false http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1166490846m/12006.jpg 12006 11 There's no question that the anticipation for each successive Iain Banks novel grows ever greater, and <I>Dead Air</I> is a literary event. The sardonic, inventive prose guarantees a unique reading experience with each new book (the misfires may be counted on one hand), and whatever genre he tackles, Banks is one of the most stimulating writers at work in Britain today.<p> His protagonist here is Ken Nott, a character as penetratingly realised as ever. He's a committed contrarian, ekeing out a living as a left-wing radio shock-jock in London. He makes his home in a loft apartment in the East End, in a former factory due to be demolished in a few days. After a wedding breakfast, people begin to pitch fruit from a balcony on to a deserted car park 10 storeys below; then they begin dispatching other things: a broken TV, a loudspeaker with a ruptured cone, bean bags and other useless furniture. Then the guests enter a kind of frenzy and start dropping things that are still working, at the same time trashing the rest of the apartment. But suddenly mobile phones start to ring urgently and they're told to turn on the TV, because a plane has just crashed into the World Trade Center. And Ken Nott finds his life is to change irrevocably. <p> Banks's subject here is nothing less than the survival of the individual in the face of a chaotic world. The destruction of personality under the lacerating values of modernity is a subject repeatedly addressed by JG Ballard (and that author's shadow is clearly evident here), and although this is one of the Iain Banks novels in which he pointedly does not use the "M" in his name that marks his science fiction, this nightmare vision of contemporary London has more than a trace of that genre in its sense of fractured reality. But all the caustic humour and dark character development that Banks excels in are fully in place. --<I>Barry Forshaw</I> 919765 book 2002 Dead Air total:447|5:47|4:152|3:164|2:69|1:15| 447 1488 700 24 4 3 false false Sat Nov 01 00:00:00 -0800 2003 Sat Nov 22 04:27:16 -0800 2008 Wed Feb 04 06:04:46 -0800 2009 more...]]> 4 2 false false Tue Mar 25 16:40:37 -0700 2008 Tue Mar 25 16:40:45 -0700 2008 more...]]> 2 0 false false Tue Nov 18 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Fri Nov 14 01:46:15 -0800 2008 Thu Nov 20 05:23:04 -0800 2008
Never in my life have I read a book with such a multitude of unlikeable characters. These are pseudo celebs and media whores, ploughing the depths of the tarnished glitterati and have no redeeming quality or anything whatsoever to endear them.
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Among other topics (and de...more...]]> 4 0 false false Sat Oct 10 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sat Oct 10 13:18:51 -0700 2009 Sun Oct 11 11:39:06 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Tue Feb 24 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Thu Feb 19 16:03:42 -0800 2009 Tue Feb 24 00:36:35 -0800 2009
Definitely going to read more of his books.]]> 3 0 false false Tue Jul 08 08:19:06 -0700 2008 Tue Jul 08 08:25:58 -0700 2008 more...]]> 3 0 false false Wed Oct 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Sat Oct 04 09:16:43 -0700 2008 Fri Oct 17 09:19:25 -0700 2008 1 more...]]> 4 0 false false Sat Apr 11 01:15:31 -0700 2009 Sat Apr 18 19:14:30 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Sun Aug 30 03:09:39 -0700 2009 Sun Aug 30 17:16:19 -0700 2009 1 0 false false Fri Feb 20 12:45:08 -0800 2009 Fri Feb 20 12:45:08 -0800 2009 1 0 false false Wed Jul 15 14:08:45 -0700 2009 Wed Jul 15 14:10:21 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Wed Oct 28 01:04:14 -0700 2009 Wed Oct 28 01:04:44 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Thu Mar 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Tue Sep 11 18:33:06 -0700 2007 Tue Sep 11 18:38:38 -0700 2007 more...]]> 1 0 false false Sat Dec 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Sun Dec 16 09:23:00 -0800 2007 Thu Dec 20 02:07:10 -0800 2007 1 0 false false Tue Nov 13 15:48:09 -0800 2007 Tue Nov 13 15:48:09 -0800 2007 4 0 false false Wed Jul 18 08:16:33 -0700 2007 Wed Jul 18 08:17:31 -0700 2007 1 0 false false Mon Dec 29 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Fri Nov 14 03:09:52 -0800 2008 Mon Dec 29 02:29:20 -0800 2008 http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=12006