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 Post subject: Iain Banks RIP
PostPosted: Sun Jun 09, 2013 8:09 pm 
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Hawleytastic!

Joined: Tue Jan 26, 2010 10:56 am
Posts: 2629
Location: London
Poor old Iain Banks. Only the good, eh. Wrote brilliant books and campaigned to help those less fortunate. RIP. xx


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 Post subject: Re: Iain Banks RIP
PostPosted: Sun Jun 09, 2013 9:20 pm 
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Hawleytastic!
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Joined: Sat Sep 01, 2007 12:07 am
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Location: Stoke-on-Trent
Bad indeed. There seem to be too many good people leaving us at the moment.

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 Post subject: Re: Iain Banks RIP
PostPosted: Tue Jun 11, 2013 6:01 pm 
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Hawleytastic!
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Joined: Thu Nov 24, 2005 12:12 pm
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A favourite writer of mine. Always remember getting the hardback of The Wasp Factory out of Cramlington Library when I was in the upper sixth form and being absolutely sucked in by a unique novel. He wrote with a smile on his face and seemed to live his life that way too from what I can tell. Saw him "in concert" at the Aberdeen University Literary Society in 1988 - he was very warm and engaging but the atmosphere was dull and filled with the kind of questions only the Aberdeen Literary etc etc could ask and it seemed to suck the life out of Mr Banks so I ducked out at the break thinking how nice it would be to sit for a pint and a yap with him, but also how I never intended going to the AULS again.

I couldn't get awya with his science fiction, not a form of writing I can really get into, but I liked the idea of him having a dual personality. I read Stonemouth at Easter and Dead Air is the only one of his straight novels (straight not really a word for his imagination) I haven't read. The news that he was terminally ill really shocked and moved me in a way I hadn't expected and the swiftness of his death was equally shocking.

If you are new to him read The Crow Road. I'm looking forward to his last book.

RIP


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 Post subject: Re: Iain Banks RIP
PostPosted: Tue Jun 11, 2013 8:28 pm 
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Hawleytastic!

Joined: Tue Jan 26, 2010 10:56 am
Posts: 2629
Location: London
I too loved the Crow Road and the Wasp Factory. And it's a great observation – his humour really shines through in even his darkest of books. He would've been a great bloke to have a pint with. But he was also a good man and stood up for his principles, right up to the last. In February, he helped set up the People's Assembly against the government's austerity measures. Not content to hide away but using his standing to try and change things. His words have sat on my bookshelf for 20 years, among plenty more other brilliant men and women, but they are mostly dead now too. It's made me really sad, like the passing of someone I knew. xx


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 Post subject: Re: Iain Banks RIP
PostPosted: Tue Jun 11, 2013 9:47 pm 
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Too much time on my hands
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Joined: Sat Feb 09, 2008 8:19 pm
Posts: 791
Very sad. Read a few of his sf stories - a bit hit and miss but there are two great ones that really stand out to me. He seemed to have a very positive attitude. RIP.

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 Post subject: Re: Iain Banks RIP
PostPosted: Thu Jun 13, 2013 8:57 pm 
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Too much time on my hands

Joined: Wed Feb 16, 2011 9:03 pm
Posts: 561
Location: South Yorkshire
I am just about to read The Wasp Factory. My husband raved about it when he read it years ago (it's one of his all time favourite books) and I have kept meaning to read it. His humour in the face of his death was inspirational. RIP.

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