THE WASP FACTORY by Iain Banks (Abacus, 1984)
This is a story of murder, insanity and insects. The blurb warns: “Enter – if you can bear it – the extraordinary private world of Frank, just sixteen and unconventional to say the least”.
Critics are torn between regarding it as a depraved product of a sick mind or as an exceptional Gothic horror story. It’s probably safe to say it’s a bit of both.
I like the fact that my paperback edition (of 2003) includes negative reviews alongside positive ones. The Irish Times said: “The majority of the literate public will be relieved that only reviewers are obliged to look at any of it” while the Sunday Express dismissed it as “the lurid literary equivalent of a video nasty”. Far from driving away potential readers, reactionary reactions like these are enough pique anyone’s curiosity.
Banks’ death earlier this year at the age of 59 prompted me to pick up this book now. I had always had the intention of reading but never quite got round to. It is the best known and most notorious of the 26 novels, both mainstream and Sci-Fi, he published in his lifetime.
Its enduring appeal lies in the delight the author takes he takes in getting inside the head of a tortured and vile individual with an uncontrollable urge to take life and inflict pain. Continue reading
