako Onoda, I don't know what to say about this character, but I haven't seen or read anything like her and I kind of loved that for sure.

Ms Onoda in Part 1 and Part 2
https://th.bing.com/th/id/R.79590e0003529e74d0f4065a18da8dcf?rik=NDzB%2bxJ2YbCuUg&riu=http%3a%2f%2fcineplex.media.baselineresearch.com%2fimages%2f154893%2f154893_full.jpg&ehk=4XXh2GOwh1L%2bK7EWGNd6RsoCwgvJY8sM9L8bGQ41bGs%3d&risl=&pid=ImgRaw&r=0

Ms Onoda in Part 3
https://th.bing.com/th/id/R.6af2f050620dc67a6e39660a197d3ec7?rik=5MU%2bXY9vIVHs%2bg&riu=http%3a%2f%2fwww.terminatorfiles.com%2fmedia%2fpics%2fsaga%2ft2%2fpromo%2ft2-promo-linda-004.jpg&ehk=SftYssDJEjAvNbzJucgiUutX7GhypLBN4BFpBGwCIB4%3d&risl=&pid=ImgRaw&r=0

Holy crap, she was a bad ass. I mean dropping the anchor with the man on it was absolutely crazy and my husband said, "I thought you would like that." I did. The story is great. It takes turns. It goes quick. It doesn't get five stars though. It jumps from past, present, dream, and day dream without a smooth transition. It's like a hard edit on a movie and some were difficult to interpret. The Japan past was easy, just not smooth.

And THEN IT ENDED. I mean she survived leaving the lake in a burning oil fire and everyone dead, but then what happened?. Literally, the last line has her make it to shore seeing the destruction. Did she get back to Japan? Did she get to Europe? Did she go back on a boat? Is she pregnant? And what was with the flimsy story of the Japanese guy and the glib statement about her getting an abortion? I just felt like it was thrown in there without a good buildup to why. I figured it was to show that she was pregnant again, but then the story ended. UGHHHH!

But whatever, this book is crazy and awesome and I loved it. Is it weird that I wanted to immediately travel through the Panama Canal knowing my boat could get hijacked and I could get gang raped and tortured or killed? Nah, I didn't think so either. I'm so glad the hubby suggested me to read it and I totally recommend it.

feralwraith's review against another edition

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dark tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.25

mark_74's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.5

This is the first Iain Banks novel I've struggled with. It felt painfully slow. If it had been by an author I didn't know (or if I hadn't set myself the challenge of reading all of Iain Banks books) I think I would have given up before I got half way through. When the action did start to happen it was brutal and disturbing, and yet I still wouldn't recommend this book.

Content Warnings