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hewlettelaine's review against another edition
4.0
Stonemouth follows Stuart Gilmour on his return to his childhood home in a small coastal town in Scotland. When he left, he was on the run from one of the town's two criminal families and his homecoming welcome is entirely uncertain. He also has to face his biggest failure - the girl he loved.
Iain Banks is on his usual form as an utterly absorbing writer. The sketching of the town and some of the characters is very amusing and shows Banks' familiarity with his material. Despite not an awful lot of actual events taking place for much of the book, Banks takes you instead deep into the mind of Stuart. This novel is primarily about memory and the past and how those events shape character and future paths. The continual shifting between past and present is totally engaging and the tension slowly builds as the two timelines come closer and closer towards the end of the book. It quickly becomes an addictive story.
This is not the most thrilling of novels, but more of a slow-burning study of growing-up, family and the importance (or not) of loyalty in many forms. The characters are all drawn brilliantly and distinctively so that you quickly become absorbed into this small community. An all-together excellent read.
Iain Banks is on his usual form as an utterly absorbing writer. The sketching of the town and some of the characters is very amusing and shows Banks' familiarity with his material. Despite not an awful lot of actual events taking place for much of the book, Banks takes you instead deep into the mind of Stuart. This novel is primarily about memory and the past and how those events shape character and future paths. The continual shifting between past and present is totally engaging and the tension slowly builds as the two timelines come closer and closer towards the end of the book. It quickly becomes an addictive story.
This is not the most thrilling of novels, but more of a slow-burning study of growing-up, family and the importance (or not) of loyalty in many forms. The characters are all drawn brilliantly and distinctively so that you quickly become absorbed into this small community. An all-together excellent read.
andrew_j_r's review against another edition
4.0
This book was the first Ian (M) Banks book that I had read - I had been meaning to for ages, but only got around to it after a trip to Scotland and a look in a local bookshop in the Scots Fiction section.
Very early into the book I knew I was going to enjoy it. Even if the story didn't grab me (which, initially, it didn't) the style of storytelling and language made the book very engaging. Seriously, this guy could make a chapter about a wet paper bag drying seem interesting.
As the politics of the situation started to build, enhanced by fitting flashbacks that we're illustrative and not at all intrusive, it became fascinating, and as I for further in I was fascinated and also had no idea how it was going to end. Messily was obvious, just not in which way!
It I have one complaint, the ending (or rather, the epilogue) was too nice, almost too Hollywood. The main conclusion was bittersweet, and somehow this was undermined a tiny bit by the last few pages, I think a more ambiguous conclusion to the "will they/won't they" aspect of the book would have been somehow more realistic, but it's a minor quibble: the first thing I did when nearing the end of the book was go out and buy more by Mr. Banks, which I am looking forward to reading.
Very early into the book I knew I was going to enjoy it. Even if the story didn't grab me (which, initially, it didn't) the style of storytelling and language made the book very engaging. Seriously, this guy could make a chapter about a wet paper bag drying seem interesting.
As the politics of the situation started to build, enhanced by fitting flashbacks that we're illustrative and not at all intrusive, it became fascinating, and as I for further in I was fascinated and also had no idea how it was going to end. Messily was obvious, just not in which way!
It I have one complaint, the ending (or rather, the epilogue) was too nice, almost too Hollywood. The main conclusion was bittersweet, and somehow this was undermined a tiny bit by the last few pages, I think a more ambiguous conclusion to the "will they/won't they" aspect of the book would have been somehow more realistic, but it's a minor quibble: the first thing I did when nearing the end of the book was go out and buy more by Mr. Banks, which I am looking forward to reading.
dr_oligo's review against another edition
4.0
I always enjoy Iain Banks. One of my favorite writers. Thoroughly enjoyable read.
jmkemp's review against another edition
4.0
While there are familiar elements to the story, it being set in small town Scotland, it is a new tale from Ian Banks. The story is told in a first person point of view style, and on a first reading at least, realistically leaves some loose ends where the protagonist cannot be sure of who did what and why.
Taking place over a long weekend the story unfolds with a mixture of narrative and flashbacks to explain the background relationships and the reasons why Stewart Gilmour ended up an exile from his home town. There is a believable cast of characters, they all seem real and with complex motivations, even the low-key gangster types. The underlying plot is one of relationships and how they interplay over time. It also covers some of the issues of the Scottish diaspora well, how it feels to return to your hometown and meet your school friends who have stayed. I could empathise well with those thoughts.
Overall definitely worth reading, the story got me hooked after about 50 pages or so and I took an extended lunch and then stayed up late to keep on reading it. I think it will probably stand up well to a second reading to check on some of the clues uncovered later in the book. I also reckon it would make a very good TV drama, with lots of interpersonal interplay.
Taking place over a long weekend the story unfolds with a mixture of narrative and flashbacks to explain the background relationships and the reasons why Stewart Gilmour ended up an exile from his home town. There is a believable cast of characters, they all seem real and with complex motivations, even the low-key gangster types. The underlying plot is one of relationships and how they interplay over time. It also covers some of the issues of the Scottish diaspora well, how it feels to return to your hometown and meet your school friends who have stayed. I could empathise well with those thoughts.
Overall definitely worth reading, the story got me hooked after about 50 pages or so and I took an extended lunch and then stayed up late to keep on reading it. I think it will probably stand up well to a second reading to check on some of the clues uncovered later in the book. I also reckon it would make a very good TV drama, with lots of interpersonal interplay.
nilsjesper's review against another edition
4.0
Another Iain Banks book about a young man returning to a small scottish town to grapple with family history and other mysteries? Sign me up! OK this book was no Crow Road part 2 but it was insanely readable and enjoyable, full of great vivid dialogue, descriptions, twists and emotions.
benign1's review against another edition
3.0
Enjoyable (if not particularly remarkable) story in a beautifully realized, believable setting. Characters, less so. If it wasn't virtually impossible to stop listening to Peter Kenny narrating anything, I might have abandoned this one halfway through.
millen13's review against another edition
5.0
I was thinking of giving this 4 stars because I really, really liked it. But was it amazing? I had to think about that. I have read really amazing books by Banks: Whit, The Bridge, The Algebraist, and the story is not as jaw-dropping as those books. However, the story-telling, the picture-painting, the character development, the small herrings make this book amazing in its own right. Stories by Banks just seem to be perfect, down to the slight quirks in the dialog of the characters themselves. So yes, definitely 5 stars according to me.
serinde4books's review against another edition
2.0
So this book is full of a lot of ambiguity regarding whatever the event was. I felt like we didn’t move far. I want to know what is going on though. I don't care for time jumps and this book was particularly jarring for me. I don’t like the flipping between past and present in the same chapter. It’s confusing to follow. We would flip in the same chapter an I wouldn't realized ht time period had changed at first.
It’s slow and most of the action is in memories of the past. I was expecting more. It felt like it took forever to get the story really moving.
Overall this was an ok book, I had hoped it would be a little more fast paced.
For additional reviews please see my blog at www.adventuresofabibliophile.blogspot.com
It’s slow and most of the action is in memories of the past. I was expecting more. It felt like it took forever to get the story really moving.
Overall this was an ok book, I had hoped it would be a little more fast paced.
For additional reviews please see my blog at www.adventuresofabibliophile.blogspot.com