Her eyes were black, wide as though with some sustained surprise, the skin from their outer corners to her small ears taut. Iain banks 1992 the crow road read by peter kenny part 01 audiobook duration. Banks s short fiction, this volume includes the acclaimed novella, the state of the art. He wrote mainstream fiction under the name iain banks and science fiction as iain m. Graham, a callow art student of 19, falls for a dark divorcee of 23, sara. Walking on glass is the first novel of banks to really push my mental envelope toward grasping the linkages between the three stories. The main characters of this fiction, fantasy story are. Free download or read online walking on glass pdf epub book. The date and time come from the book and the anniversary is on a saturday this year. So over the years, i have tried to read some of his nonscifi work he published under iain banks. Pdf walking on glass book by iain banks free download.
It was published in 1985 after his controversial, stomachturning debut the. The cover may have some limited signs of wear but the pages are. Her lips were pale, and nearly too full for her small mouth, like something bled but bruised. Banks wrote several more novels before his death in 20, including. Walking on glass 1985, follows three interwoven narratives. Walking on glass is the second novel by scottish author iain banks. The book was published in multiple languages including english, consists of 341 pages and is available in paperback format. As in his first novel, the wasp factory 1984, banks here attempts in the realist mode.
If you like the darkness of the wasp factory, then walking on glass, song of stone or canal dreams might suit you. Layers and parallelism of influence tantalize the reader 55. Walking on glass has three stories that come together towards the end. The only people who are literally walking on glass at any point are the two exiles from a galactic war in the far future if thats really what they are. Prob means what your thinking about doing in your life is a great path and can break or be as fragile as the glass in your mirror or maybe your plans will work or maybe they wont kinda like a double edge blade idk thats what u think. Banks scifi novels which include his nonm novels as well. Crow road was the first iain banks book i read and it still one of my favourites ive not read any of his sci fi stuff of the ones ive read this is what i thought. First published in the uk in 1985, this is the first us edition. This novel contrasts three different sets of fantasies. Inside the glass was water, about a halfmetre or so of slightly cloudy and salty water the boilers were supposed to keep warm. Coalescence and the fiction of iain banks openedition journals.
Getting used to being god chris mitchell meets the relentlessly imaginative iain. Walking on glass has 7 available editions to buy at half price books marketplace same low prices, bigger selection, more fun. Walking on glass can be seen as the first of iain banks novels to trespass on the different forms of conventional fiction and sciencefiction. Wasp factory great book, great ending walking on glass another great book, i love the way he ties some amazing stories together the bridge.
Walking on glass and the bridge followed, before banks added the m for menzies for the first of his scifi doorstops, consider phlebas, which debuted his unique socialistanarchistimperialist. The first edition of the novel was published in 1985, and was written by iain banks. Alongside its predecessor, the 1985 walking on glass, the bridge represents the most explicit example of banks s technique of juxtaposing realism and fantasy, as two ambiguously linked. If you preferred the crow road, then whit and the steep app. As in his first novel, the wasp factory 1984, banks here attempts in the realist mode to portray the corrosive state of contemporary britain through its demoralizing effect on his characters. The tenth culture book from the awesome imagination of iain m. Walking on glass book by iain banks 7 available editions. What is the best order to start reading iain banks. Iain m banks the author of look to windward, excession, and inversions discusses the state of sf writing, the culture, and the joy of shipnaming.
Transition also moves deftly between a referential postwar world and the parallel universes of science fiction, between iain banks and iain m. Walking on glass by iain banks well, i wanted to do something different, and i had a bunch of three ideas that were effectively competing to be. Iain banks frequently cited the bridge as his own favourite of his own novels. Although walking on glass was iain banks next published manuscript, following the publication and success of the wasp factory, he had already written a draft of his first sciencefiction novel, consider phlebas. He gained enormous popular and critical acclaim for both his mainstream and his science fiction novels. A careful read of walking on glass reveals the links between the seemingly disparate characters. Banks, including the initial of his adopted middle name menzies. Walking on glass by iain banks paperback, 1992 for sale. All in all a good novel, if not quite the best that iain can do. Walking on glass is the second novel by scottish writer iain banks, published in 1985. It was published in 1985 after his controversial, stomachturning debut the wasp factory there are some fairly serious spoilers in this writeup, particularly towards the end, so if youre at all squeamish about that sort of thing youd be advised not to read on the novel consists of three seemingly completely separate. This is the first non m book that i think could have been an m. The writer iain banks, who has died aged 59, had already prepared his many admirers for his death.
M banks twelve years and fourteen books since the publication of his debut novel the wasp factory, iain banks has become one of britains most prominent and prolific writers. What iain banks novel should i read after the wasp factory. Walking on glass banks, iain potpourri of science fiction. Im kind of in the middle of a banks binge, trying to get a few of his non m books read iain banks fiction, iain m. Surface detail takes place after use of weapons, so the epilogue of surface detail and a few minor references in the story wont make sense unless youve read use of w.
It will leave you feeling along the way that these beings are destined for some dramatic collision or at least some cathartic outburst. Walking on glass is the first novel of banks to really push my mental envelop toward grasping the linkages between the three stories. This is a striking addition to the growing body of culture lore, and adds definition and scale to the previous works by using the earth of 1977 as contrast. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders. Banks, in what many critics described as an impressive return to form. Banks walking on glass is the telling of three stories, the main theme of which seems to be with how the easiest of circumstances can make you. Majestic space operas that are really hard to beat. I would not recommend either book as a starting point.
But sara ffitch is an enigma to him, a creature of almost perverse mystery. Banks wrote several more novels before his death in 20, including several acclaimed science fiction novels that formed the culture series. Thank you all for watching this discussion of another rather peculiar offering from iain banks. Walking on glass is formed of three storylines that initially do not appear to be linked, but eventually come together. Iain banks 16 february 1954 9 june 20 was a scottish author. Walking on glass by iain banks books 2018, 18 tales. Walking on glass is typical banks in the sense that the main characters psyche is completely probed by the reader to the point where more than a simple relationship is formed.
Walking on glass this book is in very good condition and will be shipped within 24 hours of ordering. Both the crow road and the wasp factory were excellent. Classic use of weapons, the player of games, against a dark background what i read of it, im up to page 175 great consider phlebas, matter, look to windward very good inversions, the algebraist, feersum endjinn, the state of the art, excession good a song of stone, the business. Iain banks s second novel, walking on glass 1985, even more radically engages a mixture of genres a mimetic rendering of an adolescents coming of age, a paranoids displaced and displacing conviction that he is a warrior from the stars, and the entrapment of a genuine set of characters from an sf war in a narrative which extends. With only a few exceptions, the books stand alone and can be read in any order. Yellow cloth covers with white spine strip, red and black stamping on spine.
The extent to which these stories are interconnected is dependent on how deeply into the book the reader is willing to read. Walking on glass 1985 and the bridge 1986 both fairly outlandish books and walking on glass is not a total success. One could wonder, in this particular book, why the two genres appear together. This is the sort of story that reminds us that even a seemingly mundane life can contain amazing dimensions, horror, madness, and depth. For a real wideeyed, even more introspective look at walking on glass, i highly recommend taking a look at coalescence and the fiction of iain banks by david leishman after youve formed your own opinions. Iain bankss second novel, walking on glass, seems to be ideally suited for the. The wasp factory, walking on glass and the bridge all existed on the uneasy intersection of sf, fantasy and mainstream literature after those three he started drawing clearer distinctions between his sf and his mainstream work, not least by becoming iain m. An extraordinary feat, terrifying and baffling, going far beyond the bounds of fiction as its usually defined. Iain banks, walking on glass the story is fragmented, taking paths of three main storylines and several characters points of view. Only three stories, you may guffaw, but the fictional distance and hazy parallelisms throw the reader for a loop. The wasp factory 1984 walking on glass 1985 the bridge 1986 espedair street 1987 adaptiran za bbc radio 1998.