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The Crow Road Paperback – 22 April 1993

by Iain Banks (Author)

4.2 2,612 ratings

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From its bravura opening onwards, THE CROW ROAD is justly regarded as an outstanding contemporary novel.

'It was the day my grandmother exploded. I sat in the crematorium, listening to my Uncle Hamish quietly snoring in harmony to Bach's Mass in B Minor, and I reflected that it always seemed to be death that drew me back to Gallanach.'

Prentice McHoan has returned to the bosom of his complex but enduring Scottish family. Full of questions about the McHoan past, present and future, he is also deeply preoccupied: mainly with death, sex, drink, God and illegal substances...

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His masterpiece . . . it's got a beating heart, and you want to keep reading (Jay Rayner Daily Express)

Banks has woven a warm and funny story, rich with characters and adventures. An utterly enchanting piece of fiction...it marks a return to his brilliant best. NEW WOMAN (This is Bank s' finest novel yet. INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY)

Hip and sexy humour....Bank reinforces his credentials as one of the most able, energetic and stimulating writers we have in the UK. TIME OUT (The Crow Road is tight with detail and closer observation and creates a strong sense of a particular period of growing up. THE INDEPENDENT)

Magic is the book's keynote. It echoes in descriptions of evolution that pass from the factual to the elegiac and on the mythical. It calls most insistently when intensity - of love, lust or grief - burst through limited expectations or circumstances to release poetry. THE TIMES (Banks keeps death in its place, under the boot of wit which knows that the most significant romance can blossom whilst your youngest brother is up to the elbow in Sugar Smacks looking for the plastic toy. OBSERVER)

The tense horror of the book...is done with considerable imaginative subtlety and a fine touch....This is as fine and ambitious a novel as any from a Scottish writer since the 1960s. It is also unquestionable Bank's best work to date. NEW STATESMAN (A magnificent, rambling family saga.his best novel yet. FOR HIM)

Book Description

Paperback reissue of Iain Banks' masterly novel THE CROW ROAD

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Abacus (22 April 1993)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 512 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0349103232
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0349103235
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 12.7 x 3.4 x 19.8 cm

Best Sellers Rank: 471,011 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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- 26,394 in Humorous Fiction

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4.2 2,612 ratings

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Iain M. Banks

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Iain Banks (1954-2013) came to widespread and controversial public notice with the publication of his first novel, The Wasp Factory, in 1984. Consider Phlebas, his first science fiction novel, was published under the name Iain M. Banks in 1987 and began his celebrated ten-book Culture series. He is acclaimed as one of the most powerful, innovative and exciting writers of his generation.

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Des Gould

A great read

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 5 December 2023

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Excellent fully believable, yet eccentric characters, withe the main one eventually working out life’s meaning , at least for himself.

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Alessandra F.

It was the day my grandmother exploded.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 11 May 2010

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Prentice is a 22-year-old student in Glasgow, just back to his own little town of Gallanach for his grandmother's funeral. It's mostly through his eyes that we're introduced to the McHoan's family, as well as all the other funny characters that people this book. It can maybe take a while in the beginning not to get lost among all their names, not to speak about the many flashbacks that Banks uses to unfold his plot, but it's all worth the effort. Little by little you'll start putting together all the pieces in the story of the McHoan's clan, until the moment you'll find out its deepest secret... "The Crow Road" is a really entertaining book, well written and really funny most of the time. I suppose when you start a book with a sentence like "It was the day my grandmother exploded", you're really setting the tone for the entire book!

For the most curious of you, I leave you with a passage I particularly enjoyed...

"People can be teachers and idiots; they can be philosophers and idiots; they can be politicians and idiots... in fact I think they have to be... a genious can be an idiot. The world is largely run for and by idiots; it is no great handicap in life and in certain areas is actually a distinct advantage and even a prerequisite for advancement".

65 people found this helpful

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Johnnie Boy

Very Scottish

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 10 February 2021

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I'm a great fan of Iain M Banks and Si Fi work of which I have read all his books so I may be a bit bias.
This book is in some ways a very different style being situated in a small place.
I couldn't quite work out where the town was. It is probably fictional there is a Castle Gallanach near Oban there is also a bay near Crinan but there is no actual, town lots of the surrounding places mentioned are real some of which I've driven through which I enjoyed. The descriptions of places and people were very life like and really well done. He has captured the maturing Prentice so perfectly it makes you cringe at times. I grew up at around the same time and it just felt like a journey into my youth in parts. The way the story jumped back and forth particularly towards the end was good. There was a bit of slow going in the middle. You just have to plough through that for your reward. There were as always a few nice humours touches. PS there was a BBC 4 part dramatization done back in the day which you can still find on DVD second hand. It seems surprisingly accurate.

6 people found this helpful

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Nick

Blocked writer

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 16 November 2023

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How to wite your way out of writers block and way too many characters...
Sorts itself out in a way but not really one of his best books ...Ironically

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 4 December 2017

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Prior to this I had read just one book by Iain Banks - Raw Spirit, In Search of the Perfect Dram. The Crow Road is a revelation, first published in 1992 and contemporaneous with that time. A great panoply of a story, a lengthy tale, a huge canvas covering the trials and tribulations of the McHoan family, narrated for the most part by Prentice McHoan, who has returned to the bosom of his Scottish family in Gallanach.

”It was the day my grandmother exploded. I sat in the crematorium, listening to my Uncle Hamish quietly snoring in harmony to Bach’s Mass in B Minor…” A riveting start to a story, indeed!

Warm, funny, enchanting, poignant - the scope of The Crow Road is complex, telling the tale of the McHoan family - past present and future. A tale of unrequited love, a man preoccupied with death, sex, drink, God and illegal substances. There are passages that had me shaking with laughter; stuck in the mind, had me laughing out loud hours after reading them. Yes, it’s that good! With a satisfying mystery that Prentice is determined to solve, with unexpected consequences.

Bearing in mind that The Crow Road was published twenty-five years ago it still reads as a contemporary tale, although any background events take place in the 80s and 90s.

The Crow Road is considered by many to be Banks’ finest novel.

I loved it.

6 people found this helpful

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Rivetting

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 13 October 2019

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I’ve not read a lot of Iain Banks. The Wasp Factory was a favourite when I was a teenager. I read a few of his science fiction books but wasn’t impressed. If The Crow Road is anything to go by I have clearly missed out. An interesting side note, Crow Road is an actual road in Glasgow where I live, pretty close to my flat and I regularly pass along the road to go to the gym. I think stuff like that is pretty cool. I love books about dysfunctional families so I was bound to enjoy this book. Once I started to read the book I got sucked right in and found it hard to close the book. I thought it was great. The Crow Road is much darker than I was expecting as Prentice becomes consumed with solving his family’s darkest secret. What really happened to Uncle Rory and his wife who vanished years ago? I was riveted by this book.

16 people found this helpful

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Martinus

An All time Favourite

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 16 August 2023

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One of my all time favourite novels. I just had to add a copy to my Kindle.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 3 February 2014

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What happened to Uncle Rory? That is the essence of this story, and the after effects of his sudden disappearance on his extended family. He was a much loved person, who traveled widely and appeared unannounced to his family when it suited him. Prentice (his nephew - and son of a schoolmaster) is the storyteller, who tries to explain the effect Uncle Rory had on the family. He was much loved, and held up as as hero to the younger members of the family. Prentice tries to find out what happened to Rory, with not a lot of help from his family. Prentice, at University, grows up fast, but never loses track of his goal - to find Uncle Rory. Friends come and go, but several stick around to help Prentice with his search. A book I read years ago, and watched the TV adaptation, which I enjoyed - fairly true to the book. I enjoyed this as a leisurely read, savouring every twist and turn of the plot. A good read from an exceptional story teller.

6 people found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

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susan

The crow road Iain banks

Reviewed in Spain on 17 December 2022

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Love iain banks and i bought this book once again after moving house and having to leave my books behind. A great read with the usual Iain banks twinkle in his eye mixed with seriousness.

book lover suz

This was an amazing book. Really

Reviewed in Canada on 25 March 2016

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This was an amazing book. Really, it should be read. The hook was when grandma's pacemaker exploded at the crematorium. Truly worth reading if you love a laugh, I love this man. Sadly, he isn't with us anymore, but this is such a wonderful book. Really, worth reading. I bought it years ago, and because I loved it so much, I bought again on my Kindle. Now I can read it wherever I travel. Sue

Sacha

Put aside a weekend

Reviewed in France on 3 November 2015

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I had seen the TV series many years ago so I knew the story but I could not put it down. A beautifully written stylish thriller. Fascinating unusual characters, all of them completely convincing, even rather dotty uncles. Full of suspense, but no violence to speak of, except a few accidental and not so accidental deaths. Wholeheartedly recommended.

One person found this helpful

babsi40?

Wow!

Reviewed in Germany on 30 May 2014

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Hätte doppel so viel Seiten sein können. Für mich super interessante Lesestoff! Kommt auf meine Favoriten Liste. Wer gern komplizierte Familien Beziehungen und Leute die nicht 0815 liebt sollte dies lesen!

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grace

Crow Road

Reviewed in Italy on 6 February 2014

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very interesting indeed! I think, it must be very well received, when it came out. Ther's an interesting plot in it and the language iitself fullfills the reader's expectations.

One person found this helpful

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The Crow Road Paperback – 22 April 1993

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