Stonemouth (urspr publ 2012; utgåvan 2012)

A love story. Delightful. Hardly even gruesome. ( )

I didn't quite get the point or purpose of this book, although it was fine enough. The whole small-town drug lord setup didn't quite feel realistic, though what do I know - perhaps it really is like that. Maybe the descriptions of the town (or Toun) are most poignant for someone who grew up in a place like it. The amount of dialogue (and inner monologue) also bothered me a bit as it didn't always ring true as a 25-year-old's speech but rather an older man trying hard for some street cred. All in all, and especially at the end, it all felt a bit facile to me. Of course now my feelings about the book are also coloured by Banks's announcement of his terminal illness a little while ago. ( )

Set in a Scottish town, not far from Aberdeen, but not the Scotland of shortbread, Braemar and kilts; the small town is also very unfamiliar, this is a small town where the power lies equally between two rival families and the balance that this maintains. These two families live small town, wealthy lives, with swimming pools, big houses and flash cars, earned through a mixture of illegal and legal businesses. Stewart Gilmour is returning to this small town, where his parents live, after five years of exile. Although he appears to be part of a middle-income sort of family, his youth was one marked by violence and drugs and he slips back in to this life for a few hectic days, returning for the funeral of the eldest member of one of the clans. This is a violent novel, with humour and lots of chat. I couldn't relate to any aspect of the world Iain Banks depicts and struggled to deal with the wandering prose, as the reader tries to follow the train of thought of Stewart. The finale is dramatic, terrifying and ridiculous; we have to thank Iain Banks for not making it obvious. ( )

This captured small town Scotland perfectly and with great humour. It really entertained me. ( )

Stewart Gilmour. twenty-five, is returning to his hometown five years after being literally chased out by the Murstons, one of the local crime families. He is, in fact, returning to attend the funeral of Joe Murston, the old head of the family which is the only reason he is being allowed to return and, then, only for the weekend.

Stewart uses this time to reunite with old friends and avoid, although mostly unsuccessfully, old enemies. He also spends much of his time reminiscing about the past and indulging in 'what-ifs' especially about Ellie Murston, the girl he loved and lost and the reason for his exile.

Stonemouth gives a very violent and fascinating depiction of small-town Scotland, one immersed in drugs and drink and run by crime lords. Despite references to video games and iphones, the town seems largely untouched by the outside world. In the five years that Stewart has been away, very little has changed - the poker games continue in the same place, the watering holes are all populated by the same people, and the conversations seem to take up exactly where they left off when Stewart was so unceremoniously sent packing.

The only real change seems to be in Stewart himself. He has matured and is now able to recognize and accept his own role in past and present actions. In possibly the best depiction of maturity ever given in literature, Stewart says, "we all sort of secretly think our lives are like these very long movies with ourselves as the principal characters obviously. Only very occasionally does it occur to any one of us that all these supporting actors, cameo turns, bit players and extras around us might actually be in some sense real, just as real as we are and that each one of them thinks that the Big Movie is really all about them".

At its most basic, Stonemouth is a book about sin, guilt, and redemption, about maturing enough to overcome 'that core of childish greed within us'. The ending of Stonemouth could easily have descended into melodrama or, worse, falsity. However, it is Bank's ability to depict change within stasis which allows it to rise above and makes Stonemouth ultimately a very satisfying read. ( )