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Loading... The Businessby Iain M. Banks
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will love Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book.  kevinashley | Sep 22, 2008 |  I was really enjoying this book when it just kind of stopped... This is only the second Ian Banks book I've read - I can't remember what the first was, but I didn't really enjoy it, and haven't come back to him for a long time, This, though, was really enjoyable, a real page turner. The book was about a member of a fictional, ancient, mega-business, one that was intent on having a seat on the UN. Usually in these sort of scenarios this sort of business would be evil, but not here, just capitalist, perhaps even humanist, with a strong democratic hierarchy. Banks is really successful in creating a pretty interesting 'Business' universe (perhaps a nod to his sci-fi? I haven't read any of that), full of interesting characters and sub plots. I was really getting into it, but I couldn't help noticing as I read on that the pages left were decreasing rapidly, but I still only seems to be just getting into the story, And then it ends, everything wrapped up really abruptly. Most curious. Still, I really enjoyed what there was of it. (  ) michaeldwebb | Sep 15, 2008 | Everyone's favourite conspiracy theory - that there's a massive business cartel that's endured for centuries and is Behind Everything - is given a new spin by Banks. He applies his essential socialist ideals to putting a human face (mostly) on The Business. The result is an organisation that I suspect many of us secretly hope exists but probably doesn't. And the level of Banks' comic invention never flags. 'The Zoroastrian People's Republic of Inner Magadan" indeed! ( ) RobertDay | Aug 3, 2008 | A sorry effort from Banks, who quite obviously couldn't be bothered with this one. The story is dissolute, the heroine bland, and the detail manages to feel creakingly dated after only five years. Don't let this aberration put you off a great writer. (  ) yarb | Jan 8, 2008 | What a disappointment - the first book I've read of this writer's - and it'll be the last! Started off well, really drew me in with the description of The Business. But as others have found, it went off track, flat and mundane and deteriorated into something I'd expect from shallow chicklit. Arco-Iris | Jul 4, 2007 |  no reviews | add a review
Amazon.com (ISBN 0316648442, Hardcover)Iain Banks is a multi-generic, multi-task dream. On one hand, he's produced a series of science fiction novels (Feersum Endjinn, Inversions) that have achieved cult status in his native Britain. On the other hand, he has dipped into the world of contemporary fiction with a number of equally successful works (The Bridge, Complicity). Fans of both rely on Banks's acidic wit, elegantly clever prose, and sometimes befuddling but always fascinating plot twists.The Business, a sly satire of corporate success, begins with every promise of fulfilling those standards. Kathryn Telman, "a senior executive officer, third level (counting from the top) in a commercial organization which has had many different names through the ages but which, these days, we usually just refer to as the Business," has been selected to negotiate the Business's purchase of the sovereign state of Thulahn (where "the royal palace is heated by yak dung" and the "national sport is emigration"). Corporate takeovers are small potatoes compared to the acquisition of an entire country, and Kathryn's politely scheming superiors have set their sights on a seat at the United Nations and the "unrestricted use of that perfect smuggling route called the diplomatic bag." Kathryn's voice, at once polished and gritty, is the novel's strongest point. Her wry dissections of the Business, its motives and ambitions, its members, and the delightful irony of negotiating with Thulahn's crown prince (who is more interested in matrimony than marketeering) are sheer reading pleasure. And the notion of an ancient, omnipotent, secretive corporation is a great starting point for any number of stories. But The Business is, sadly, next to bankrupt on the level of plot. Of the two storylines that structure the novel (the takeover of Thulahn and Kathryn's growing suspicion of high-level fraud), neither amounts to much. Their development and resolution, such as they are, seem so haphazard that the reader might wonder whether Banks just lost interest in his own story. For dedicated Banks fans, The Business may not be on a par with his other outings, but the pleasure of his prose is nonetheless satisfying. Newcomers to the Banks mystique, having no points of reference, may be well content with his arch humor and forceful characterization. --Kelly Flynn (retrieved from Amazon Fri, 24 Apr 2009 07:58:08 -0400) The first test round has been closed. Visit the Open Shelves Classification group for details. |
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Wikipedia in English (1)
A tale of a centuries-old super-corporation with more than a feel of a secret society about it that eventually tries to buy itself political influence by buying a country, it is as much a moral tale about capitalism and its virtues and life/work balance - although this is not at all obvious for much of the time. Gripping and entertaining in equal measure. (