Espedair Street: Amazon.co.uk: Iain Banks: Books

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Review

'Engagingly told, cleverly constructed' - TIME OUT 'Glittering pockets of wit. Banks is undoubtedly a natural' - INDEPENDENT

INDEPENDENT

* 'Glittering pockets of wit...Banks is undoubtedly a natural' --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Inside This Book (Learn More)

First Sentence
Two days ago I decided to kill myself. Read the first page

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Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover

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Customer Reviews

24 Reviews

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

Average Customer Review

3.9 out of 5 stars (24 customer reviews)

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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Original, funny, poignant., 5 Nov 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Espedair Street (Hardcover)

Having read and enjoyed Bank's previous books, The Wasp Factory and Walking on Glass, I tried this one. I was not disappointed. Espedair Street is a well-researched, well-written, engrossing read. The narrator, a gangly, ugly, reclusive former rock star, is realistically flawed, while maintaining enough qualities for the audience to truly sympathise with him. The non-lineal structure of the book captivates the reader and supplies them with constant intrigue. Espedair Street is an essential read for fans of rock music, especially those who also happen to be partial to Iain Banks sardonic wit.

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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good read but flawed, 11 Mar 2000

By A Customer

Espedair Street is presumably a novel Iain Banks had planned from his youth - Being lyric writer for a mega-successful rock band is an obvious fantasy for any talented writer since the 1950's - (and for many non-talented writers too, no doubt). It is also a novel that had been on my to-read list since I first started reading Banks' work a few years ago, spurred on by the enticing back-of-book notes. In common some of his later novels, noticeably Whit, Espedair Street is told in two different timeframes. The narrator, Daniel Weir, gives scenes of his current life amongst the have-nots of Glasgow, holed up in a disused Church, interspersed with the details of his career in Music that lead him to this point. Then a man from his past turns up in his present with news that creates a crisis of conscience, the resolution of which takes us through the closing chapters. As in all his work, Banks' words flow well off the page, and the novel is laced with plenty of imagination and wit, and a good pace is maintained throughout helped by a constant shifting of scene. The background to Weir's home provide an interesting fore-runner to the religion in Whit, and there are memorable scenes with a drunk dog and a pigeon, and in an aeroplane around Kent. The fight scene in the night club is skilfully choreographed, and the accidents that befall his friends are also well thought out. However, on completing the book I was left feeling that the sum of the novel added up to less than sum of the parts. The characterisations were fine as far as they went but I felt they lacked depth. In this his latter friends were better drawn than the fellow band members. I was left wondering if Banks' point was the shallowness of rock stars, but I was left wanting to know more of how Dave and Christine were changed by fame. His lover Inez, apart from a certain hardness of heart, and Janet, his first never developed any personality except for the roles they played for him. The biggest failing though was in the sympathies the book failed to engage. In this I don't think Banks was well served by those back-of-book notes. I never felt that Weir's predicament was as bad as I was meant to feel. Certainly he was living a life that was a wee bit squalid, but it was a life of his own choosing and as the denouement of the night club scene showed he always had the means to escape it. Sure his relationship with his father and the death of his friends were serious events, but the overall picture was not as bleak as I had expected from the dramatic opening paragraph. Espedair Street gets three stars out of five because the reading of it was an enjoyable experience, while it lasted. The plot was a simple one, and as a whole it did not get me thinking about any 'issues' as I like the best of fiction to do. I was left with a feeling that Banks had set up an interesting situation but had not been quite sure where to take it, and taken refuge in sentimentality. I could recommend you read this book, but not as strongly as I would 'Whit' or 'The Crow Road'

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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent, 2 Jan 2004

By A Customer

Banks is incredibly versatile as an author. Each of his books manages to deal with a wide array of subjects. Yet the commonailty of his books is the way the reader is completely drawn in to the characters.
Espedair Street - about an ex rock-star - is moving, and at the same time hilarious. It genuinely had me laughing out loud (on the Tube, not the done thing).
For once, a Scottish author has managed to portray dingy life and the struggle of a disadvantaged background, in a non-depressing manner. Congratulations.
I've found some of the reviews critical of this book as it is unrealistic. It may well be. I'm not an ex rock star, so I don't know. Don't buy it perhaps if you want a book about a rock-star. But as a book about the human being - from no-hope misery, to success and back - this is outstanding. Read this book.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars It Rocks!!
This book is the best I have ever read, and my favorite book of all time! I bought it a few years ago, lent it to a friend, never got it back, so bought i again. Read more

Published 2 months ago by Douglas Mayer

5.0 out of 5 stars The most enjoyable "my life in rock" novel I've read to date
Not only do I love listening to music, but I also enjoy reading about it - biographies, reference books, novels... Read more

Published 5 months ago by Peter Lee

3.0 out of 5 stars Tense, tragic and highly readable, but lacking in direction
"Espedair Street" is the fourth novel by the critically acclaimed Scottish author Iain Banks. Narrated by Daniel Weir - affectionately known to his friends as 'Weird' - it charts... Read more

Published 8 months ago by J. Aitcheson

4.0 out of 5 stars A great rock 'memoir' !
'Espedair Street' is the story of Daniel Weir - 'Weird' - the songwriter of (fictional) scotish rock band Frozen Gold. Read more

Published 14 months ago by Nik

4.0 out of 5 stars Liza-bet, do you love me ?
Iain Banks was born in Scotland in 1954 and published his first book - "The Wasp Factory" - in 1984. Read more

Published 16 months ago by Craobh Rua

2.0 out of 5 stars A cheap ride
I'm a big fan of Iain Banks work, both contemporary fiction and sci-fi. I read this in a day on holiday and although it kept my interest it was ultimately the most underwhelming... Read more

Published on 9 Sep 2007 by Dr. Robert C. Hayward

4.0 out of 5 stars Rockstars are human too
Daniel Weir used to be a famous rock star. Now he is only in his early thirties and knows he never has to work another day in his life. Read more

Published on 12 Nov 2005 by gerbie7

3.0 out of 5 stars Rock and Roll
Espedair Street tells the story of a suicidal millionaire ex-rock star's attempt to return to his old life, and traces the rise and sudden collapse of his band in a series of... Read more

Published on 29 Sep 2005 by dogbarkssome

5.0 out of 5 stars Skin pruning
I read this book from cover to cover while having a bath.. I couldn't put it down - not even to get out of the bath - thank god the hot water didn't run out. Read more

Published on 31 Jul 2005 by Mimi Mahoo

4.0 out of 5 stars Iain Banks for beginners
This was probably his most lazy creatively book from his earlier career and hence the least imaginative however... Read more

Published on 4 Oct 2004 by J. Reading

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	78% buy the item featured on this page: Espedair Street 3.9 out of 5 stars (24) �6.97
	7% buy Whit 4.3 out of 5 stars (23) �6.97
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	5% buy Complicity (Abacus Paperback) 4.3 out of 5 stars (45) �5.49

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