false http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1171290844m/94568.jpg 94568 14 This brutal tale starts in a bleak, brutal European any-war. Abel and Morgan live in a foreboding castle, alone and isolated, until the conflict intrudes on their numb lives in the form of a cruel mercenary lieutenant and her violent, ravaging men who take up residence. From there, the tale disintegrates into darkness and atrocity, punctuated by Abel's memories of earlier joy and pain. Iain Banks pushes the story steadily downward, dragging the morbidly fascinated reader into the depths of human despair. Gang rape, torture, and incest are seen through Abel's uncaring eyes--this book is not for the squeamish. And although Banks strives for a Passion play in the end, what's missing is even the tiniest kernel of real redemption. Fans of <I>The Wasp Factory</I> and Banks's other non-science fiction works will find familiar details here, but <I>A Song of Stone</I> stands alone as a fable of hopelessness. <I>--Therese Littleton</I> 1418638 book 1997 A Song of Stone: A Novel total:449|5:36|4:120|3:172|2:89|1:32| 449 1386 597 28 4 1 false false Tue Aug 01 00:00:00 -0700 2006 Sat Aug 30 14:44:00 -0700 2008 Sat Aug 30 14:44:27 -0700 2008 more...]]> 3 0 false false Fri Feb 27 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Thu Feb 26 22:41:40 -0800 2009 Thu Feb 26 22:57:56 -0800 2009
The bleak, apocalyptic landscape of this book is haunting and lush. The characters, in contrast, seemed hollow and contrived. I found them unbelievable, and difficult to identify with, beyond mild irritation and annoyance. Perhaps I missed...more...]]> 2 0 false false Thu Apr 30 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon May 04 11:15:39 -0700 2009 Mon May 04 12:22:35 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false true Mon Nov 09 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Fri Feb 13 17:52:11 -0800 2009 Mon Nov 09 12:05:12 -0800 2009 1
It's been several months since I read this and I've been reading another book by this author, Excession. First, I must agree with a few reviewers on other sites who said that this probably shouldn't be the first Banks novel you read. I'm currently reading Exce...more...]]> 0 0 false false Mon Feb 25 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Mon Oct 15 13:09:12 -0700 2007 Sun Mar 23 18:02:29 -0700 2008
The story is told as the account of a single narrator, but is written in second person with no framing to give it perspective--such as a diary, or series of letters. Although the the person to whom the narrative is addressed is ostensibly another char...more...]]> 4 0 false false Sun Jul 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Sat Oct 17 06:56:39 -0700 2009 Sat Oct 17 06:58:32 -0700 2009 1 3 0 false false Wed Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2003 Mon Feb 25 05:40:22 -0800 2008 Thu Apr 02 16:10:58 -0700 2009
It is interesting how we react to both the catastrophe and the small private perversions of the main characters, so harmless in the biggest scenario, and yet what we remember afterwards, which is a...more...]]> 2 0 false false Sat Dec 20 14:53:54 -0800 2008 Sat Dec 20 14:54:42 -0800 2008 4 0 false false Wed Apr 15 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon Apr 06 14:17:43 -0700 2009 Fri Apr 17 12:15:03 -0700 2009 1 0 false false Thu Dec 25 13:45:59 -0800 2008 Thu Dec 25 13:45:59 -0800 2008 3 0 false false Fri May 23 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Sat Apr 19 03:15:39 -0700 2008 Fri May 23 00:40:53 -0700 2008 more...]]> 0 0 false false Sun Aug 30 19:22:35 -0700 2009 Sun Aug 30 19:23:13 -0700 2009 4 2 false false Sun Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2006 Sat Nov 22 04:27:14 -0800 2008 Sun May 31 10:02:20 -0700 2009 Lolita and John Self from Money.

I think that the antihero of Song of S...more...]]> 1 0 false false Sat Aug 23 11:22:57 -0700 2008 Sat Aug 23 11:23:04 -0700 2008 more...]]> 0 0 false false Sun Jan 06 21:04:28 -0800 2008 Sat Feb 07 06:48:05 -0800 2009
I intend to preserve this ...more...]]> 2 0 false false Sun Aug 30 03:09:46 -0700 2009 Thu Sep 17 03:01:47 -0700 2009 1 0 false false Sat Dec 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Thu Dec 27 08:34:55 -0800 2007 Sat Dec 29 20:20:33 -0800 2007 give it 1.5 stars. This book is not without merit, but it takes more than incest and female perpetrated violent to create a "haunting" or moving story. The characters were quite unsympathetic.
Not nearly as interesting ...more...]]> 3 0 false false Wed Jun 11 18:34:53 -0700 2008 Wed Jun 11 18:41:06 -0700 2008 4 0 false false Fri Aug 21 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon Jul 13 08:16:20 -0700 2009 Fri Aug 21 01:03:22 -0700 2009 5 0 false false Wed Jul 18 08:15:16 -0700 2007 Wed Jul 18 09:21:45 -0700 2007 http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=94568