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Ian Rankin and Inspector Rebus: The Official Story of the Bestselling Author and His Ruthless Detective
Detective John Rebus first appeared in Ian Rankin's 1987 bestseller Knots and Crosses and has since gone on to appear in 17 books and numerous short stories. For more than 20 years these critically acclaimed novels have delighted readers and set a benchmark in contemporary crime fiction. These notoriously gritty stories have been adapted into a television series—the public cannot get enough of this hard-drinking, no-nonsense, complex detective. Although the fictional Inspector retired to the backwaters of Edinburgh's dark side in the 2007 novel Exit Music , the books endure. Here, Craig Cabell draws from his extensive interviews with Ian Rankin to explore both the writer and his creation, and how their relationship has developed over the years. He also investigates the dark cellars and sinister back streets of Rebus' Edinburgh—a dark, foreboding city that shatters any stereotypes of shortbread and kilts. Learn about the unusual connection between Rankin and Rebus, how the author was a punk musician and swineherd before becoming a writer, and why he was so inspired by fellow Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson and his masterpiece The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde .
- GenresNonfictionBiography
268 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2010
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
July 20, 2022
Seit er 1987 das erste Mal in Knots & Crosses (Verborgene Muster) ermittelte, erfreut sich John Rebus großer Beliebtheit. Über die Jahre hat er mehr als zwanzig Fälle gelöst und ermittelt auch in seinem Ruhestand weiter. Der Mann hinter der Romanfigur ist der Schotte Ian Rankin. In Ian Rankin & Inspector Rebus erzählt Craig Cabell von Ähnlichkeiten und Unterschieden zwischen der Figur und seinem geistigen Vater.
Angefangen hat es mit Rebus' Scotland: a personal journey. Das Buch hat Craig Cabell so fasziniert, dass er mehr über Ian Rankin erfahren wollte. Vom Namen und seinen Krimis her hat er ihn schon früher gekannt, aber jetzt wollte er wissen, wieviel Ian Rankin in John Rebus steckt und umgekehrt.
Diese Frage interessiert mich natürlich auch. Ich kenn Rebus' Scotland auch und hatte beim Lesen das Gefühl, als ob sich die Erinnerungen des Autors mit denen seiner Figur vermischen. Beide waren Außenseiter, die ihre Berufung über Umwege fanden. Rebus' Vergangenheit hat tatsächlich Ähnlichkeiten mit der von Ian Rankin, aber in der Gegenwart sind die beiden unterschiedlich. Ihnen sind die gleichen Dinge wichtig, aber anders als John Rebus stellt Ian Rankin sie auch an erste Stelle und nicht hinter seine Arbeit.
Ich habe Ian Rankin im Buch als einen bescheidenen, freundlichen Mann kennengelernt, der ein sehr gesundes Verhältnis zu seinem Erfolg hat. Ian Rankin & Inspector Rebus ist eine gute Ergänzung zu der Krimireihe. Mir hat die Lektüre auf jeden Fall Lust auf den einen oder anderen reRead gemacht.
Angefangen hat es mit Rebus' Scotland: a personal journey. Das Buch hat Craig Cabell so fasziniert, dass er mehr über Ian Rankin erfahren wollte. Vom Namen und seinen Krimis her hat er ihn schon früher gekannt, aber jetzt wollte er wissen, wieviel Ian Rankin in John Rebus steckt und umgekehrt.
Diese Frage interessiert mich natürlich auch. Ich kenn Rebus' Scotland auch und hatte beim Lesen das Gefühl, als ob sich die Erinnerungen des Autors mit denen seiner Figur vermischen. Beide waren Außenseiter, die ihre Berufung über Umwege fanden. Rebus' Vergangenheit hat tatsächlich Ähnlichkeiten mit der von Ian Rankin, aber in der Gegenwart sind die beiden unterschiedlich. Ihnen sind die gleichen Dinge wichtig, aber anders als John Rebus stellt Ian Rankin sie auch an erste Stelle und nicht hinter seine Arbeit.
Ich habe Ian Rankin im Buch als einen bescheidenen, freundlichen Mann kennengelernt, der ein sehr gesundes Verhältnis zu seinem Erfolg hat. Ian Rankin & Inspector Rebus ist eine gute Ergänzung zu der Krimireihe. Mir hat die Lektüre auf jeden Fall Lust auf den einen oder anderen reRead gemacht.
June 17, 2013
Oh my this was bad. I see now that Craig Cabell makes a habit of cludging together books about well known writers. I won't be tempted.
There was something almost creepy about the awfulness of this book. After all it isn't unusual to get a book written by a journalist that reads like an unacknowledged collection of his (or her) articles, or a single idea padded out or repeated ad nauseam. Cabell does both (how alike are Rankin and Rebus - predictable but fair enough), and more. He has evidently talked to Ian Rankin a few times over the course of a number of years which really should have been more interesting than it seems from the book. He then sees fit to reproduce one of those already much discussed interviews verbatim.
He discusses the TV versions of Rebus which is a reasonable thing to do - and then he decides to go through every episode (except he misses some, I think) in curiously not enough but too much detail (somehow reads a bit like a synopsis plus what he might have tweeted to his mates whilst watching) and then reproduces the credits from every one. And a long list of all Rankin's books and their value second hand and what the endpapers look like. Again, just because I am not a book collector and it doesn't particularly interest me personally doesn't make it a bad thing to do, but even I can see this has been done badly.
A largely pointless collection of photos - a pity as they are well reproduced. Again, Rankin may not wish to have some images eg of his family in the public domain and that's fair enough but instead of a shot showing nothing but the street sign for Fleshmarket Close, why not show Cardenden where Rankin grew up or Edinburgh University or... or... or....
So I was left feeling worse than if I'd just read a lazy book.
There was something almost creepy about the awfulness of this book. After all it isn't unusual to get a book written by a journalist that reads like an unacknowledged collection of his (or her) articles, or a single idea padded out or repeated ad nauseam. Cabell does both (how alike are Rankin and Rebus - predictable but fair enough), and more. He has evidently talked to Ian Rankin a few times over the course of a number of years which really should have been more interesting than it seems from the book. He then sees fit to reproduce one of those already much discussed interviews verbatim.
He discusses the TV versions of Rebus which is a reasonable thing to do - and then he decides to go through every episode (except he misses some, I think) in curiously not enough but too much detail (somehow reads a bit like a synopsis plus what he might have tweeted to his mates whilst watching) and then reproduces the credits from every one. And a long list of all Rankin's books and their value second hand and what the endpapers look like. Again, just because I am not a book collector and it doesn't particularly interest me personally doesn't make it a bad thing to do, but even I can see this has been done badly.
A largely pointless collection of photos - a pity as they are well reproduced. Again, Rankin may not wish to have some images eg of his family in the public domain and that's fair enough but instead of a shot showing nothing but the street sign for Fleshmarket Close, why not show Cardenden where Rankin grew up or Edinburgh University or... or... or....
So I was left feeling worse than if I'd just read a lazy book.
June 30, 2017
If you are a fan as I am of the Rebus Novels then this book is worth a bit of your time. There is a lot of good information contained within its covers.
January 4, 2023
Shorter and shorter chapters with less analysis each time and too much filler at the back end, do we really need the full cast and crew of each Rebus TV episode
November 14, 2024
I am a massive Rebus fan but this book had no point to it. 40 pages towards end it broke down theTV programme including the crew. Sorry Ian he done no justice.
June 28, 2016
I really enjoy the John Rebus detective series but I found this book disappointing.
Cabel, a freelance journalist and writer, explores a question many readers have wondered about: how much of author Ian Rankin is to be found in his fictional character Detective John Rebus?
Cabell traces Rankin’s life trying to draw parallels between the two men. Rankin grew up in a working class section of Fife. His father was a dock worker and his mother died when Rankin was only eighteen. There were few job opportunities in Fife in the sixties and seventies and for most boys, the armed forces or the police force were the only two viable options. Rankin took a different path, propelled by his early love of reading and writing. He went to university, the first in his family to do so, determined to be a novelist rather than an academic. Rebus also grew up in a working class environment but never went to university. He chose a stint in the army and later joined the police force.
But Rankin and Rebus are unlike in important ways. Rebus has been followed by a series of failed relationships his entire life, while Rankin has a loving and supportive family to whom he is devoted. These relationships give Rankin’s life shape and substance. With Rebus it is a different story. His police work is the center of his life and he is so thoroughly dedicated to his job that all his relationships get second shrift and fall by the wayside. And when Rebus is away from his work he grows melancholy and morose. Rankin is different because he is a happy man. He has achieved his dream to be a successful novelist, while Rebus is always looking for fulfilment, disillusioned and convinced he will never find it.
One important attribute they do share is their ability to see both sides of Edinburgh, the city where they both live. There is New Town, the side seen by tourists with tins of shortbread, colorful kilts, the mournful sounds of bagpipes and interesting architecture on large stately buildings. But there is also the seedy side in Old Town, the section that Rankin and Rebus know well, where drugs are a way of life, families live in small, crowded, rundown council homes with garbage on the lawns, remnants of old rusty vehicles in the backyards and urine soaked alleyways are commonplace. And then there is the political corruption that shrouds the entire city.
Cabell also notes how much of Rankin’s life experience turns up in his novels: the isolation he experienced as a youth because of his love of books, the terrible winter weather that he slogged through to get to classes, the seedy life of cheap bedsits and dreary rented rooms he endured as a student and his absolute love of music, especially rock and roll. These routinely turn up in one form or another in all the Rebus novels.
Cabell eventually leads the reader to acknowledge that although there are similarities between the two characters (both are also workaholics) and Rankin does not hesitate to drop little segments of his own life into his Rebus novels, Rankin is very different from the complex man he has created in the character of his well known fictional detective John Rebus.
This book does include some interesting parts, including how Rankin is completely mystified by the fact that readers never connected his first books with Robert Louis Stevenson’s "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde". Or how Rankin loves to explore the city, its legends, its myths, its unsolved mysteries and its history of crime, using his findings as the initial seed from which he creates the complex plots for his novels.
Cabel based his findings on several interviews he did with Rankin, some of which he reproduces in the text. It is actually Rankin’s comments in those interviews that are the most interesting part of the book.
In no way could one consider this volume a critique of Rankin’s work. It is simply words of appreciation by a devoted fan.
Appended at the back is a guide to Rankin’s valuable first editions as well as cast lists and summaries from the TV shows made from the novels, for those who are interested.
This book was just not what I had expected it to be.
I had expected more depth and analysis then it delivered.
Cabel, a freelance journalist and writer, explores a question many readers have wondered about: how much of author Ian Rankin is to be found in his fictional character Detective John Rebus?
Cabell traces Rankin’s life trying to draw parallels between the two men. Rankin grew up in a working class section of Fife. His father was a dock worker and his mother died when Rankin was only eighteen. There were few job opportunities in Fife in the sixties and seventies and for most boys, the armed forces or the police force were the only two viable options. Rankin took a different path, propelled by his early love of reading and writing. He went to university, the first in his family to do so, determined to be a novelist rather than an academic. Rebus also grew up in a working class environment but never went to university. He chose a stint in the army and later joined the police force.
But Rankin and Rebus are unlike in important ways. Rebus has been followed by a series of failed relationships his entire life, while Rankin has a loving and supportive family to whom he is devoted. These relationships give Rankin’s life shape and substance. With Rebus it is a different story. His police work is the center of his life and he is so thoroughly dedicated to his job that all his relationships get second shrift and fall by the wayside. And when Rebus is away from his work he grows melancholy and morose. Rankin is different because he is a happy man. He has achieved his dream to be a successful novelist, while Rebus is always looking for fulfilment, disillusioned and convinced he will never find it.
One important attribute they do share is their ability to see both sides of Edinburgh, the city where they both live. There is New Town, the side seen by tourists with tins of shortbread, colorful kilts, the mournful sounds of bagpipes and interesting architecture on large stately buildings. But there is also the seedy side in Old Town, the section that Rankin and Rebus know well, where drugs are a way of life, families live in small, crowded, rundown council homes with garbage on the lawns, remnants of old rusty vehicles in the backyards and urine soaked alleyways are commonplace. And then there is the political corruption that shrouds the entire city.
Cabell also notes how much of Rankin’s life experience turns up in his novels: the isolation he experienced as a youth because of his love of books, the terrible winter weather that he slogged through to get to classes, the seedy life of cheap bedsits and dreary rented rooms he endured as a student and his absolute love of music, especially rock and roll. These routinely turn up in one form or another in all the Rebus novels.
Cabell eventually leads the reader to acknowledge that although there are similarities between the two characters (both are also workaholics) and Rankin does not hesitate to drop little segments of his own life into his Rebus novels, Rankin is very different from the complex man he has created in the character of his well known fictional detective John Rebus.
This book does include some interesting parts, including how Rankin is completely mystified by the fact that readers never connected his first books with Robert Louis Stevenson’s "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde". Or how Rankin loves to explore the city, its legends, its myths, its unsolved mysteries and its history of crime, using his findings as the initial seed from which he creates the complex plots for his novels.
Cabel based his findings on several interviews he did with Rankin, some of which he reproduces in the text. It is actually Rankin’s comments in those interviews that are the most interesting part of the book.
In no way could one consider this volume a critique of Rankin’s work. It is simply words of appreciation by a devoted fan.
Appended at the back is a guide to Rankin’s valuable first editions as well as cast lists and summaries from the TV shows made from the novels, for those who are interested.
This book was just not what I had expected it to be.
I had expected more depth and analysis then it delivered.
October 16, 2011
What can I say? This book did not really add to my knowledge of Rebus or his creator. It is all pretty well documented elsewhere. I would love to know what Rankin made of it. That's if he bothered to read it. The whole book if full of non-secateurs. Even Bono gets dragged in at one point. Why? Parts seem arrogant, as if Cabell's opinion of Rankin's books are some kind of benchmark for us lesser mortals. And You'll find yourself startled by the extraordinary analogies that Cabell uses. But not in a good way. Luckily I managed to read it quickly.
PS. The cover was a blatant attempt to fool the purchaser into thinking it was a Rankin book.
PS. The cover was a blatant attempt to fool the purchaser into thinking it was a Rankin book.
August 9, 2018
I love, love, love Ian Rankin. Reading one of his novels I found in a holiday cottage was what got me into reading crime fiction many years ago. So I pounced on this e-book when I spotted it on my library website (so, thankfully, didn't buy it!). I had to ditch it, I'm afraid. It read like a (not that great) dissertation. Too many recalls of simple facts, with little thought added. Too many sentences starting with "now" (drives me bonkers ... as does "so"), and strange sentence structures.
June 28, 2013
If I didn't know better I would have said this was self published, and that about sums it up. A love letter to a favorite author. I thought he only grazed the surface with such a wealth of material. A prolific writer who has had fame for quite a while, with a severely handicapped child, the locale of Edinburgh and Scotland in fiction, and the novels themselves.
June 13, 2012
There was something a bit awkward about this book with a lot of it devoted (rather pointlessly, I thought) to how much of Rankin is in Rebus. Interesting analysis of Rankin's progress as a writer.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews