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Loading... The Wasp Factoryby Iain Banks
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will love Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. Lanark81 | May 3, 2009 |   www.snigel.nu | Apr 11, 2009 | Why Banks' fantastic debut novel doesn't currently sit on the top 100 book list is a mystery. The twisted narrative told by sixteen-year-old Frank Cauldhame describes his childhood and many religious rituals Frank invents out of loneliness of living on an island with just his father and very little contact with the outside world. Frank believes that he was attacked and castrated by the family dog at a young age and secretly kills and keeps the heads and bodies of animals to 'protect' the borders of his territory. Through his bizarre religious rituals and an array of homemade weapons Frank pretends to control the island. He creates a contraption from a broken clock in which he places wasps to select the means of their torture and to further predict the future, which includes the return to the island of Franks psychopathic brother, Eric, a darker and nastier version of Frank. The book builds up to a twist ending that not many would ever predict. A fantastic debut novel, not yet matched again by Banks. (  )Darkman | Dec 29, 2008 | sarah408 | Dec 20, 2008 | Hey, it turns out Frank was actually born a girl, but her father has been injecting her with male hormones. Yeah, that is a big shocker, since you probably realized by page 20 that there is something fishy about any narrator who talks about having to squat to pee due to a childhood "accident.". xFredx | Dec 5, 2008 |  0.100 seconds to build listing
Amazon.com (ISBN 0349101779, Paperback)"I had been making the rounds of the Sacrifice Poles the day we heard my brother had escaped. I already knew something was going to happen; the Factory told me."Those lines begin one of the most infamous of contemporary Scottish novels. The narrator, Frank Cauldhame, is a weird teenager who lives on a tiny island connected to mainland Scotland by a bridge. He maintains grisly Sacrifice Poles to serve as his early warning system and deterrent against anyone who might invade his territory. Few novelists have ever burst onto the literary scene with as much controversy as Iain Banks in 1984. The Wasp Factory was reviled by many reviewers on account of its violence and sadism, but applauded by others as a new and Scottish voice--that is, a departure from the English literary tradition. The controversy is a bit puzzling in retrospect, because there is little to object to in this novel, if you're familiar with genre horror. The Wasp Factory is distinguished by an authentically felt and deftly written first-person style, delicious dark humor, a sense of the surreal, and a serious examination of the psyche of a childhood psychopath. Most readers will find that they sympathize with and even like Frank, despite his three murders (each of which is hilarious in an Edward Gorey fashion). It's a classic of contemporary horror. --Fiona Webster (retrieved from Amazon Fri, 24 Apr 2009 07:58:12 -0400) The first test round has been closed. Visit the Open Shelves Classification group for details. |
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Though it has come under constant fire since its publication in the 80's, for its bleak storyline and often graphic violence there is not a gratuitous thought, word or act to be found within this gem of a book. Banks explores the roots of sympathetic magic and primitve religious belief, whilst simultaneously exploring a unique coming of age story, all the while challenging the reader at every turn. In the end, not only deft but entertaining.
At all times neat and absorbing , The Wasp Factory stands as testament to how a great writer can explode into the world with a debut of awe inspiring skill. Hats off! (