A review by nwhyte
Iain M. Banks by Paul Kincaid
4.0
https://nwhyte.livejournal.com/2979935.html
In a better world, Iain Banks would have turned 64 last month and would have published his thirtieth novel some time last year, or maybe even the year before; and we'd be debating his eligibility for this year's awards. We live in an imperfect world. Some popular authors disappear as soon as their career is over, but Iain Banks won't be one of them, and Paul Kincaid explains why in a succinct but thorough survey of his literary career, part of the same University of Illinois series as Edward James' Lois McMaster Bujold, which I read last year. I found the analysis of Banks' politics particularly enlightening, as that's the sea that I swim in; but it was also very interesting to read of the influence of Alasdair Gray's Lanark, R.D. Laing, T.S. Eliot, and Erving Goffmann's The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life which includes some research in Scotland and which I read recently.
In a better world, Iain Banks would have turned 64 last month and would have published his thirtieth novel some time last year, or maybe even the year before; and we'd be debating his eligibility for this year's awards. We live in an imperfect world. Some popular authors disappear as soon as their career is over, but Iain Banks won't be one of them, and Paul Kincaid explains why in a succinct but thorough survey of his literary career, part of the same University of Illinois series as Edward James' Lois McMaster Bujold, which I read last year. I found the analysis of Banks' politics particularly enlightening, as that's the sea that I swim in; but it was also very interesting to read of the influence of Alasdair Gray's Lanark, R.D. Laing, T.S. Eliot, and Erving Goffmann's The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life which includes some research in Scotland and which I read recently.