Iain Banks (d.10 Jun 2013). Novelist. Daily Telegraph, 10 Jun 2013
Guardian, 10 Jun 2013
Independent, 11 Jun 2013
Showing posts with label Iain M Banks. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Iain M Banks. Show all posts
Sunday, 16 June 2013
This Week's Interesting Obits
Only one person to add to the obits page this week, and we've already covered his death.
Iain Banks (d.10 Jun 2013). Novelist.
Daily Telegraph, 10 Jun 2013
Guardian, 10 Jun 2013
Independent, 11 Jun 2013
Iain Banks (d.10 Jun 2013). Novelist. Daily Telegraph, 10 Jun 2013
Guardian, 10 Jun 2013
Independent, 11 Jun 2013
Monday, 10 June 2013
Books and Stuff
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| Iain Banks, 1954-2013 |
I don't feel comfortable saying that I enjoyed Banks' books (after all nobody wants to sound as if they're a twisted pervert), but I read all the Iain M Banks books and a few of the 'straight' novels. It would be difficult to pick a favorite - Use of Weapons, The Player of Games, Inversions and Look to Windward stand out for me.
He was a master of imagination, with the power to write scenes that stick with you years afterwards (the cannibal-cult in Consider Phelbas or practically anything from Surface Detail were particularly memorable in a disturbing way. I think the Daily Telegraph's description sums it up sums it up -
Novelist of hallucinatory brilliance who attracted notoriety with his grotesque and bizarre tales
And by all accounts he was a very nice guy. I recommend you read the excellent obit here.
What I've been reading this week...
From the sublime to the ridiculous... Sometimes you need a bit of guff with cardboard-thin characterization. I started reading Jack Chambers, Lost Fleet: Dauntless.
What I've bought this week...
Annie Tyler, The Amateur Marriage - 50p
James Risk, Henry Pownall, David Stanley & John Tamplin, Royal Service: Vol II - £6.50
David Stanley, Royal Service: Vol III - £4.50
John Van Der Kiste, The Georgian Princesses - £1.00
Friday, 5 April 2013
Books and Stuff
A regularish update of my book news.
What I've been reading this week...
I seem to have very little time to read these days, but this week I had to sit in a waiting room for an hour and a half, so I managed some more of Men Whose Fathers Were Men.
The problem I've had with this is that it's uncut, so I've been reading it in bed and found myself stymied when I've come across uncut pages. I did take a paper-knife with me to the hospital, and it wasn't until I got there that I realised that I might have awkward questions to answer!
What's sitting by my bed half-read...
This is a very annoying habit: I start a book and after a while get distracted and leave it, starting another. I must make an effort to polish these off..
What I've bought...
Diana Wynne Jones, Howl's Moving Castle - £2.81
Diana Wynne Jones, The Chronicles of Chrestomanci - £2.80
Stanley Martin, The Order of Merit: One hundred years of matchless honour - £6.01
This was a nice illustration of the pitfalls of buying second-hand copies through Amazon. Howl was fine and (as described) like new, but the Chronicles was a very dog-eared ex-library copy I wouldn't have bothered with if I'd seen it.
Depressing book news....
Is that Iain (M) Banks is dying, as the whole blogosphere is aware now. Given what he's always said about about his 'genre' writing being ignored, it was ironic that the coverage the BBC gave it only mentioned The Wasp Factory and The Crow Road, although the reporter was standing in front of a table piled high with his 'M' books.
What I've been reading this week...
I seem to have very little time to read these days, but this week I had to sit in a waiting room for an hour and a half, so I managed some more of Men Whose Fathers Were Men.
The problem I've had with this is that it's uncut, so I've been reading it in bed and found myself stymied when I've come across uncut pages. I did take a paper-knife with me to the hospital, and it wasn't until I got there that I realised that I might have awkward questions to answer!
What's sitting by my bed half-read...
This is a very annoying habit: I start a book and after a while get distracted and leave it, starting another. I must make an effort to polish these off..
What I've bought...
Diana Wynne Jones, Howl's Moving Castle - £2.81
Diana Wynne Jones, The Chronicles of Chrestomanci - £2.80
Stanley Martin, The Order of Merit: One hundred years of matchless honour - £6.01
This was a nice illustration of the pitfalls of buying second-hand copies through Amazon. Howl was fine and (as described) like new, but the Chronicles was a very dog-eared ex-library copy I wouldn't have bothered with if I'd seen it.Depressing book news....
Is that Iain (M) Banks is dying, as the whole blogosphere is aware now. Given what he's always said about about his 'genre' writing being ignored, it was ironic that the coverage the BBC gave it only mentioned The Wasp Factory and The Crow Road, although the reporter was standing in front of a table piled high with his 'M' books.
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