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A review by thegrimtidings
The Business by Iain Banks
3.0
Another perambulating book from Iain Banks. Similar to a (slightly better in my view) political book by him called Dead Air. The Business is a little less political: is it about politics of sorts, but doesn't make a direct commentary on it. Well, it's more subtle. I quite liked that about it. You may think from the description, a big nameless corporation called 'The Business' would obviously turn out to be the antagonist of this novel, and maybe you'd be right, but Banks makes it more nuanced than that.
The entity, 'The Business', is well-characterised. With a bit of commentary on its fictional history, its believably commercial interests, and the individuals and mechanisms at its disposal, you could believe this big mysterious holding company has been at the heart of world commerce for some years. At the time this book was written, 1999, I imagine there were obvious comparisons to the likes of Nestle, but this book has aged well enough to draw comparisons to more or less any multinational company nowadays. The Business wants a seat at the UN. Well, indeed, it and many multinational companies are richer and more influential than an uncomfortably large number of UN countries. So Banks has touched on an interesting message for his book, and which would have me recommend it to anyone interested in reading on such a topic.
That said, it's not an *engaging* read. The plot is heading in a general direction, but does so at no speed, and with no great purpose. It's not the sort of book that you reach for in any available moment. You have to force yourself to pick it up. There is no suspense, no tension, at all. For this reason I mark it down, as I think many would struggle to finish it. If you're in a reading slump before picking this up, you'd be in an even worse one half-way through it. It's the sort of book that brews on a bedside table. Fair enough, some books are like that, but it felt like The Business could've been a more interesting read if it wanted to be. And it would be a better one if it were.
Banks' usual wit shines through, of course. His writing is light-hearted in tone without being farcical. I loved Uncle Freddy's driving and the American guy who wanted to make an blockbuster film about the Mecca. Moments like that made the book worth reading, though Kathyrn as a protagonist was a very boring comedic lead. The outline of her character was interesting and she had her spicy moments, but she never felt real to me. Most of the time, she was a sort of centrist dad proxy. And I found the constant comments on how irresistible she was from other characters a bit annoying, though I suppose it could be a commentary/reflection of being a woman in big corporate at the time.
I sort of wonder what the point of Banks writing this book, and me reading it, was. It'd have made no difference to my life if I hadn't read it. That said, there were some interesting points and it was kinda feel-good at times, which is nice sometimes.
The entity, 'The Business', is well-characterised. With a bit of commentary on its fictional history, its believably commercial interests, and the individuals and mechanisms at its disposal, you could believe this big mysterious holding company has been at the heart of world commerce for some years. At the time this book was written, 1999, I imagine there were obvious comparisons to the likes of Nestle, but this book has aged well enough to draw comparisons to more or less any multinational company nowadays. The Business wants a seat at the UN. Well, indeed, it and many multinational companies are richer and more influential than an uncomfortably large number of UN countries. So Banks has touched on an interesting message for his book, and which would have me recommend it to anyone interested in reading on such a topic.
That said, it's not an *engaging* read. The plot is heading in a general direction, but does so at no speed, and with no great purpose. It's not the sort of book that you reach for in any available moment. You have to force yourself to pick it up. There is no suspense, no tension, at all. For this reason I mark it down, as I think many would struggle to finish it. If you're in a reading slump before picking this up, you'd be in an even worse one half-way through it. It's the sort of book that brews on a bedside table. Fair enough, some books are like that, but it felt like The Business could've been a more interesting read if it wanted to be. And it would be a better one if it were.
Banks' usual wit shines through, of course. His writing is light-hearted in tone without being farcical. I loved Uncle Freddy's driving and the American guy who wanted to make an blockbuster film about the Mecca. Moments like that made the book worth reading, though Kathyrn as a protagonist was a very boring comedic lead. The outline of her character was interesting and she had her spicy moments, but she never felt real to me. Most of the time, she was a sort of centrist dad proxy. And I found the constant comments on how irresistible she was from other characters a bit annoying, though I suppose it could be a commentary/reflection of being a woman in big corporate at the time.
I sort of wonder what the point of Banks writing this book, and me reading it, was. It'd have made no difference to my life if I hadn't read it. That said, there were some interesting points and it was kinda feel-good at times, which is nice sometimes.