The Crow Road
by Iain Banks
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From its bravura opening onwards, THE CROW ROAD is justly regarded as an outstanding contemporary novel. 'It was the day my grandmother exploded. I sat in the crematorium, listening to my Uncle Hamish quietly snoring in harmony to Bach's Mass in B Minor, and I reflected that it always seemed to be death that drew me back to Gallanach.' Prentice McHoan has returned to the bosom of his complex but enduring Scottish family. Full of questions about the McHoan past, present and future, he is also show more deeply preoccupied: mainly with death, sex, drink, God and illegal substances... show lessTags
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This story literally begins with a bang. Two things brought me and this book together...well actually three...,many of you know by now that I will read strange things in order to fulfill a challenge. Other than the challenge...I had to see if grandma literally exploded...and it was written by one of my favorite authors, Iain Banks. I had read about half way through and thought that Prentice must surely be a long lost cousin of mine. He would have fit in perfectly with my big, gruff Scottish grandfather. His exploits in this eccentric Scottish family are funny and so desperately true. You will find a bit of everything in here...mystery, magic, myths and it conveys it all with a first hand account that could only have been told the better show more if wee Prentice were telling you the story himself over a dram or two. Not a dull moment in it and always surprising. This book is definitely worth reading. Oh...and don't forget to find out about grandma:) show less
This fascinating, very literate novel begins with a funeral, and its description in the first paragraph of the book has become somewhat iconic:
“It was the day my grandmother exploded. I sat in the crematorium, listening to my Uncle Hamish quietly snoring in harmony to Bach’s Mass in B minor, and I reflected that it always seemed to be death that drew me back to Gallanach.”
(Apparently, someone forgot to remove Grandma’s pacemaker before the cremation.)
The narrator, Prentice McHoan, thinks a lot about “the crow road,” which is a Scottish expression for death, and the possibility (or not) of an afterlife. Prentice, the product of a rather dysfunctional (in its own unique way, of course) family, also contemplates his romances, show more the life of his father, and the fate of his Uncle Roary, who disappeared eight years earlier. The book goes back and forth in time (often with only a slight hint about the transition from the author), but most of the story takes place in the present, which in this story is 1991. In that year, Prentice was a university student from the imaginary village of Gallanach in Argyll, and Britain was about to enter the First Gulf War.
Banks adds a number of [fun to look back at today] cultural references that help situate the book in time, and which must have added a sense of relevancy when he published it in 1992.
Prentice, estranged from his father who is an avowed atheist, has trouble accepting the stoicism about death advocated by atheists. Nor does he care to embrace the concept of death as the total end of the road. His ruminations on the meaning of life and death are a central theme of the book.
In a remarkable plot evolution, the Bildungsroman of the first 400 pages becomes - for about 90 pages, a murder mystery, although we cannot be sure whether there was in fact a murder.
Along the way, there is a good deal of humor, especially over family relationships, and some excellent character development. The ending resolves the mysteries as well as some of the existential angst.
Banks is a clever and competent, though occasionally florid, writer. I wanted to read this book because it has been called a modern classic, and because I had heard that it provides a fairly accurate snapshot of some of the elements in Scotland that inform the culture. There is a great deal about cars, whisky, and storytelling. In addition, Scotland itself serves as a character, with Banks often setting the scene with fog-covered cliffs, old burial sites, henges, and the castles - both intact and not so much - that still dot the landscape.
The book was adapted by the BBC into a popular TV series in Britain in 1996.
Evaluation: The Crow Road is not a page turner, but it's not really a murder mystery either. It is more of a family saga with a coming-of-age protagonist and an interesting twist. I won’t soon forget Prentice McHoan and his family.
(JAB) show less
“It was the day my grandmother exploded. I sat in the crematorium, listening to my Uncle Hamish quietly snoring in harmony to Bach’s Mass in B minor, and I reflected that it always seemed to be death that drew me back to Gallanach.”
(Apparently, someone forgot to remove Grandma’s pacemaker before the cremation.)
The narrator, Prentice McHoan, thinks a lot about “the crow road,” which is a Scottish expression for death, and the possibility (or not) of an afterlife. Prentice, the product of a rather dysfunctional (in its own unique way, of course) family, also contemplates his romances, show more the life of his father, and the fate of his Uncle Roary, who disappeared eight years earlier. The book goes back and forth in time (often with only a slight hint about the transition from the author), but most of the story takes place in the present, which in this story is 1991. In that year, Prentice was a university student from the imaginary village of Gallanach in Argyll, and Britain was about to enter the First Gulf War.
Banks adds a number of [fun to look back at today] cultural references that help situate the book in time, and which must have added a sense of relevancy when he published it in 1992.
Prentice, estranged from his father who is an avowed atheist, has trouble accepting the stoicism about death advocated by atheists. Nor does he care to embrace the concept of death as the total end of the road. His ruminations on the meaning of life and death are a central theme of the book.
In a remarkable plot evolution, the Bildungsroman of the first 400 pages becomes - for about 90 pages, a murder mystery, although we cannot be sure whether there was in fact a murder.
Along the way, there is a good deal of humor, especially over family relationships, and some excellent character development. The ending resolves the mysteries as well as some of the existential angst.
Banks is a clever and competent, though occasionally florid, writer. I wanted to read this book because it has been called a modern classic, and because I had heard that it provides a fairly accurate snapshot of some of the elements in Scotland that inform the culture. There is a great deal about cars, whisky, and storytelling. In addition, Scotland itself serves as a character, with Banks often setting the scene with fog-covered cliffs, old burial sites, henges, and the castles - both intact and not so much - that still dot the landscape.
The book was adapted by the BBC into a popular TV series in Britain in 1996.
Evaluation: The Crow Road is not a page turner, but it's not really a murder mystery either. It is more of a family saga with a coming-of-age protagonist and an interesting twist. I won’t soon forget Prentice McHoan and his family.
(JAB) show less
The Crow Road starts off as a low-key family chronicle. It begins by quietly unfolding itself in alternating chapters, switching between timelines, when it follows the young student Prentice and his storytelling father Kenneth about fifteen years apart, as they negotiate the familial bonds and tensions that keep a large family and assorted in-laws tied together or driven apart. Banks slowly builds up tension and momentum, fills out his characters’ personalities to the point where they cannot but clash, and almost unnoticably his family-cum-coming-of-age-novel turns into a mystery that hurtles towards a signature climax that comes close to being over the top, but is carried off beautifully.
Banks mixes the tragic with the growing-up show more experiences; the contemplative quest for life’s answers and god with the comedic; and the ambitious mingling of genres with the low-key tone of a skilful author in control. The masterful telling of these stories as well as Banks’ love for his characters and the setting kept me interested, even in the parts dedicated mostly to character development, because I could tell he was going somewhere big, and I’d enjoy it more if I got to know the characters better.
The characters are likable or immature in precisely the right way: not as a way to trigger cheap reader involvement, but as relevant to the story and how it was told. The out-of-the-blue stretches with humour, the sudden events and plot twists, and even the creeping genre shift did not seem like cover-ups for a story out of the author’s control, but felt entirely natural: at all levels, the novel was kept shifting and moving, even at low speeds.
The more I think about it, the more I like this novel: it was well-plotted, well-executed, and told even better by an author who clearly knows his trade. show less
Banks mixes the tragic with the growing-up show more experiences; the contemplative quest for life’s answers and god with the comedic; and the ambitious mingling of genres with the low-key tone of a skilful author in control. The masterful telling of these stories as well as Banks’ love for his characters and the setting kept me interested, even in the parts dedicated mostly to character development, because I could tell he was going somewhere big, and I’d enjoy it more if I got to know the characters better.
The characters are likable or immature in precisely the right way: not as a way to trigger cheap reader involvement, but as relevant to the story and how it was told. The out-of-the-blue stretches with humour, the sudden events and plot twists, and even the creeping genre shift did not seem like cover-ups for a story out of the author’s control, but felt entirely natural: at all levels, the novel was kept shifting and moving, even at low speeds.
The more I think about it, the more I like this novel: it was well-plotted, well-executed, and told even better by an author who clearly knows his trade. show less
I was reading 'The Crow Road' on Peterborough station when a random man asked me whether I'd read [b:The Wasp Factory|567678|The Wasp Factory|Iain Banks|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1434940562s/567678.jpg|3205295]. I replied with total honesty: “Yes, and I hated it.” This appeared to amuse him. My experiences with Ian Banks novels have varied wildly. His writing is always accomplished; he is undoubtedly a craftsman with words. His characters and themes, however, are not always to my taste. I enjoyed 'The Crow Road', a family saga with a mystery in the last few chapters. Prentice the narrator was largely sympathetic and his family were appealingly vivid and odd. Banks certainly fleshes out a convincingly eccentric set of show more relatives. Indeed, as I read I contemplated the foibles, fallings-out, and fiascos in my own family from a novelistic angle. The McHoan family experience a great deal more drama than mine is accustomed to, but this is told in a naturalistic manner so doesn't seem excessive or forced. The family relationships are delicately drawn and convincing. I did wonder how normal it was that the whole family drank such a lot, though. Maybe my close family are unusually abstemious? The depiction of intergenerational and political differences were a lot easier to relate to.
The whole book is also a love letter to Scotland, which was perhaps my favourite aspect. The landscapes are beautifully evoked and many scenes take place during journeys by car or train and other interstitial moments. I found the narrative moving and involving, sometimes even profound. Although this isn't my favourite Banks novel (currently [b:Transition|6436659|Transition|Iain M. Banks|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1425502839s/6436659.jpg|6626240]), it's definitely one that I appreciated. show less
The whole book is also a love letter to Scotland, which was perhaps my favourite aspect. The landscapes are beautifully evoked and many scenes take place during journeys by car or train and other interstitial moments. I found the narrative moving and involving, sometimes even profound. Although this isn't my favourite Banks novel (currently [b:Transition|6436659|Transition|Iain M. Banks|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1425502839s/6436659.jpg|6626240]), it's definitely one that I appreciated. show less
The day that Prentice McHoan’s grandmother explodes is the day that the McHoan family essentially starts blowing apart. Prentice has always wondered about what happened to his freewheeling Uncle Rory, a somewhat itinerant travel writer who hasn’t been seen in about a decade. And other members of his family seem to be possessed of secrets and deep undercurrents. Meanwhile, it’s the early 1990s, the Gulf War is starting to rage, and Prentice himself is trying to figure out what he wants to do with his life. Investigating what happened to Rory, and what his fragmentary unfinished writings mean, becomes an obsession.
This is the sort of book you really need to sit with and immerse yourself in, like Prentice becomes immersed in the show more secrets of his family’s past. Once I found the time to do so, I couldn’t put it down. The shifts in timelines are handled well, for the most part — toward the very end it gets a bit tangled. But there are some rewarding “aha!” moments. A bonus for 21st-century readers is the opportunity to hoot with laughter at early 1990s computers (I love that sort of thing). And bonuses for this particular 21st-century reader were the scene involving the airplane (yay airplanes!) and the fact that Peter Capaldi played Uncle Rory in the miniseries and was very well cast, based on what I’ve read here.
I was personally less than fond of some of the sex scenes, but they can easily be squint-read or skimmed over.
I’d recommend this if you’ve heard of the miniseries and want to read the book, or if you’re interested in Scottish fiction. show less
This is the sort of book you really need to sit with and immerse yourself in, like Prentice becomes immersed in the show more secrets of his family’s past. Once I found the time to do so, I couldn’t put it down. The shifts in timelines are handled well, for the most part — toward the very end it gets a bit tangled. But there are some rewarding “aha!” moments. A bonus for 21st-century readers is the opportunity to hoot with laughter at early 1990s computers (I love that sort of thing). And bonuses for this particular 21st-century reader were the scene involving the airplane (yay airplanes!) and the fact that Peter Capaldi played Uncle Rory in the miniseries and was very well cast, based on what I’ve read here.
I was personally less than fond of some of the sex scenes, but they can easily be squint-read or skimmed over.
I’d recommend this if you’ve heard of the miniseries and want to read the book, or if you’re interested in Scottish fiction. show less
A wonderful heart-warming family story, oh who am I kidding, this is Ian Banks and the book is grim like Glasgow. Banks has the knack of making slightly surreal and farcical situations play out believably, like an atheist being smitten by god on top of a church tower. When at the end of the book I realised I was actually reading a murder mystery I was caught unawares what with all the seemingly unrelated vignettes and musings interleaved throughout the book but the last few chapters tie it all up neatly together with a little ray of sunshine at the end - unexpected but fully welcome.
I found The Crow Road by Iain Banks a very enjoyable read. The author skilfully mixes multi-generational family drama with a mystery that threads throughout the book. Prentice McHoan is the young man who relays the story. He is in his early twenties, a student at university in Glasgow, who loves to party. The memorable opening of the book finds Prentice at his family home in Gallanach for the funeral of his grandmother, but he finds himself thinking about his Uncle Rory, a travel writer who disappeared eight years earlier, many in the family believe that Rory has died, calling it “away on the Crow Road”.
From here the book jumps around between the generations of three families, the McHoans, the Urvills and the Watts. These families show more have been entwined by both friendships, careers and marriages through the years and as we learn of the past and the present we are introduced to some interesting characters that the author has developed with sly humor and intelligence. We learn to care about them through the wildly funny or, at times, deeply tragic incidences that have occurred through the years.
The Crow Road is a coming-of-age, mystery combination whose setting in Scotland brings the story to life. I was a little confused at the beginning of the book when the author jumped between times and characters, but the individual voices were so well developed that I soon felt comfortable with this format. The book evoked feelings of warmth, sadness, and humor and this, along with some fascinating plot twists made The Crow Road a memorable read. show less
From here the book jumps around between the generations of three families, the McHoans, the Urvills and the Watts. These families show more have been entwined by both friendships, careers and marriages through the years and as we learn of the past and the present we are introduced to some interesting characters that the author has developed with sly humor and intelligence. We learn to care about them through the wildly funny or, at times, deeply tragic incidences that have occurred through the years.
The Crow Road is a coming-of-age, mystery combination whose setting in Scotland brings the story to life. I was a little confused at the beginning of the book when the author jumped between times and characters, but the individual voices were so well developed that I soon felt comfortable with this format. The book evoked feelings of warmth, sadness, and humor and this, along with some fascinating plot twists made The Crow Road a memorable read. show less
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Author Information
25+ Works 31,796 Members
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Has the adaptation
Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- The Crow Road
- Original title
- The Crow Road
- Original publication date
- 1992
- People/Characters
- Prentice McHoan; Kenneth McHoan; Mary Lewis McHoan; Roderick McHoan; Ilsa McHoan; Hamish McHoan (show all 21); Antonia McHoan; Fiona McHoan Urvill; Lewis McHoan; James McHoan; Darren Watt; Ashley Watt; Dean Watt; Lachlan Watt; Fergus Urvill; Helen Urvill; Diana Urvill; Verity Walker; Janice Rae; Margot McGuskie McHoan; Margaret Thatcher (election)
- Important places
- Scotland; Kuwait (invasion by Iraq)
- Important events
- Gulf War (1990-1991)
- Related movies
- The Crow Road (1996 | IMDb)
- Dedication
Again, for Ann,
And with thanks to:
James Hale,
Mic Cheetham,
Andy Watson
and Steve Hatton- First words
- It was the day my grandmother exploded.
- Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)I thought of Ashley, on the other side of that ocean, and wondered what she was doing right now, and hoped that she was well, and happy, any maybe thinking of me, and then I just stood there, grinning like a fool, and take a deep, deep breath of that sharp, smoke-scented air and raised my arms to the open sky, and said, 'Ha!'
- Blurbers
- Gibson, William; Welsh, Irvine
- Original language
- English
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