Bücher von Iain Banks

Named 'one of the top 100 novels of the century' by the Independent, The Wasp Factory is a bizarre, imaginative, disturbing and darkly comic look into the mind of a child psychopath Frank is no ordinary sixteen-year-old. He lives with his father outside a remote Scottish village. 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.Iain Banks' celebrated first novel is a 'gothic horror story of quite exceptional quality...macabre, bizarre and...quite impossible to put down' (Financial Times) Enter - if you can bear it - the extraordinary private world of Frank, just sixteen, and unconventional, to say the least.'Brilliant...irresistible...compelling' -New York Times'One of the most brilliant first novels I have come across' -Telegraph

A fascinating journey through Scotland's famous distilleries with legendary author Iain Banks No true Scotsman can resist the allure of the nation's whisky distilleries.

Protagonist Frank Cauldham, 16 Jahre alt, lebt mit seinem wahnsinnigen Vater in einem vereinsamten Haus im schottischen Hochland. Abseits familiärer Behütetheit entwickelt Frank seine eigene Fantasiewelt der Grausamkeiten und der Bestrafungen, eine von Ritualen und Totems bestimmte Gegenrealität. Als sein in eine geschlossene Anstalt abgeschobener Bruder ausbricht, um die Geheimnisse seiner Familie zu lüften, droht Franks Weltentwurf endgültig aus den Fugen zu geraten, hat er doch mittlerweile drei Morde begangen.Iain Banks Debütroman Die Wespenfabrik ist eine wilde, zornige Mischung aus der "Blechtrommel" und "American Psycho". Teils psychopathologische Innenansicht eines jugendlichen Killers, teils schwarzhumorige schottische Familiengeschichte, wurde das Buch bei seinem Erscheinen 1984 gleichermaßen bejubelt und bekämpft. Wollten die konservativen Kritiker darin nur eine Gewaltorgie sehen, so erkannte ein sensibleres Publikum das erste Werk einer starken erzählerischen Stimme vom Schlage eines Alasdair Gray oder einer A. L. Kennedy.

The war is ending, perhaps ended. For the castle and its occupants the troubles are just beginning. Armed gangs roam a lawless land where each farm and house supports a column of dark smoke. Taking to the roads with the other refugees, anonymous in their raggedness, seems safer than remaining in the ancient keep. However, the lieutenant of an outlaw band has other ideas and the castle becomes the focus for a dangerous game of desire, deceit and death. Iain Banks' masterly novel reveals his unique ability to combine gripping narrative with a relentlessly voyaging imagination. The narrative technique and sheer brio of A SONG OF STONE reveal a great novelist at the height of his powers.