On re-reading, the humour was more teenaged than I remember, and the thriller aspect was slightly pointless. But I enjoyed the stuff about family continuity and Scotland. ( )

Surprising: I was given this book by a friend who absolutely loved it. It was not the type of book I would usually pick up, and at the time had never even heard of Iain Banks.
I read the blurb on the back and wasn't impressed, but sat down to read my new book with little expectation.
I was therefor surprised to find that I had been given a real gem. One of those books that are just so hard to put down.
Since reading this book I have also read th Wasp Factory, which I also enjoyed, but not quite as much as The Crow Road.
I will always be thankful to my friend for introducing me to Iain Banks.

One of my favourite fiction books. It's a gentle story about the life of a family on the West Coast of Scotland. I find it an amazingly adsorbing book. ( )

Generally speaking, I am not fond of books that have no plot. So, while written well and convincing, this book is just an ongoing report on people's lives, less 'radical' than James Kelman, another Scottish writer, but neither of them able to capture my interest. ( )

I did not find this book to be particularly compelling, and found myself wondering what it was about it that resulted in it being placed on the 1001 books to read before you die list. It was a so-so story about a quirky Scottish family. ( )