A Slice of Life

An audio book has two crucial aspects. The performance and the story.

In this case we have excellence in both areas.



Peter Kenny is a brilliant choice of reader and his range of Scottish accents provides the perfect backdrop for Iain Banks' story of misspent youth colliding with chaotic present.



The plot is both mystery and thriller. What did our hero do that means his choice to return to Stonemouth is so risky? What are the consequences of his actions now and over the past few years?



The story is well paced, absorbing and funny. Banks has a natural feel for the zeitgeist and evokes a sense of moment in the same way as writers such as Douglas Coupland. I'm not sure if this will age so well and one day readers may look upon books like this with nostalgic amusement but for now it feels very contemporary.



I have no qualms about thoroughly recommending this book, A top listen!.

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2 people found this helpful

Loved it

I confess to being a massive Iain Banks and Iain M Banks fan. This is the first Iain Bank's audiobook I have listen too and I really enjoyed it. The story is good and the narration is excellent. I like Peter Kenny's voice and am a sucker for the Scottish accent.

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2 people found this helpful

Not Iain's greatest work

Very relatable fun characters and a decent back plot but far from the twists and turns you'd expect from your average Banks novel. Amazing performance but lacking the magic.

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Classic Banks

Another great tale from Iain Banks, with fantastic narration. If you like Iain Banks, you'll love this.

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2 people found this helpful

Revenge and Regret on the Scottish Coast

Regarding Audiobooks, I have resisted the urge until this point as I have a dubious habit of poring over the intricately formed sentences that my favourite writers have created. I wasn't the least bit sure I would be able to concentrate on a storyteller reading to me at a pace I may not have been comfortable or familiar with. I wallow in fiction, especially when layered so carefully, as most of Banks' work undoubtedly is.

And Stonemouth is no different in this respect. Banks readers have been spoilt for years with the power of his ability to entrance and displace his readers into whatever world he has created for them. Here, in a small coastal town near Aberdeen, we meet Stewart Gilmour, tentatively creeping back home after being chased away five years previously for reasons that will become apparent. The slow burn narrative of the main plotline is the bone that the rest of Banks' flourishes cling to. And what flourishes! Stonemouth comes alive, witty and funny, bristling and feisty like its weather and the wake of its coast, spewing characters that are wonderfully imperfect and immaculately rendered.

The story is simple, but it is in the detail that fans will revel. A paintball fight, a view of the Stoun over the suspension bridge, an innocent game of pool gone awry. All deftly handled by a man who continues to create reality from the unbelievable, painting polaroids in your head. By the end of the story, I was genuinely upset that my time in Stonemouth was over.

None of this would have been possible without the talents of narrator Peter Kenny. I was blissfully relieved, despite my previously mentioned fears, when this warm, smooth Scottish accent greeted me. His range, pace and urgency were all absolutely in keeping with Banks' superlative attention to detail. His timing and intonation were the perfect accompaniment for both the incredulous humour and the often brooding meance.

This may have been my first Audiobook, but thanks to Kenny, it won't be my last.

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16 people found this helpful

Excellent

A beautiful book that is one of the best audio books I've heard. It's a powerful mix of Ian McEwan, Irvine Welsh with some Pulp Fiction thrown in. It was entertaining (laugh out loud at times), with fully rounded characters and a strong sense of time and place. Peter Kenny is an excellent reader too.

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2 people found this helpful

No fireworks but a slow burner

This story seems to have divided opinion with some saying it was the best they'd ever read and others that it wasn't worthy of the Banks name. I fall somewhere between the two extremes, thinking that it was a very good attempt at describing the social interaction of people who have been brought together for whatever reason and are not that comfortable in each other's company.

The fact that the story bubbles along with an undercurrent of potential menace is a device that works well for me but I can see that others might be longing for something dramatic to happen.

Things do happen of course but perhaps not at the pace that some would like.

I enjoyed it and Peter Kenny's reading made it even more enjoyable for me.

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4 people found this helpful

A great story, couldn’t stop listening!

A long time fan of Iain Banks, his ability to create and tell a story is incredible, The levels, the nuance and the engagement it entices is beyond beautiful.

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The great storyteller

Ian Banks is the consummate storyteller weaving plot and sub-plot together into a seamless masterpiece. Highly recommended audio book, read with ease and surety surety by the narrator.

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3 people found this helpful

Excellent

I have never read/listened to an Iain Banks novel before, partly because I thought he only wrote science fiction. This was a revelation. He captured those East Coast Scottish towns so perfectly and those small communities, where everyone knows everyone else. A great listen.

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2 people found this helpful