Great review! I just finished the book and still don't know what I think about it. What's clear to me is that the ending let it down, it was way too overt and the way Frank deals with the revelation doesn't seem at all in keeping with the character. For me, there was enough buildup to Frank's worldview and how they see women that the revelation would be earth-shattering. (I did guess what the reveal would be, around the 40% mark and I thought it was brilliant, until I read the way it was rendered in the book)
Great review and I loved your summary of the book. I would say that Iain Banks would not have meant this as any kind of anti-trans message... if anything quite the opposite. He just had a great mind for creating scenarios and wasn't afraid to talk about these things back in 1984 when it was published. If anything I would have said that it was a study in how the world needs feminine just as much as it needs masculine to complete it. I bought the book when it came out and loved it and have found every book since to be just as interesting and thought provoking. He also wrote science fiction under the name Iain, M. Banks. They are equally as interesting.. Sadly no longer with us he leaves a great legacy for up book readers to appreciate... There was even a play written based on the book which I went to see in London in 1997. Take care.
I couldn’t read the book. So dark it made me feel literally ill and I’m not usually a light weight with literature. Thanks for the run down. I’m glad I know what it’s all about at least…
I can definitely see how parts could be a drag. Looking back it does seem like the time it took for Eric to finally make his way home went on a little too long. The ending was quite a twist though!
I dont think the author /meant/ to convey an anti-trans message, rather the opposite, i think the twist speaks to the father controlling franks gender castration with the fake castration eluding to the eodipal nature of the dynamic. BUT i think that the message is WAY too easy to interperet as anti-trans and that the author basically shot himself in the foot trying to overplay the ambiguity. Writing such a vague theme into the story with many of the key points being so antithetical to what i assume he was trying to say means this book will more than likely be a tool of anti-trans propagamda regardless of ians intention. This will- if anything, be the 1984 of gender related fiction
Love your review but I did not enjoy the book. It was boring for me. Felt like a rushed entry to a gross-book-competition. Wasn’t scary and I’m sorry but the “big reveal” just felt boring to me. After all that gore we go through in this read, I thought surely there would be some huge mind winding discovery but I was disappointed. It’s a very creative work, but for my taste, it all felt very 1 level. Would not recommend.
Finished the book today and honestly... eh It's certainly not bad but the one thing that really bothered me is that the final chapter kind of just spells out the themes of the novel for the reader and that soured the whole thing for me. I like when books let me digest with the ideas it gives and the end of The Wasp Factory didn't really let me do that. That said I really liked your video dude
I can definitely understand that. There is a pretty epilogue style narration dump at the end that takes some of the mystery away. Especially when it comes to how the protagonist is feeling and dealing with things. The ride getting there was still pretty wild though! And I’m glad you liked the video, thanks for watching!
Great book. I like your interpretation of Eric being the outside world. Would love to hear more of your opinions about this book.
Great review! I just finished the book and still don't know what I think about it. What's clear to me is that the ending let it down, it was way too overt and the way Frank deals with the revelation doesn't seem at all in keeping with the character. For me, there was enough buildup to Frank's worldview and how they see women that the revelation would be earth-shattering. (I did guess what the reveal would be, around the 40% mark and I thought it was brilliant, until I read the way it was rendered in the book)
Great review and I loved your summary of the book. I would say that Iain Banks would not have meant this as any kind of anti-trans message... if anything quite the opposite. He just had a great mind for creating scenarios and wasn't afraid to talk about these things back in 1984 when it was published. If anything I would have said that it was a study in how the world needs feminine just as much as it needs masculine to complete it. I bought the book when it came out and loved it and have found every book since to be just as interesting and thought provoking. He also wrote science fiction under the name Iain, M. Banks. They are equally as interesting.. Sadly no longer with us he leaves a great legacy for up book readers to appreciate... There was even a play written based on the book which I went to see in London in 1997. Take care.
It was the start of a series of marvellous books.
Great video and interesting comments.
I liked the book, but the end was a little abrupt.
I couldn’t read the book. So dark it made me feel literally ill and I’m not usually a light weight with literature. Thanks for the run down. I’m glad I know what it’s all about at least…
@@Con3033 sometimes things just hit us like that! I’m glad you were able to get the gist of the book from the video though!
One of the murder weapons is a kite. A kite. This book is ridiculous.
Just finish book, its a great material for spooky movie. 7.5/10 :) reminds me climate of Finchers "Se7en" ... slow pase, rainy, windy, dark...
I could definitely see it as a good spooky movie, especially a slow burn movie by like A24 or something.
This book was a drag an I didn't even want to finish reading it, but I did want to get the ending. Like the review.
I can definitely see how parts could be a drag. Looking back it does seem like the time it took for Eric to finally make his way home went on a little too long. The ending was quite a twist though!
@@GhostintheStacks I should have just push my way through the book and be more patiently. I just couldn't.
Amazing review and amazing hair
I dont think the author /meant/ to convey an anti-trans message, rather the opposite, i think the twist speaks to the father controlling franks gender castration with the fake castration eluding to the eodipal nature of the dynamic. BUT i think that the message is WAY too easy to interperet as anti-trans and that the author basically shot himself in the foot trying to overplay the ambiguity. Writing such a vague theme into the story with many of the key points being so antithetical to what i assume he was trying to say means this book will more than likely be a tool of anti-trans propagamda regardless of ians intention. This will- if anything, be the 1984 of gender related fiction
You seem like a cool dude
Thanks! I’m just a dude trying to do stuff and make stuff
Love your review but I did not enjoy the book. It was boring for me. Felt like a rushed entry to a gross-book-competition. Wasn’t scary and I’m sorry but the “big reveal” just felt boring to me. After all that gore we go through in this read, I thought surely there would be some huge mind winding discovery but I was disappointed. It’s a very creative work, but for my taste, it all felt very 1 level. Would not recommend.
It’s way overrated in my view. Starts strong but loses steam quite quickly.
Finished the book today and honestly... eh
It's certainly not bad but the one thing that really bothered me is that the final chapter kind of just spells out the themes of the novel for the reader and that soured the whole thing for me. I like when books let me digest with the ideas it gives and the end of The Wasp Factory didn't really let me do that.
That said I really liked your video dude
I can definitely understand that. There is a pretty epilogue style narration dump at the end that takes some of the mystery away. Especially when it comes to how the protagonist is feeling and dealing with things. The ride getting there was still pretty wild though!
And I’m glad you liked the video, thanks for watching!
Just finished it and totally agree with this.
Great review!