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The Quarry [Hardcover]

Iain Banks (Author)
3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (115 customer reviews)
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Book Description

Publication Date: 20 Jun 2013

Kit doesn't know who his mother is. What he does know, however, is that his father, Guy, is dying of cancer. Feeling his death is imminent, Guy gathers around him his oldest friends - or at least the friends with the most to lose by his death. Paul - the rising star in the Labour party who dreads the day a tape they all made at university might come to light; Alison and Robbie, corporate bunnies whose relationship is daily more fractious; Pris and Haze, once an item, now estranged, and finally Hol - friend, mentor, former lover and the only one who seemed to care.

But what will happen to Kit when Guy is gone? And why isn't Kit's mother in the picture? As the friends reunite for Guy's last days, old jealousies, affairs and lies come to light as Kit watches on.

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Product details

  • Hardcover: 336 pages
  • Publisher: Little, Brown; First Edition (reprinted) edition (20 Jun 2013)
  • Language: Unknown
  • ISBN-10: 1408703947
  • ISBN-13: 978-1408703946
  • Product Dimensions: 24 x 16 x 3.4 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (115 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,997 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Review

The Quarry is not a book to be afraid of. It is a novel shot through with Banks' trademark humour, political engagement and humour . . . Banks has always been adept at evoking friendship, with its illogical loyalties and messes (Louise Welsh The Times)

It's a sign that in Banks we had a novelist of supreme subtlety and won who, in fiction as in life, and for all the concentrated horror of his debut novel, all the epic estrangements of his "skiffy" (sci-fi), and all the grimness of his final months, had an irrepressibly sense of fun that is evident on every page of The Quarry (Brian Morton Independent)

As always with Banks the dialogue is a sheer delight, whether it be baleful drink-and-drug fuelled reminiscence or bickering one-upmanship . . . It is the central characterisations that give the novel its power . . . Banks handles the challenge brilliantly . . . Despite his cruelty, most readers will adore Guy. It helps that his expletive-filled jeremiads comprise some of the funniest writing Banks has ever produced . . . But then for twenty-nine years Banks has made it his business to inspire sympathy for monsters . . . It may be this element of compassion that accounts for why so many readers are now experiencing a keen grief for the loss of a writer who has the rare gift of being infallibly entertaining (Jake Kerridge Daily Telegraph)

This is vintage Banks, full of heart, black comedy and vitriol, and is sure to delight his fans (Sunday Mirror)

Book Description

The new novel from Iain Banks, the bestselling author of The Wasp Factory.
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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews
24 of 24 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars A very personal novel. 26 Jun 2013
By P. McCLEAN
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
The Quarry is about a gathering of former university housemates who come together for a long weekend in the house they shared while at college. The house is the family home of one of the group, Guy, who is dying of cancer and he has asked them to come together one last time while he is still alive.

The characters in this book came to life for me. I got to know their views and their foibles. Their actions and conversation were consistent throughout the book and the interactions with the others were totally believable. I felt I was with the group for that long weekend in the North East of England.

When I find interesting pieces in a book I take note of the page number for future reference. I found many such pieces in The Quarry.

In an interview with Stuart Kelly that was printed in the Guardian on 15th June, 2013, just six days after Iain Banks' death, Iain is quoted as saying, "let's face it; in the end the real best way to sign off would have been with a great big rollicking Culture novel." He was still very proud of "The Quarry", and rightly so.

While Iain referred to the book as a "relatively minor piece" it is still an excellent novel and those readers who are familiar with Iain's views on the world, the universe and everything, will recognize many of his firmly held beliefs expressed in the words of Guy. Religion, politics, corruption, racism, violence and corporate exploitation of the poor all come in for mention in what could be described as a manifesto of Iain's views.

As an avid reader of Iain Banks and Iain M. Read more ›
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars as ever drawn in 6 July 2013
By Gareth Timms
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
Just finished The Quarry and unable to start another book so instead will comment on this. I have read both Iain Banks and Iain M Banks books since the publication of the Wasp Factory in the 1980s. So coming to this book was sad knowing it was the last and knowing the topic was close to what was happening to him. If he had not been fatally ill would we all have been thinking of this as a book about a young man with Aspergers? How much did news of young hackers with autism or the financial abuse of Scottish Artist Peter Howson influence the original idea. These have all been strong media stories in Scotland over the last few years as have issues about personal care and end of life decisions.

However this was a book I found hard to put down. I found it both sad & funny but also enlightening. I rarely comment on books being keen instead to dive into the next one. This is a book however I do not want to taint with the taste of other books. Enjoyed the book and will misss the author.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars If you've never read Iain Banks before read this. 6 July 2013
By eileen in sunderland
Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase
I've read everything by Iain Banks and I really enjoyed this. It's as good as The Crow Road with his usual finely drawn characters. The ending seemed a little sudden but I may just have been reading something in to this given his untimely death. I'm really going to miss being drawn in to his world(s).
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8 of 9 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Neither Trite, nor Slight 30 Jun 2013
By Adam Cunningham
Format:Hardcover
Eighteen year old Kit and his terminally ill father, Guy, live in Yorkshire, next to a giant metaphor. Their home is built almost on top of the local quarry which will, by arrangement between Guy and the quarry owners, literally consume the house and its grounds once cancer has consumed Guy. What will the son do when his father and his home are gone?

As well as being Guy's primary carer, Kit has some problems of his own - not the least of which is not knowing the identity of his mother. On top of all this, Kit, who struggles in social situations (to put things mildly) is having to deal with an influx of Guy's old house-mates from university days. From the start, it's pretty clear this isn't just a tearful farewell visit. As always with Banks, underneath the banter there lurks the potential for things to get very messy, very quickly.

Followers of Banks will recognise a fair few of the author's recurring motifs: big rambling houses, posh people behaving badly, political comment, interesting bits of technology, fractious family relationships. But not all of the Banksisms are on show. For one thing, the story's structure is much less complicated than in, say, 'Use of Weapons'. For another thing... well, why not read the book and find out?

The apparent simplicity of 'The Quarry' might lead you to believe it's a sub-standard work. It isn't. In its exploration of the fractured relationship between an isolated, outsider child and his eccentric, willfully obtuse father, 'The Quarry' echoes 'The Wasp Factory', the book which hurled Banks towards literary mega-stardom in 1984. Of the two books, 'The Wasp Factory' has the horror, the pace and the spectacle. 'The Quarry' has maturity and a poignant humanity.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
1.0 out of 5 stars Dissapointing 4 Sep 2013
By Peter Gretton
Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase
I have all of Ian Banks books, both fiction and sci-fi - and have thoroughly enjoyed every one - many of them more than once. However, having read The Quarry I am very sad to say that what should have been his finest, turned out to be a dud. The plot is very, very thin, having spent most of the book examining the world through the eyes of what seems to be an autistic, borderline OCD. Now this is quite interesting, for maybe a few pages, bit the whole book? And Guy's unpleasant, bitter and distasteful rant at pretty much everything, including number plates (!?) I found nasty to read.

much saddened.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars the quarry
Another great from the late Banksy. Humour, reality, illness and people's coping strategies . Not as macabre as past books and obviously painfully close to his own life. Read more
Published 5 days ago by Annie
3.0 out of 5 stars Too much bad language
I hadn't read any Iain Banks books before but had read that this book was moving, dealing with a death, and an amusing read. Read more
Published 9 days ago by CHRISTINE ROBERTS
3.0 out of 5 stars The Quarry (thought it was an animal/human to be hunted
The language was deplorable, although I can understand the depths one reaches when confronted with an incurable illness. Read more
Published 9 days ago by PK
5.0 out of 5 stars The bookend to a shelf of great books.
It is as if Iain Banks knew what was approaching... I read this book, and then re-read 'The Wasp Factory'. Read more
Published 10 days ago by RogerS
5.0 out of 5 stars What it's over
I don't quite get it but I enjoyed this little book and the character development was very credible. The story just sort of stops....
Published 10 days ago by Hje
2.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing...
Sadly Iain Banks' parting shot is a bit of a damp squib. After last year's excellent Stonemouth I was eagerly anticipating this one. Read more
Published 11 days ago by S. Wooldridge
5.0 out of 5 stars Banks' swan song of context, context, context
While I've been an avid fan of Banks' science fiction novels and, having collected and enjoyed all them, I moved on to his standard fiction--a literary foray into the many cerebral... Read more
Published 13 days ago by M-I-K-E 2theD
5.0 out of 5 stars The Quarry
A birthday gift which was instantly read and enjoyed An excellent author who bravely completed this book despite his deteriorating health
Published 13 days ago by maggie hallsworth
3.0 out of 5 stars Ian Banks
Not so good to read not up to his usual easy reading found it difficult to concentrate on the story
Published 14 days ago by Mrs. Patricia Tweddell
1.0 out of 5 stars Boring and over-hyped because of who wrote it!!
If you want a good read, don't bother with this book. I'd never read one of his books before but, after all the publicity surrounding his early death, thought I'd try this one. Read more
Published 15 days ago by Woodstock
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