by Iain Banks
This is one of those odd books that I found enjoyable to read at the time, but when I put it down, I lapsed into so-what? apathy. The premise is a fairly trite one. A mid-twenties man returns to his childhood home for a funeral, and spends the time reminiscing about growing up, being astonished at t...
This book should be filed on my shelves with the other romantic thrillers that I love so much (Joan Aiken The Butterfly Picnic and a few more, Mary Stewart Touch Not the Cat and a few more). It's as if Iain Banks heard my pleading for more books like this - and just tossed one off - just for me. It ...
Stonemouth is a stuffy small Scottish town, dominated by two competing, although not hostile, local gangster families. This is where the unbelievably annoying, egocentric and know-it-all protagonist, Stewart Gilmour, returns to attend the funeral of the old head of one of these families and to, unin...
This book should be filed on my shelves with the other romantic thrillers that I love so much (Joan Aiken The Butterfly Picnic and a few more, Mary Stewart Touch Not the Cat and a few more). It's as if Iain Banks heard my pleading for more books like this - and just tossed one off - just for me. It ...
bookshelves: radio-4, spring-2012, fradio, published-2012, gangsters, britain-scotland, recreational-drugs Read from March 17 to 31, 2012 Book at Bedtime : Stewart Gilmour returns home to Stonemouth after fleeing five years ago.bbc synopsis - Stewart Gilmour is back in Stonemouth. After five yea...
The spooky setting, engaging repartee between old friends and the idea of Scottish gangsters sealed the deal for me. This is great, even though you may want to bash Stewie over the head for his stupidity. Writing style is John Irving meets Kevin Canty.
Some of this book is classic Banks: highly charged situation, dysfunctional main characters and an unnerving start, but it doesn't quite have the same twist that a lot of his other fiction has.That said, it is written very well, and makes for a compelling read. Can only give it four stars though.
‘Stonemouth’ by Iain Banks is a slow, steady tale set in Scotland, about a man called Stewart Gilmour. Stonemouth is a town that’s run between two major crime families and the setting is described vividly when the plot takes us by the beach, or for a walk in the forest, as the characters discuss the...
Book at Bedtime : Stewart Gilmour returns home to Stonemouth after fleeing five years ago.bbc synopsis - Stewart Gilmour is back in Stonemouth. After five years in exile his presence is required at the funeral of patriarch Joe Murston, and even though the last time Stu saw the Murstons he was runnin...
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