The Crow Road

[Tess]

I've just given up on the Crow Road. I received a copy via bookcrossing and after hearing so many great reviews I was really looking forward to reading it, however, 200 pages or so in I took the unusual decision (for me) to give up. I can't quite seem to decide what it was I didn't like, I certainly wouldn't say it was a bad book but rather that it just didn't interest me and the vast numbers of aunts, uncles and cousins had me confused. I have been working really long hours and so this is probably to blame for my lack of concentration, it’s certainly the reason why I gave in as I will usually see a book through to its conclusion. This time however, it was getting to the point where I could barely pick the book up and so I admitted defeat.

Perhaps any fans out there could tell me why they loved it so much, and maybe convince me to give it another go…

Edit - apologies, just realised that I've listed this thread under Ian McEwan instead of Iain Banks, I haven't had much sleep lately :o Bill - is there anyway of changing that?

[Grammath]

"The Crow Road" was the first Iain Banks novel I read and I enjoyed it enough that it inspired me to read the rest of his ouput. For me, I guess its because I found the main character (Prentice? Its a while ago now) a very likeable chap.

Please don't let it put you off Banks. There probably isn't a writer whose output is more diverse currently at work, from quite experimental works like "Walking on Glass" to mainstream thrillers like "Complicity".

However, I've never got on with his sci-fi alter ego Iain M. Banks. I find his sci-fi very complicated, so if you found "The Crow Road" hard to follow you might get lost very quickly.

[Tess]

I've read 'Dead Air' and really enjoyed that so this definitely hasn't put me off reading more of Banks.

[Flingo]

I read the "Crow Road" under protest! I struggled through it, and remeber feeling a huge amount of relief when it was over. Other than that, I can't really remember anything! I would not read any more Banks on the strength of it - but maybe judging by your comments I should try one sometime!

[David]

There's a longer Banks discussion under The Wasp Factory, here:
The Wasp Factory (http://www.bookgrouponline.com/forum/showthread.html?t=3800)

(Mind you, shouldn't really be in the 21st century section!)
edit: thread now moved to correct forum

[gerbooks]

I have always been a bit wary of Banks as I never felt I would enjoy his "type" of book. On reading the posts here it seems I may be wrong. So, to find out one way or the other I have just bought "Complicity" on Amazon for 1p. Bargin!

[Jen]

I really liked The Crow Road and I am generally a fan of Iain Banks (although I have felt that he has phoned in his last few books, v lazy). The TV dramatisation was good too.

I probably read this book about 10 years ago and as documented on other threads, I generally forget a book and all its details the instant I read the last word. However, two things from this novel stay with me and this alone makes it notable. They are
- it has one of the best opening lines ever ("It was the day my grandmother exploded").
- there is a scene where a female friend drives the main character home to Scotland from London. She has a beaten up 2CV of which she is fiercely proud. She points out that only with the narrow tyres of a 2CV can you shimmy between the cat's eyes on the motor way. I have tried it in various cars over the years and I think she may be right!

I've just noticed your reading/recently read list Tess - maybe the Crow Road just isn't challenging enough for you ;)

[Adrian]

I think it's one of his best, up there with Espedair Street. If it was Canal Dreams you didn't like, I'd say fair enough - that isn't one of his best, but if you don't like The Crow Road then Banks maybe isn't for you.

Don't stress it, plenty more authors to try. I certainly never feel like I have to like certain books.

Is Bookcrossing the new library?

Sorry, just trying to get into Private Eye.

[megustaleer]

There's a longer Banks discussion under The Wasp Factory, here:

The Wasp Factory (http://www.bookgrouponline.com/forum/showthread.html?t=404)

(Mind you, shouldn't really be in the 21st century section!)

I am about to shift it. I suppose there will be a certain amount of confusion with authors whose writing crosses the 'century' barrier, but publication dates are usually listed at the front of a book.

Having checked an Ian Banks bibliography, I note that 'Dead Air' is the first of his books to qualify for a place in the '21st Century' forum.
^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*

One of my sons bullied me into reading Espedaire Street some years ago. I did enjoy it, and will read more Ian Banks...some day!

[Atom]

"The Crow Road" was the first Iain Banks novel I read and I enjoyed it enough that it inspired me to read the rest of his ouput. For me, I guess its because I found the main character (Prentice? Its a while ago now) a very likeable chap.

The same path I took, The Crow Road led me to his other work. This book is one of my favourites, but more on a personal level than thinking it's particularly good writing (or even his best.) The first time I took my future wife out for lunch it was because I wanted to give her this to read (we'd been discussing books when we met in a club.) It's odd the way certain books can intersect with important moments in your life.

[Minxminnie]

I'm surprised to see I haven't posted on this thread - unless it was lost in the crash.

The Crow Road is one of my favourite books, one that I'd choose to re-read, even having read it at least twice. It's not a terribly challenging read, but I have a lot of affection for the characters. Prentice is such an endearing little boy lost (and Joseph McFadden's portayal of him in the BBC adaptation was spot on.) It has, as Jen said, a classic opening line. And it has a good mix of mystery, tragedy, pathos and humour. I love all the Auntie Janice stuff. And a great ending, without the pat resolution that you'd expect.

I have lent out my copy so often that it was wonderfully bashed and battered, but I eventually didn't get it back, much to my regret. I bought a new one, just to have. I never do that.

[katrina]

I know this book has been out many years but I've only just discovered it and I loved every word of it.
The characters were great, fully formed and believeable. The glimpses back to the past and the future gave a great view of this family (who I was kinda eviable of - all the big parties and gatherings - till the end).
Despite being published 15 yrs ago, I felt that it hadn't aged and was still a great read.

[Adrian]

I agree, and for sheer size of story it's probably my favourite Banks. I especially liked:

how it it all worked out well for Prentice

I still miss the black and white covers of his books. Biggest mistake in publishing history, getting rid of those.

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/0349103232.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg

Is that where Groening got the Bart hairstyle from?

[leyla]

I loved this book too, Katrina. It's my favorite Banks along with Complicity and possibly Dead Air. Have you read any others by him?

[katrina]

I've only read The Wasp Factory so far but have Complicity, Black Dogs and Song OF Stone on Mount TBR.

[leyla]

I wouldn't read Song of Stone next - it might put you off ever reading another book by him!
Black Dogs? Now I'm confused. I've read McEwan's Black Dogs but can't recall a Banks one.

[leyla]

PS If it is a McEwan book, don't worry, Ians and Iains are easily confused!

[David]

I wouldn't read Song of Stone next - it might put you off ever reading another book by him!
They're certainly very different. I very much like Banks' more 'out there' material, but it's not going to be everyone's cup of tea!

Annoyingly, I see that the most detailed Banks thread - on The Wasp Factory - which includes some more general observations on his work as a whole doesn't come up on the authors' list. Yet it seems to be entered correctly. I don't understand why that is.

However, if you want to read it you can find the thread here (http://www.bookgrouponline.com/forum/showthread.html?t=3800)

[Minxminnie]

Glad to hear you enjoyed it, Katrina.
I have very fond memories of it - I've read it at least twice, and lent it out many times. I eventually lost my dog-eared copy and actually bought a new one (not the old cover :( ) just to have it. That shows how much I love it!
I think I most liked the quirkiness of the characters and the way the relationship between Prentice and Ashley developed.
And, of course, the best ever opening line.
If you've not done so already, look out the excellent BBC adaptation with Joe McFadden as Prentice. He just IS Prentice for me.
Enjoy Complicity - a different kind of Banks. (He says his mainstream novels divide into "nice" and "nasty". I think Complicity is his best "nasty" novel. Whit is maybe the next best "nice" one. But nothing has ever been as good as TCR, and everything he has written this century, IMHO, is pants.)

[megustaleer]

I don't know what the problem is with this book, but when Tess started the thread in 2005 she listed the author as Ian McEwan, and now Katrina has done the self same thing!

The two threads have now been merged under the correct author name - I hope!

I'll now have a go at sorting out The Wasp Factory problem :rolleyes:
Done!

[MisterHobgoblin]

If you've not done so already, look out the excellent BBC adaptation with Joe McFadden as Prentice. He just IS Prentice for me.

Indeed - my friend Liz (Elizabeth Strachan) has a credit in one of the episodes. I did look out for her, but didn't spot her. Liz says that she had three words... Having said that, I found the book and the series quite hard going. The series is shot in very dark and drab colours and at times the book felt the same way. Complicity may be shallow, but it is written in full colour.

[Minxminnie]

I can't believe that we don't have a thread for this book: it's mentioned on so many other threads (though largely by me, I suspect... :o )

It's one of my favourite books, and I've just finished re-reading it. I love it right from the opening line:

It was the day my grandmother exploded.

It's partly a murder mystery, partly a family saga, and partly a love story.

When I first read it, I could relate more to Prentice, the central character, but this time round, I still found him a convincing portrayal of early adulthood. (And I was nonplussed to realise that some of his neuroses never really go away! :rolleyes: )
I like the mixture of social realism and the vaguely surreal characters, and I love the setting, in rural Scotland. I like the way the setting is treated with dignity and not cliche.

The BBC TV series was very good - I can never see Prentice as anyone else but Joe McFadden now, or imagine Rory without seeing Peter Capaldi. Sadly, the BBC seems to have deleted the DVD - and I lent mine to a pupil who then left unexpectedly... :grumble:

Some bits of the writing jar, like the way Banks keeps describing what people are wearing without it being of any significance. (Sometimes it is, but often it's not.) I suppose his style was still developing.

Anyone else read it?

[Grammath]

This was the first Banks novel I read, sometime in the mid-90s. I haven't read it since, so my memory of it is hazy to say the least, but I fell in love with his writing and have since read the rest of his non-sci fi output apart from his most recent two, "Dead Air" and "The Steep Approach to Garbadale".

"The Crow Road" is a good place to start with Banks, IMHO, as it is one of his most approachable novels. I think he's written better ("Complicity", "The Wasp Factory") and more purely enjoyable ("Espedair Street") but "The Crow Road" has a warmth and humour to it that not all his novels do, plus some works like "The Bridge" are just plain difficult.

[brightphoebus]

"The Crow Road" is a good place to start with Banks, IMHO, as it is one of his most approachable novels. I think he's written better ("Complicity", "The Wasp Factory") and more purely enjoyable ("Espedair Street") but "The Crow Road" has a warmth and humour to it that not all his novels do, plus some works like "The Bridge" are just plain difficult.I agree Grammath. It is a particularly good book for dyslexic / reluctant young adult readers. Every time I've recommended it they have finished it and enjoyed it, and it often remains one of the only books they have ever read!

I have to re-read it every few years because I love it so and I think that time is approaching once more...

[Elfstar]

I read this due to all the wonderful things I have seen on this site about Ian Banks and I loved it.

It was nothing like as strange as I expected it to be and I think will remain on my comfort read list for a long time. The characters were real and touching just strange (or unique) enough to be interesting without hitting weirdness. A thoroughly great read.

My Banks reading list now includes The Crow Road
The Bridge
Canal Dreams

I have Espedair Street and A Song of Stone as possible holiday reads.

I rate him very highly far more so than Ian Mcewan although the 2 sci-fi books I have tried I have found impenetrable.

[Grammath]

I rate him very highly far more so than Ian Mcewan although the 2 sci-fi books I have tried I have found impenetrable.

I agree with you about Banks' sci-fi output, Elfstar. Ironically, I think the man is almost blessed with too much imagination, meaning that there's too much crammed into Iain M. Banks novels for them to remain easy to follow and coherent.

I should say I'm making this judgement purely on a failed attempt to read "Consider Phlebas", the first Culture novel, years ago, so it is a somewhat sweeping generalisation and he may have written more approachable sci-fi novels since.

Speaking for myself, I found "The Bridge" the one regular Banks novel I've read that I couldn't get on with either. I'd say it's the most experimental he's done without his middle initial and, again, suffers from impenetrability in parts.

To me, "Espedair Street" is Banks' most purely enjoyable novel and it would make an excellent holiday read. He's having fun imagining being a rock star (one suspects he's put more than a little of himself into his narrator) and that fun is infectious, particularly if, as I do, it is a fantasy you share with the author.

That's also an audacious statement to make about Banks v McEwan. I see their approaches to writing as being very different, although they've had similar career paths. The surrealism of Banks' early work has been replaced by more conventional narratives as his career has progressed, and similarly, the macabre elements of McEwan's first short stories and novels like "The Cement Garden" have given way to more astute psychological examinations of his characters.

Banks has, over the years, experimented with a number of different styles and genres - the thriller with "Complicity", the family saga with "The Crow Road" - but McEwan has developed a style that is recognisably his own and I'd be surprised to see him genre hopping as Banks does. Whilst I love the work of both writers, I do see them as being quite different to one another.

[Elfstar]

Audacious - moi?