The Steep Approach to Garbadale
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The cover of Iain Banks' 2007 novel, The Steep Approach to Garbadale, has one of those generic phrases of praise on it. "As good as anything Banks has ever written, if not better." But you know what? It's true.
Iain Banks does not enjoy his UK success in my home country - the US: not a place he rates very highly these days, which he's happy to share in this book (and frankly, who can blame him?).
I only started reading his books when I moved here, five years ago. A bit late compared to my local counterparts, who read The Wasp Factory and The Crow Road in their more formative years, but I had some cultural catching up to do. And I have done it, and I have enjoyed every bit of his writing as Iain Banks (as opposed to the sci-fi-writing Iain M. Banks).
The Steep Approach to Garbadale chronicles the personal journey of Alban McGill, the family black sheep who has removed himself from the dynasty (and family firm), which made their fortune in board, and later, computer, games. He's lured back in the fold when a large US company wants to buy them out, and through the process of encountering the extended family again, resolves an old love (his first cousin, Sophie) and uncovers a secret which simultaneously liberates him and changes his life.
The characters are robust, the story line is compelling, and there are enough twists and turns to keep things just a little bit suspenseful. The cryptic way Banks starts sections of the book can get a bit formulaic and tiresome ("Wait, who's narrating?" "Who is 'she'?" "Where is he?"), but from a sheer storytelling perspective, it's a fun book to read, and a rewarding book to finish.
I only started reading his books when I moved here, five years ago. A bit late compared to my local counterparts, who read The Wasp Factory and The Crow Road in their more formative years, but I had some cultural catching up to do. And I have done it, and I have enjoyed every bit of his writing as Iain Banks (as opposed to the sci-fi-writing Iain M. Banks).
The Steep Approach to Garbadale chronicles the personal journey of Alban McGill, the family black sheep who has removed himself from the dynasty (and family firm), which made their fortune in board, and later, computer, games. He's lured back in the fold when a large US company wants to buy them out, and through the process of encountering the extended family again, resolves an old love (his first cousin, Sophie) and uncovers a secret which simultaneously liberates him and changes his life.
The characters are robust, the story line is compelling, and there are enough twists and turns to keep things just a little bit suspenseful. The cryptic way Banks starts sections of the book can get a bit formulaic and tiresome ("Wait, who's narrating?" "Who is 'she'?" "Where is he?"), but from a sheer storytelling perspective, it's a fun book to read, and a rewarding book to finish.
Here Is The Writer : Sarah Western Balzer
Sarah Western Balzer is the managing director of HITC Life and is always on the lookout for reader-writers, so if you'd like to be one, make yourself known (sarah.western@hereisthecity.com). Sarah moved to London six years ago from New York but is originally from Florida, and still suntans like it's 1989. She is so grateful to the banker who introduced her to Here Is The City that she married him, and they live in Wapping with their son.
view more articles by Sarah Western Balzer
