Complicity

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An ingeniously constructed tale, done with customary ease, wit and panache. Banks may be a classic story-spinner, purveyor of the proverbial Good Read: but in among all the contrasts, the genre-hopping and the fun, there's a small, serious common purpose to his work * Scotsman * Cameron Colley is a 30-ish Scottish journalist with liberal leanings, a tendency to binge on alcohol and other (illicit) stimulants, and an ongoing clandestine relationship with his childhood sweetheart Yvonne. Unfortunately for Cameron, Yvonne is married to their mutual friend William. A more serious problem is presented by the exploits of a Dexter-like serial killer, who is engaged in a spree of execution-style killings of prominent business leaders and corrupt politicians for which he is systematically framing Cameron. All Banks’s Culture novels feature Minds, hyperintelligent mirror-surfaced ellipsoids that run starships and other large engineering structures. But in Excession, the Minds become the primary protagonists, as they debate what to do about the titular phenomenon – an inscrutable alien artefact that seems to be older than the universe itself – and about a barbarous competing civilisation that glories in the name “the Affront”. As Minds are persons, they are not obliged to be open and honest with one another or anyone else, and some conspire to allow “gigadeathcrimes” on utilitarian principles, rather like crazed effective altruists. It's all set in Edinburgh and a range of other Scottish locations, some real, some fictional, but all the real ones are perfectly described, and it's great to read about places I know well. The story was written in the early nineties and is set at that time, describing real events that went on at the time, and this really brings the book to life. That can create a sense of immediacy, but almost amnesiac dislocation. We have to discover what we think, see, know and do. And if we don’t identify with the ‘you’ – if we feel implicated rather than attached – we can be pulled out of the story rather than brought deeper into it.

This is only the second Banks novel I've read - I'm late to the party here. A friend of mine recently sent me "The Crow Road" as a gift, and I really enjoyed it, so when I spotted this in a charity shop, I thought I'd give it a go.Complicity is my second Banks novel, after The Wasp Factory. Both are 5 star reads, the main reason being that Banks is a captivating storyteller capable of evoking sympathy when the reader may not necessarily feel comfortable with the feeling. If life had not regularly intruded, then I would have happily and easily read this book in one sitting. As for another Banks novel, Espedair Street, meanwhile,...could someone, somewhere, please consider this for movie or a mini series? Banks doesn’t present the novel fully in second person; these sections fall between those of a first-person viewpoint character, journalist Cameron Colley. As such, readers are confronted by a juxtaposition of Cameron’s version of events and what was witnessed by the narrator.

Banks met his wife Annie in London, before the release of his first book. They married in Hawaii in 1982. However, he announced in early 2007 that, after 25 years together, they had separated. He lived most recently in North Queensferry, a town on the north side of the Firth of Forth near the Forth Bridge and the Forth Road Bridge.

Table of Contents

Under suspicion by the police, Colley finds himself involved doubly in the bizarre murders when the killer is revealed. At the end of the book, Colley is diagnosed with lung cancer (a downbeat ending omitted in the film adaptation).

Author Iain M. Banks revealed in April 2013 that he had late-stage cancer. He died the following June. I'm not a Scottish young male journo with a drug habit; this book is grim, brutal, uncompromising and convoluted ...so why do I like this so much? This is the first book in ages I've felt a real compulsion to read and finish, which is not to say it's necessarily better than the last few books I've read, just that it's the kind of book that's utterly compelling.We have Cameron, our doomed hero, who freezes whenever he shouldn’t, runs when he should stand and fight; Cameron who dreams every night of what he sees as his failings and yet, horrific as they are, he doesn’t face the one that hurts him most. The one where he finally gets sent to the Middle East to be a real reporter and yet again he freezes. He is completely unable to tell his readers what he sees. We follow Cameron Colley, a journalist with a mild drug, drink and gaming habit. He doesn't actually seem to do much work, but runs around after an anonymous source called Archer, who is hinting at links between the deaths of Nuclear scientists and associated people. But what is going on is far more sinister. There's a series of brutal murders across the country and suddenly Cameron is arrested. He knows he didn't do them, but can he be sure he's not complicit in the crimes! Banks always uses the names of his sapient spaceships – chosen by the Minds themselves – as ironic commentary, and this novel contains some of his best, such as the Ethics Gradient, the Not Invented Here, the Frank Exchange of Views, and the Zero Gravitas. Excession is the favourite of many Culture fans, though Look to Windward (hello again, TS Eliot) and the extremely dark and brilliant Use of Weapons are also deservedly revered. What really made this book stand out and pushed it into a 5 star rating was how Banks told the story. Portions of it were told in second person narrative and, surprisingly, it worked perfectly. I truly felt as though I were in the story and believe me, the second-person narrative scenes are nothing I ever want to experience. Given the reputation of Iain M Banks as a writer of unorthodox sci - fi and contraversial novels, I am surprised that only 2 of his works have ever been adapted for screen - The Crow Road (which I never liked either as a book or series) and Complicity, his only film outing.

D Защото, според мен, дори през '93-та вече да се говори как "Форд" смятат да придобият "Ягуар", това още не се е случило и авторът едва ли би сложил в устата на героя си такава шегичка, би измислил нещо по-актуално и уместно като за '93-та... I loved particularly the use of first and second person perspectives and the switching between them, used particularly deftly right at the end of the book. I also loved how well balanced the book was, as a reader you really have no idea what's going on, you know you have no idea what's going on but there's enough given to you that you don't feel lost or frustrated. The descriptions of all the murders that take place is excellent - you feel as if you are right there watching the killer do it. It's all bloody & gory with a sexual element to it (sometimes), but it's one of the strongest points of the book. There's also a generous amount of sex in it as well, but it doesn't dampen your view of the book even one bit. I was so intrigued by this book that I bought an original DVD of the movie based on the book. But I admit without shame that I did not watch the movie before re-reading the book for the second time!

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A stylishly executed and well produced study in fear, loathing and victimisation which moves towards doom in measured steps * Observer * iain banks' sci-fi is fabulously complex and his thrillers can feel almost ostentatiously stripped-down. this is one of the latter. rather good, although rather junior league joyce carol oates as well. specifically j.c. oates under her thriller pseudonym, rosamund smith... he shares the same interest in doubles and obsessions and two characters who reflect each other's passions and weaknesses. there are also some unsurprisingly sharp critiques of materialism and various other classic and modern evils... the victims are a veritable Who's Who of Assholes Deserving Slaughter... the killer, demented as he may be, is something of a robin hood, taken to the next level (down). my main issue with the novel, besides the rather rote use of doubling, is that the lead character becomes somewhat tedious, at least to this reader. still, the writing is solid and the narrative is often riveting. My aim is to keep the guidance as straightforward as possible, not because I think you should only do it this way or that way, but because most people (myself included) handle complexity best when they start with the foundations. I also loved how Banks introduced and wove into the story the protagonist's memories and real-time drug use. The novel contains large amounts of violence, in and out of the bedroom type violence, as well as scenes of torture. Instead of simply being gratuitous, the violence creates potential for discussion, in the reader and oh, maybe some awesomely twisted book club. I have always been a fan of vigilante, greater good, moral right, and capital punishment debates, and this book at least dabbles with each of these topics, to varrying degrees.