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Pilgrim

New Member
Hello everyone.

Thought I'd start here before moving on to the main boards. I'll start by letting you all know a little about me. Favourite authors include Ian McEwan, Haruki Murakami, Iain Banks (including his sci-fi stuff), Raymond Chandler, PG Wodehouse and Terry Pratchett amongst others.

Favourite books have to include Steinbeck's 'The Grapes of Wrath' and Nabokov's 'Lolita' and Murakami's 'Hard Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World'.

When I'm not reading I'm writing or researching all sorts of stuff and when I'm not doing that I go scuba diving.
 
hello pilgrim
i've recently finished amsterdam by ian mcewan
& thought it was a good read.
by the way don't hold your breath for replies to posts as they can take a few days. everyone's probably got their nose stuck in a book i suppose :)
 
Howdy Pilgrim,

I've been reading a lot of William Gibson lately and he seems to be a fan of Iain Banks. In fact, a lot of my favorite authors are either fans of his or are somehow linked to him (linked at least by a common readership).

What is his stuff like? What are his themes?


Any Banks reccomendations?
 
Hello there!

I've read Ian Bank's non sci fi stuff (The Crow Road & The Wasp Factory). I found them a bit wierd to be honest. What's his sci fi stuff like?
 
Thanks to all for your generous welcome.

Booker
I hope that I'm not preaching to the converted here. Glad you liked Amsterdam. His latest book, 'Atonement', is in my opinion his weakest so far. If you haven't tried them look into some of his earlier stuff. 'The Cement Garden', 'The Comfort of Strangers', 'The Innocent' are all to be recommended. 'Enduring Love' is also excellent.

HBinjection & Darren

I haven't read any William Gibson yet but do have 'Neuromancer' on my 'To Buy' list.

As for Mr Banks, well where do I start. As Darren says, his stuff can seem a bit weird although I found it very inventive. 'The Wasp Factory' is just stunning. Very gritty with a completely unexpected twist at the end. As for themes, I can't really think of any. All his books are very different from each other in my opinion. Willaim Gibson has desribed Iain Banks' books as Wildly successful, fearlessly creative...[with] gnarly energy and elegance - which just about sums it up really. I'd start with 'The Wasp factory' but I would recommend any of his books. I haven't read them all but I haven't read a duff one yet.

His sci-fi is all based in 'The Culture' (the universe he created in which to set his books) although they are stand alone novels. It may be best to start with 'Consider Phlebas' but after that you can pretty much pick-and-choose which one to read next. As can be expected from sci-fi its just as inventive and gritty as his contemporary stuff.

Happy reading.
 
i also thought enduring love was a very,very good book.
as for iain banks, i've never tried the sci-fi; but i loved all his "normal" stuff particularly the wasp factory, walking on glass & the bridge. :)
 
Originally posted by HBinjection
Is "Iain" pronounced the same way as "Ian"?

I don't want to sound poorly read if I ask for one of his books.
Click to expand...

don't ask for it then.
just find it on the shelf and then buy it! :)
 
Originally posted by HBinjection
Is "Iain" pronounced the same way as "Ian"?

I don't want to sound poorly read if I ask for one of his books.
Click to expand...

And the less frivolous answer is 'yes', it's pronounced exactly the same. Iain is the Scottish spelling.:)
 
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