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halfmanhalfbook's review against another edition
4.0
Some of this book is classic Banks: highly charged situation, dysfunctional main characters and an unnerving start, but it doesn't quite have the same twist that a lot of his other fiction has.
That said, it is written very well, and makes for a compelling read. Can only give it four stars though.
smcleish's review
4.0
Stewart Gilmour returns to his home town of Stonemouth after years away, following an event which earned him the enmity of the closest that a small town north of Aberdeen has to a gangster family. He has been granted permission to return for a funeral, but do all the family members know (or care) about this? What about the other relationships which were affected by what he did - how will other people react when he returns?
Like many Banks novels, Stonemouth is told with multiple timelines presented simultaneously, though it is one of the simplest versions of this, as Stewart's current visit has his past life in the town interleaved as a series of flashbacks. This is why I've been careful not to say precisely what the event was which led to him being exiled, even though most readers are likely to have guessed well before it is revealed. The biggest problem with this sort of thing is usually that the secret to be revealed near the end of the novel is well known to all the characters throughout, and in the hands of lesser writers leads to some awkward dialogue, as people steer clear from what they would naturally say so that the author doesn't reveal his secret to the readers.
The bridge over the Stoun is an important part of Stonemouth, and bridges have played major roles in Banks' novels before now - obviously in [b:The Bridge|249606|The Bridge |Iain Banks|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1348880314s/249606.jpg|1494168], but also in [b:Canal Dreams|290566|Canal Dreams|Iain Banks|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1328666008s/290566.jpg|1494165], where the Panama Canal is like an inverse bridge joining two oceans together across the intervening land. The function of a bridge (or canal) is to connect two things otherwise unconnected, but in the earlier novels the action takes place on the structure itself, which places the characters in a kind of limbo. Here, though, the purpose of the bridge is to act as a transition from one world to another, whether through death (much is made of the bridge as a jumping off place for suicides) or by overcoming the separation between the two sides of Stewart's life. In the outside world, he is successful, and works at a job which brings light to the world, in a literal sense. In Stonemouth, he is a former insider who is now separated from the townspeople by his actions many years ago. So the bridge links to his past, to another world he has been forced to abjure, away from the light. That the gangsters in the town appear to be powerless outside it (they tried to track him down in London) is part of this. Is the novel itself some kind of metaphor for growing up? For leaving the past behind? Or is it even a suggestion that Stewart didn't survive to live his own life, but, like the suicides, crossed the bridge to death?
As well as avoiding the obvious pitfalls, Banks does a good job of winding up the tension until the denouement. Stonemouth is a literary novel structured like a thriller - Banks has always written novels which at the very least flirt with genre fiction, and this is no exception.
The characters are well drawn, the plot is believable, and the background is convincing. So why did I end up feeling that this was not Banks at his absolute best? It's partly that this has been done before by Banks; the prodigal son returning to his roots is the basis of several of his novels, with differences mainly deriving from the nature of the welcome expected. Stonemouth has a particularly stony reception for the returnee, which is perhaps one reason for the name of the town and the title of the novel. The Scottish setting, too, is common to most of Banks' non-genre fiction - superbly well done, but not breaking any new ground. The other problem I had here is that, to me, the characters fail to take off, apart from Stewart, and he himself is pretty similar to other narrators - notably Prentice McHoan in [b:The Crow Road|12021|The Crow Road|Iain Banks|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1330063373s/12021.jpg|950451]. So it's a good book, but not top class.
Like many Banks novels, Stonemouth is told with multiple timelines presented simultaneously, though it is one of the simplest versions of this, as Stewart's current visit has his past life in the town interleaved as a series of flashbacks. This is why I've been careful not to say precisely what the event was which led to him being exiled, even though most readers are likely to have guessed well before it is revealed. The biggest problem with this sort of thing is usually that the secret to be revealed near the end of the novel is well known to all the characters throughout, and in the hands of lesser writers leads to some awkward dialogue, as people steer clear from what they would naturally say so that the author doesn't reveal his secret to the readers.
The bridge over the Stoun is an important part of Stonemouth, and bridges have played major roles in Banks' novels before now - obviously in [b:The Bridge|249606|The Bridge |Iain Banks|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1348880314s/249606.jpg|1494168], but also in [b:Canal Dreams|290566|Canal Dreams|Iain Banks|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1328666008s/290566.jpg|1494165], where the Panama Canal is like an inverse bridge joining two oceans together across the intervening land. The function of a bridge (or canal) is to connect two things otherwise unconnected, but in the earlier novels the action takes place on the structure itself, which places the characters in a kind of limbo. Here, though, the purpose of the bridge is to act as a transition from one world to another, whether through death (much is made of the bridge as a jumping off place for suicides) or by overcoming the separation between the two sides of Stewart's life. In the outside world, he is successful, and works at a job which brings light to the world, in a literal sense. In Stonemouth, he is a former insider who is now separated from the townspeople by his actions many years ago. So the bridge links to his past, to another world he has been forced to abjure, away from the light. That the gangsters in the town appear to be powerless outside it (they tried to track him down in London) is part of this. Is the novel itself some kind of metaphor for growing up? For leaving the past behind? Or is it even a suggestion that Stewart didn't survive to live his own life, but, like the suicides, crossed the bridge to death?
As well as avoiding the obvious pitfalls, Banks does a good job of winding up the tension until the denouement. Stonemouth is a literary novel structured like a thriller - Banks has always written novels which at the very least flirt with genre fiction, and this is no exception.
The characters are well drawn, the plot is believable, and the background is convincing. So why did I end up feeling that this was not Banks at his absolute best? It's partly that this has been done before by Banks; the prodigal son returning to his roots is the basis of several of his novels, with differences mainly deriving from the nature of the welcome expected. Stonemouth has a particularly stony reception for the returnee, which is perhaps one reason for the name of the town and the title of the novel. The Scottish setting, too, is common to most of Banks' non-genre fiction - superbly well done, but not breaking any new ground. The other problem I had here is that, to me, the characters fail to take off, apart from Stewart, and he himself is pretty similar to other narrators - notably Prentice McHoan in [b:The Crow Road|12021|The Crow Road|Iain Banks|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1330063373s/12021.jpg|950451]. So it's a good book, but not top class.
beedubz's review
3.0
Mostly enjoyed this but the main character Stewart is kind of a douche. Was more interested in the side characters like Powell Imrie, Ferg or Phelpie. This book wasn't quite what I expected but I had to keep reading to the end so that's something.
girlwithherheadinabook's review
4.0
I've mentioned before about how The Crow Road is one of my favourite ever books. Banks as a writer is one of the most varied I have ever come across - to make things confusing he also writes science fiction under the name Iain M Banks. The next thing of his that I ever read was The Wasp Factory which made me want to cry and haunted my dreams - reviews described it as a work of 'unparalleled depravity'. It was different, I'll give it that. I remember deciding to try The Steep Approach to Garbadale after reading that it was Banks' most likeable book since The Crow Road but even that was one that I struggled to warm to.
Still, I always keep an eye out for Banks in bookshops because of how much I loved The Crow Road but I wouldn't rush out for the hardback. All the same, I actually liked Stonemouth - I read one review that said that this new book was Iain-Banks-by-numbers but I disagree. Certainly, there are parallels to The Crow Road and The Steep Approach because all three deal with someone returning to the place of their birth to confront family mysteries but there are enough differences to keep things fresh. Bildungsroman (coming of age stories) have been around for centuries - if Iain Banks is good at writing them, then I don't really understand why people are having a go.
The first line is one bold word: Clarity. This is what the main character Stewart is looking for, your class mid-twenties man who is feeling a bit directionless ... it's a bit scary that I'm now at that age myself. I no longer look at these moments of doubt as something that might happen to me in my future, it's something that's going on in my peer group. The novel begins with Stewart standing on the suspension bridge just outside of Stonemouth - nothing says Scotland quite like a good suspension bridge. The Forth Rail Bridge is a personal favourite of mine, the gateway to getting back to university. I have a postcard painting of it up in my room.
Anyway, Stewart is returning home for a funeral - but it is under very different circumstances to The Crow Road. His presence is required at the burial of Old Joe Murston, the aged patriarch of the Murston clan, one of the two crime families who quietly run Stonemouth and due to unfortunate events that occurred five years previously, Stewart needs to ask this same family's permission to enter the town. It can seem a little bit cowboy western at times but Banks does write it very convincingly. After a friendly chat with the Murston's heavy who pleasantly tells Stewart that he is fine, provided that it is just for the weekend, ken? Stewart stammers that he was thinking of staying til the following Tuesday and from there on you just know things aren't going to run smoothly.
For my full review:
http://girlwithherheadinabook.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/stonemouth-iain-banks.html#more
Still, I always keep an eye out for Banks in bookshops because of how much I loved The Crow Road but I wouldn't rush out for the hardback. All the same, I actually liked Stonemouth - I read one review that said that this new book was Iain-Banks-by-numbers but I disagree. Certainly, there are parallels to The Crow Road and The Steep Approach because all three deal with someone returning to the place of their birth to confront family mysteries but there are enough differences to keep things fresh. Bildungsroman (coming of age stories) have been around for centuries - if Iain Banks is good at writing them, then I don't really understand why people are having a go.
The first line is one bold word: Clarity. This is what the main character Stewart is looking for, your class mid-twenties man who is feeling a bit directionless ... it's a bit scary that I'm now at that age myself. I no longer look at these moments of doubt as something that might happen to me in my future, it's something that's going on in my peer group. The novel begins with Stewart standing on the suspension bridge just outside of Stonemouth - nothing says Scotland quite like a good suspension bridge. The Forth Rail Bridge is a personal favourite of mine, the gateway to getting back to university. I have a postcard painting of it up in my room.
Anyway, Stewart is returning home for a funeral - but it is under very different circumstances to The Crow Road. His presence is required at the burial of Old Joe Murston, the aged patriarch of the Murston clan, one of the two crime families who quietly run Stonemouth and due to unfortunate events that occurred five years previously, Stewart needs to ask this same family's permission to enter the town. It can seem a little bit cowboy western at times but Banks does write it very convincingly. After a friendly chat with the Murston's heavy who pleasantly tells Stewart that he is fine, provided that it is just for the weekend, ken? Stewart stammers that he was thinking of staying til the following Tuesday and from there on you just know things aren't going to run smoothly.
For my full review:
http://girlwithherheadinabook.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/stonemouth-iain-banks.html#more
reading_on_the_road's review
4.0
Anyone who has ever briefly returned to the small town they grew up in and found everything to be more or less exactly as they left it will find a lot to enjoy in this novel. Would have been 5 stars but for a few annoyingly unanswered questions.
vanessar's review
4.0
After five years away, Stewart is back in his home town of Stonemouth. He has returned to attend the funeral of a man he first met as an adolescent - a man who happens to be the father of Donald Murston, the head of one of two criminal gangs that run this small Scottish town with the approval and respect of the police. It soon becomes clear that Stewart was forced to leave town five years earlier by the Murstons following a misdemeanour and has only now been allowed to return for a few days. A truce appears to be called in the first chapter, but things swiftly go downhill for Stewart as this initial goodwill does not appear to be shared by all members of the family. As he reconnects with old friends, he tries to come to terms with his guilt over past deeds and regain contact with former love Ellie (also of the Murston clan) while trying to stay in one piece.
Stewart is a typical Iain Banks hero in that he is smart and somewhat cocksure. While not as cocky and prone to ranting as the guy in Dead Air he is, like him, in love with an unfeasibly beautiful woman with dangerous connections. Stewart’s friends are all likable characters, ranging from the endearingly dim to razor-sharp witty. By contrast, the gangsters of the protagonist’s generation are all pretty thick and very violent. The novel is fast-paced, funny and an enjoyable quick read. Some of the descriptions, especially of the very minor characters who only appear once or twice, are to the point and highly recognisable. My only quibble is with the female characters in this novel. Ellie (the love interest) seems almost too good to be true: beautiful, intelligent, calm and controlled, she stays out of the family business without rebelling against it but can’t seem to stick with anything since the events of five years ago. Her sister Grier is slightly more interesting: slightly less beautiful and much less calm, she is a bit more proactive than the passive Ellie. I felt both women could have been made more interesting. But in the end they are only supporting characters in this story about Stewart’s rite-of-passage realisation of what’s important in life.
Stewart is a typical Iain Banks hero in that he is smart and somewhat cocksure. While not as cocky and prone to ranting as the guy in Dead Air he is, like him, in love with an unfeasibly beautiful woman with dangerous connections. Stewart’s friends are all likable characters, ranging from the endearingly dim to razor-sharp witty. By contrast, the gangsters of the protagonist’s generation are all pretty thick and very violent. The novel is fast-paced, funny and an enjoyable quick read. Some of the descriptions, especially of the very minor characters who only appear once or twice, are to the point and highly recognisable. My only quibble is with the female characters in this novel. Ellie (the love interest) seems almost too good to be true: beautiful, intelligent, calm and controlled, she stays out of the family business without rebelling against it but can’t seem to stick with anything since the events of five years ago. Her sister Grier is slightly more interesting: slightly less beautiful and much less calm, she is a bit more proactive than the passive Ellie. I felt both women could have been made more interesting. But in the end they are only supporting characters in this story about Stewart’s rite-of-passage realisation of what’s important in life.
roba's review
4.0
The Iain Banks I've enjoyed most that isn't an Iain Mmmmm Banks for (checks publication date of The Crow Road) 21 years!
Many of the Iain Banks obsessions are here: a bridge, a ridiculous death, guilt about being well-off and socialist etc. - possibly just to make the author happy, if nothing else. Which is absolutely fine because Iain Banks when he's happy makes for great books. Solid and matter-of-fact and foggy and dreamy.
Also, I think Banks handles both smartphones etc. and the first generation to grow up with them second nature, something that's always a danger and has been really messed up by much younger writers. That's what I think, anyway, though I'm not of the generation best placed to judge. The only note I wasn't sure of was when he has the narrator listen to Plan B. Does that mean Banks thinks he's meant to be cool? Or an idiot? Does it mean he is cool? Or an idiot? I've no idea. Anyway, I didn't let that sentence stop me enjoying the book (for more than a couple of pages).
Many of the Iain Banks obsessions are here: a bridge, a ridiculous death, guilt about being well-off and socialist etc. - possibly just to make the author happy, if nothing else. Which is absolutely fine because Iain Banks when he's happy makes for great books. Solid and matter-of-fact and foggy and dreamy.
Also, I think Banks handles both smartphones etc. and the first generation to grow up with them second nature, something that's always a danger and has been really messed up by much younger writers. That's what I think, anyway, though I'm not of the generation best placed to judge. The only note I wasn't sure of was when he has the narrator listen to Plan B. Does that mean Banks thinks he's meant to be cool? Or an idiot? Does it mean he is cool? Or an idiot? I've no idea. Anyway, I didn't let that sentence stop me enjoying the book (for more than a couple of pages).