Customer Reviews

A Song of Stone: A Novel

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(11)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(10)

 

 

While Ian Banks is one of the most interesting writers I've come across in the last few years, unfortunately "A Song of Stone" is one of the least engaging novels I've ever finished. Muted, yet overwrought, this tale of dissolution is less shocking than turgid. The extended and tedious stretches of "purple prose" in this disappointing book, which were apparently consciously intended to embody the self-absorbed and effete mental state of the protagonist and narrator, did little but lose my flagging interest repeatedly. Coyly lurid, and basically quite unsatisfying, this dim variation on an apocalyptic, Road Warrior-ish theme goes nowhere and then dies...Read anything else by Banks before or instead of "A Song of Stone". Though I do rather enthusiastically recommend Banks as an author, I can't in good conscience give thumbs up to this book.

Iain went too far with this book. If you read this, it's good at first (especially with the Lt.'s introduction killing Half-Caste) but when you keep going it gets horribly one-toned.

Too many scenes are ruined by its consistently bleak nature. Abel always seems to be the underdog; the loser. When he gets his moment, he ruins it again and the story gets worse and worse. Way too much angst and way too much extremities simply adds up to a bad novel.

It's too bad really, because it makes an excellent first impression. However, it has too many flaws as a novel so overall I wouldn't reccomend it to anyone.

Iain Banks' novels are generally not full of bright happy sunshine and singing children (Consider Phelbas has to be the most depressing SF novel I've ever read) but even in the darkest stories there are islands of humors, snatches of dialogue that make you laugh out loud or absurdist situations that can't fail to bring a chuckle to your face. This novel has none of those things. It's just grimness personified, with the tone set right at the beginning and only going downhill from there. It takes place in some unspecified country at an unspecified time during a war for an unspecified cause. Two young lovers, a lord and lady of a castle, try to escape the country. Not too far out, they are captured by a band of soldiers led by a nameless lieutenant, who makes them go back to the castle. The jacket of the book makes it seem more plot centered than it actually is, from that point the book is nearly episodic in nature, with more examples of war and desolation and human darkness, finally ending really in the only way it can. There is absolutely nothing uplifting in this book, even the narrator (the young lord) is decadent and selfish and self-absorbed, and nobody else makes out much better. But for all the bad stuff going on in here, nothing is truly shocking, especially if you've read his other books . . . there are hints of weird relationships, acts of human brutality that in these days of access to world-wide news should be nothing surprising (the most brutal thing I saw was towards the end and involved a mill, frankly, I thought it was well done, really) . . . fortunately that's not really the point, at least as far as I can tell. What works the best here is Banks' writing, which is more fluid and poetic than of us books so far, rich in description and metaphor, yet it rarely becomes bogged down and wordy. It's a different style than he's used so far and it works brilliantly, giving the novel a dense and almost clastrophobic sense to it. In the end, though I'm not sure what you're left with . . . events escalate and go downhill, bad stuff happens and it all comes to a conclusion that you may or may not agree with. I didn't think it was bad as many others on the board, it was highly readable and once you get used to the dark tone it's really not that big a deal, and the prose is beyond excellent. However it shouldn't be anyone's first Banks book, or you're going to think he's this depressing writer out to shock people. I'm pretty sure there's a deeper message to this book somewhere but at some point it gets lost. So what you're left with is a well written very realistic novel that definitely won't give you a warm and fuzzy feeling when you're done. If you can stomach that (even the violence isn't that graphic) then you shouldn't have any problems. But he's done better, for sure. But you can't hit them all out of the park. Better luck next time.

I don't know what to make of this book. In some senses it felt very flat and in others it seemed to have a depth of meaning that I couldn't completely unearth. I also had a hard time getting over the use of second person to refer to Morgan. I can see stylistically how it was used and how it developed Abel's character, but it was a bit jarring.

Iain Banks first novel, "The Wasp Factory", was published in 1984. In the years since, he's won critical acclaim, topped best-seller lists and has even written Science Fiction books under the cunning nom-de-plume 'Iain M. Banks'. He's also seen this book, "The Crow Road", adapted for television by the BBC in 1996. "A Song of Stone" was first published in 1997.

The book is set in the aftermath of what appears to have been a long and devastating war - though at no point is any indication of its causes, or even who was fighting. While the war itself may even be over - it's hard to tell, with no real communication between different parts of the country - it's left anarchy behind : food and fuel are scarce, while there are regular skirmishes between a number of roaming factions. The story is told by Abel, an aristocrat with a title - albeit, apparently, a minor one. As the book opens, he and his beloved Morgan are abandoning their castle - hoping to avoid the sort of people it would probably attract. Unfortunately, they are captured early in their journey by a band of partisans who - as Abel feared - viewed the couple's home as an excellent base of operations. Abel and Morgan are taken back to their home - now, as trapped by the castle's walls as they are protected by it.

The book is told entirely from Abel's point of view - "I wonder at the lieutenant and the history of her men". Gradually, hints of his former life are given, much of it involving the development of his relationship with Morgan. Little, on the other hand, is told of the lieutenant or her men - even their real names are withheld. The language and style used is very descriptive at times, lyrical and nearly pretentious in places. For all his attempts to romanticise his thoughts, his feelings and his past, however, I found Abel to be an increasingly dislikeable character : for a member of the nobility, there was very little noble about him. In fact, as the book went on, I wasn't even convinced Morgan felt any real warmth towards him. For someone who hasn't read anything by Banks, I'm not sure I'd recommend this as a starting point - "Whit" and "The Crow Road" would possibly be a better introduction. However, "A Song of Stone" is certainly worth reading.

It seems to be generally agreed upon that this is not one of Iain Banks' finest works. In Song of Stone, Banks has plucked some successful elements from previous works and placed them in a new novel. It's not, however, a retread of ideas but some of the imagery might be familiar to Banks fans. Normally, Banks could make something like this work, however the story that he developed in A Song of Stone is not all that gripping.

That being said, this is still a piece of Banks' fiction. I don't blindly praise favorite authors' works but there is something inherent in Banks' fiction that exists here as well. Banks is wonderful at making the reader uncomfortable. If for nothing else, this book is a perfect example of Banks' darkness and the quiet horror he can cause readers - something he has in common with J.G. Ballard.

My advice - read all the Banks stuff you can get your hands on. Some are better than others but all are worth a read.

I didn't mind that this book was ugly. But I really hated that it was ugly, boring, and stupid. There was simply nothing to hold the reader's interest in this slow-moving mishmash of sadism and decadence. The narrator is brain-hurtingly tedious; there's not one single character in the book that is either likeable or interesting, nor is there any interesting speculation or a complex or intriguing plot.

Furthermore, if you are a Banks fan, you will find large chunks of this book to be unpleasantly familiar. He has recycled, not just themes, but scenes and dialogue from his earlier works. This would be OK if he had improved on them, but he hasn't. Bits that were clever in _Walking on Glass_ or _Canal Dreams_ are just boring in this.

I like Banks, and I'll read his next book, but I really hope this one was an aberration and not the shape of what we should now expect from him. And, oh yeah, I found the vaguely American villain pretty irritating, too.

Skip this one unless you are an absolute Banks fanatic.

This novel, set in a bleak, post-war future, is an example of Banks at his darkest, most violent, and most self-indulgent. Quite different from the tongue-in-cheek Gothic nature of his first novel, The Wasp Factory, or the cheerfully introspective and essentially Scottish novels The Crow Road and Espedair Street, this book is full of stomach-turning violence as the protagonist is pushed to desperation by a group of mercenaries. Banks fans will recognize much of the tone and content as being similar to his two other most violent novels, Canal Dreams and Complicity. And in keeping with some of his other works, there are undertones of incest as well.

What few redeeming features this novel has are largely to be found in the internal monologues of the narrator. However, even these become long-winded, to the point that the end of the book seems to fade into the distance, rather than approaching at a satisfying speed.

This book is a tremendous disappointment from a talented storyteller. While captivating in some of its plot developments, ultimately the unsatisfying conclusion and truly horrible violence throughout condemn this one to the remainder bin. Not recommended.

Although the use of language is most eloquent, the story doesn't go anywhwere. What story there might be is interrupted by chapters about the main character's sex life, which couldn't possibly be more out of context. This is one of the worst books I've ever read. I stuck to the end, even on the last chapter hoping there would be some redemption. But there wasn't. Not only that but it is a very dark and depressing story, to which I failed to see any point.

Loved The Wasp Factory, The Bridge, Complicity. Hated this one and Whit.

A Song of Stone is brutally dark. The writing is beautiful and poetic. The subject matter is horrific. The story takes place during a no name war in a no name country and is told from the view of Abel as a first person narrative.

Abel and his lover Morgan are nobles. They attempt to abandon their castle and flee to safety disguised as refugees when they are captured and taken back to their castle by a lieutenant and her band of soldiers. This is where the cat and mouse game begins. The story contains graphic violence, sex, incest, rape and human cruelty at it's worse.

The further I got into the story the more it seemed to have a hold on me. The closer I got to the end the more I felt a need to finish it. By the time I got to the last chapter I wanted it to not end I no longer wanted to know, but still I had a need to know.

When I finished reading A Song of Stone it felt as if my psyche was savagely beaten and bruised, it may take weeks for my mental health and well being to recover, if ever.

When I closed the book I immediately wanted to read something else but I'm not sure if it's to dilute the feeling A Song of Stone left me with or if it's because the writing was so good (and deep) that it ignited something in me that makes me want to read and read and read.

I would recommend to ADULTS ONLY that have read the reviews and are still interested. Not recommended as a first Iain (M.) Banks read.