The Wasp Factory - by Iain Banks

This was certainly an interesting book! I did not find it hard to read, though some passages are a little harrowing. The background to the characters is gradually revealed through the book, as it is understood by Frank, until, at the end, we learn with him some of the ultimate truth of the family's situation. The book is unusual for contemporary fiction in that everything occurs on a single timeline - any past references are clearly defined as recollections.

I am unsure ultimately what the book is about. We are inside the head of Frank, which is an odd - possibly scary - place. He clearly has mental problems, but is unaware of this himself. Eric is also mentally ill, but that is clearly recognized by everyone. I wonder whether the father is the worst. Early in the book I was mystified by his odd behaviour - obsessive lying and measurement of things. When we later hear what he had been doing over the years, the odd behaviour seems quite insignificant.

Overall, I think it is a good book and I would read other work by the author. The pictures he paints are strong and the characters, while not even slightly likeable, are very clearly defined. I think that a film of this book would probably give me nightmares.

What I'm reading ...

I have started The Wasp Factory by Iain Banks. This is my next book club book, so I have put Long Walk to Freedom on hold temporarily. We chose this book as we realized, on hearing of the author's death last year, we were collectively unfamiliar with his work. Here's the blurb:

Frank, no ordinary sixteen-year-old, lives with his father outsIde a remote Scottish village. Their life is, to say the least, unconventional. Frank's mother abandoned them years ago: his elder brother Eric is confined to a psychiatric hospital; and his father measures out his eccentricities on an imperial scale. Frank has turned to strange acts of violence to vent his frustrations. In the bizarre daily rituals there is some solace. But when news comes of Eric's escape from the hospital Frank has to prepare the ground for his brother's inevitable return - an event that explodes the mysteries of the past and changes Frank utterly.