Frank cauldhame, the teenager from whose viewpoint the book is related, lives a free lifestyle with his crippled father, eagerly awaiting the return home of his elder brother eric. This is a masterful novel, the first outing for banks. Review of the wasp factory by iain banks navigating the. A look into the harrowing, debut novel by iain banks, the wasp factory. In the case of the wasp factory, i had some gr friends who liked iain banks and another gr friend wanted to trade books, so i swapped with the mistaken impression that banks. Frank, no ordinary sixteenyearold, lives with his father outside a remote. Iain banks on the wasp factory iain banks speaks to john mullan about his novel the wasp factory and takes questions from the audience at the. Banks wrote twentyseven novels during his lifetime, the last of which was published posthumously. The book opens with the news that eric has just escaped from the hospital, and is making his way back home. Iain banks was a scottish author who began writing full time after the wasp factory was published. Buy the wasp factory by iain banks online at alibris. Iain banks meets james naughtie and readers at the national library of scotland in edinburgh to talk about his debut novel the wasp factory, first published in 1984. Few novelists have ever burst onto the literary scene with as much controversy as iain banks in 1984. This book is the 498th greatest fiction book of all time as determined by.
The wasp factory is as amusing as it is scary and the way that iain banks mixes these two ingredients together plays a big part in giving the book its unique literary flavour. Banks s writing skills are impressive, and reading the wasp factory has encouraged me to try and get my hands on some of his science fiction written as iain m. The wasp factory 1998 read online free book by iain. I didnt know what to expect, but it certainly wasnt that. I hadnt been to the dump for a while, and it was about time i went to see what the good folk of porteneil had thrown out. The book sold well, but was greeted with a mixture of acclaim and criticism, due to its gruesome depiction of violence. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders. Despite the disturbing subject matter, i found the wasp factory to be very readable. The wasp factory by iain banks 97803499180paperback. Enter if you can bear it the extraordinary private world of frank, just sixteen, and unconventional, to say the least. Banks, including the initial of his adopted middle name menzies. In 20, the wasp factory was adapted into an opera, in which frank was represented by a trio of female singers.
Jk toole a confederacy of dunces full book duration. Banks this summer, to read more about the imaginative worlds which lived in this talented and inspiring authors mind. Two years after i killed blyth i murdered my young brother paul, for quite different and more fundamental reasons than id disposed of blyth, and then a year after that i did for my young cousin esmerelda, more or less on a. Having previously read and enjoyed the crow road and raw spirit, and having watched and read tributes to him at the time of his death, i wanted to read his first novel.
The wasp factory was written almost 30 years ago by iain banks, who sadly died in 20. The wasp factory is 244 pages long, ive read it twice, and have never read a book like it. He wanted to be a writer from an early age, and after a series of unpublished attempts at science fiction in the late 1970s, he published his first novel, the wasp factory, at the age of thirty. Iain banks s most popular book is the wasp factory. Named one of the top 100 novels of the century by the independent, the wasp factory is a bizarre, imaginative, disturbing and darkly comic look into the mind of a child psychopath. Banks decided to try a more mainstream novel in the hopes that it would be more readily accepted, and wrote about a psychopathic teenager living on a remote scottish island.
John mullan on readers responses to the wasp factory by iain banks. If you are still wondering how to get free pdf epub of book the wasp factory by iain banks. Iain banks was born in scotland, where he lived for the majority of his life. Free download or read online the wasp factory pdf epub book. In the article we learn that the wasp factory was iain. I suspect that iain banks wasp factory character frank cauldhame was inspired by shirley jacksons merricat, as these two darkly memorable teenagers share a great many quirks the totems and protections to secure their respective fortresses, the obsessive superstitions that govern their daily lives and routines, their isolation. The narrator of iain bankss novel, 16yearold frank cauldhame, is looking to explain a mystery. One of the most brilliant first novels i have come across.
Frank, no ordinary sixteenyearold, lives with his father outs. This is free download the wasp factory by iain banks complete book soft copy. The wasp factory is the first novel by scottish writer iain banks, published in 1984. He lives with his father outside a remote scottish village. Iain banks speaks to john mullan about his novel the wasp factory and takes questions from the audience at the guardian book club. Banks was born on february 16, 1954 in fife, scotland. Subscribe to the lovereading newsletter and get personalised book suggestions and extracts straight to your inbox every week. Iain banks came to widespread and controversial public notice with the publication of his first novel, the wasp factory, in 1984. The narrator, whose cool prose is sometimes a bit too sophisticated for credibility, is 16yearold frank cauldhame, living outside a remote. The first edition of the novel was published in 1984, and was written by iain banks. The wasp factory book by iain banks official publisher. Pdf the wasp factory book by iain banks free download. This is the first of six of his books on the list and is a quick read, but by no means easy. It is a short read or listen, but it has something about it that demands you only nibble at it and chew on.
The guardian has posted iain s own take on the background to his breakthrough novel the wasp factory over at books uk. These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of the wasp factory by iain banks. He wrote mainstream fiction under the name iain banks and science fiction as iain m. The book was published in multiple languages including english, consists of 192 pages and is available in paperback format. Yes, the wasp factory has a lot of disturbing images of a psychotic youth committing violence on people and animals. The guardian books podcast guardian book club podcast. The wasp factory by iain banks plot summary litcharts. He gained enormous popular and critical acclaim for both his mainstream and his science fiction novels. The wasp factory is his first book, and due to its popularity, is the reason banks was able to become a fulltime writer. The novel takes place over the course of several days, both in the present, as frank prepares for erics return, and in. Iain banks is a wellrespected author from dunfermline scotland.
Iain banks 16 february 1954 9 june 20 was a scottish author. The wasp factory by iain banks, 9780684853154, available at book depository with free delivery worldwide. Other notable works of his fall into the categories of nonfiction, fiction, and. The wasp factory essays are academic essays for citation. Iain banks came to widespread and controversial public notice with the original publication of his first novel, the wasp factory, recently selected in a british poll as one of the top 100 novels of the century. About the book the wasp factory by iain banks two years after i killed blyth i murdered my young brother paul, for quite different reasons than id disposed of blyth, and then a year after that i did for my young cousin esmerelda more or less on a whim. Through much of this impressive first novel, almost up until the awkward and misguided finale, young scottish writer banks achieves that fine british balancebetween horrific content on the one hand and matteroffact comic delivery on the other. The wasp factory by banks, iain and a great selection of related books, art and collectibles available now at. I prefer to read the book cold so that no promotional chatter interferes with my impression of the work itself. Just when i thought id read it all, along comes the wasp factory. Before the publication of the wasp factory, banks had written several science fiction novels that had not been accepted for publication. The wasp factory study guide literature guide litcharts. Analyzing the wasp factory and we need to talk about kevin. Click on below buttons to start download the wasp factory by iain banks pdf epub without registration.
Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading the wasp factory. Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets. The wasp factory by iain banks overall, i loved this book. Heh, i saw iain banks being interviewed at cheltenham literature festival a couple of years ago. The wasp factory iain banks 1001 books to read before. The book is full of physical and emotional violence, but its decidedly not gratuitous. Buy the wasp factory by iain banks 19840216 by isbn. He used this as his pen name for science fiction and goes by iain banks for some of his books.
292 1283 1101 1077 1673 979 27 604 1166 1453 254 1195 959 767 58 801 1637 93 1341 1285 1262 1429 1105 481 1640 1390 969 156 1252 1305 100 1083 731 1447 1412 285 976 555 449 1155 899 267 1218 1481