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A review by timinbc
The Wasp Factory by Iain Banks
4.0
If you're a broad-minded reader who has already read some books with disturbing scenes in them, you have a good chance of liking this book. It will also help to be familiar with the dry, dark, not-always-obvious aspects of British humour.
If you've read short blurbs about the book - some of which were right on the cover of the edition I read - you might be misled into thinking this is a pot-boiler shock-for-shock's-sake puddle of depravity. I just finished this book a few hours ago and as it sinks in my appreciation of it continues to grow.
It's easy to accept that a child placed in Frank's situation could grow up with all his moral dials set to the wrong numbers. Given that, his actions are as believable as those in "Lord of the Flies". He does some appalling things, but somehow they weren't as awful as I had been led to believe, and they actually made sense within the plot. Two of his three murders are sort of amusing in a twisted Edward Gorey sort of way. Brother Eric is delightfully menacing, and every few pages the plot thickens.
And occasionally Banks is fairly explicit about what aspects of society he's examining through this strange lens.
This is a very well plotted and written book, but you might dislike it and there's a fair chance you will hate it.
There's only one way to find out.
If you've read short blurbs about the book - some of which were right on the cover of the edition I read - you might be misled into thinking this is a pot-boiler shock-for-shock's-sake puddle of depravity. I just finished this book a few hours ago and as it sinks in my appreciation of it continues to grow.
It's easy to accept that a child placed in Frank's situation could grow up with all his moral dials set to the wrong numbers. Given that, his actions are as believable as those in "Lord of the Flies". He does some appalling things, but somehow they weren't as awful as I had been led to believe, and they actually made sense within the plot. Two of his three murders are sort of amusing in a twisted Edward Gorey sort of way. Brother Eric is delightfully menacing, and every few pages the plot thickens.
And occasionally Banks is fairly explicit about what aspects of society he's examining through this strange lens.
This is a very well plotted and written book, but you might dislike it and there's a fair chance you will hate it.
There's only one way to find out.