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A review by hewlettelaine
Stonemouth by Iain Banks
4.0
Stonemouth follows Stuart Gilmour on his return to his childhood home in a small coastal town in Scotland. When he left, he was on the run from one of the town's two criminal families and his homecoming welcome is entirely uncertain. He also has to face his biggest failure - the girl he loved.
Iain Banks is on his usual form as an utterly absorbing writer. The sketching of the town and some of the characters is very amusing and shows Banks' familiarity with his material. Despite not an awful lot of actual events taking place for much of the book, Banks takes you instead deep into the mind of Stuart. This novel is primarily about memory and the past and how those events shape character and future paths. The continual shifting between past and present is totally engaging and the tension slowly builds as the two timelines come closer and closer towards the end of the book. It quickly becomes an addictive story.
This is not the most thrilling of novels, but more of a slow-burning study of growing-up, family and the importance (or not) of loyalty in many forms. The characters are all drawn brilliantly and distinctively so that you quickly become absorbed into this small community. An all-together excellent read.
Iain Banks is on his usual form as an utterly absorbing writer. The sketching of the town and some of the characters is very amusing and shows Banks' familiarity with his material. Despite not an awful lot of actual events taking place for much of the book, Banks takes you instead deep into the mind of Stuart. This novel is primarily about memory and the past and how those events shape character and future paths. The continual shifting between past and present is totally engaging and the tension slowly builds as the two timelines come closer and closer towards the end of the book. It quickly becomes an addictive story.
This is not the most thrilling of novels, but more of a slow-burning study of growing-up, family and the importance (or not) of loyalty in many forms. The characters are all drawn brilliantly and distinctively so that you quickly become absorbed into this small community. An all-together excellent read.