The WASP FACTORY: A NOVEL

The WASP FACTORY: A NOVEL

• THE WASP FACTORY
• IAIN BANKS
• "THE INDEPENDENT" TOP 100 NOVELS OF THE CENTURY
• 1998 EDITION

<i>"I had been making the rounds of the Sacrifice Poles the day we heard my brother had escaped. I already knew something was going to happen; the Factory told me."</i> <p> Those lines begin one of the most infamous of contemporary Scottish novels. The narrator, Frank Cauldhame, is a weird teenager who lives on a tiny island connected to mainland Scotland by a bridge. He maintains grisly Sacrifice Poles to serve as his early warning system and deterrent against anyone who might invade his territory.<p> Few novelists have ever burst onto the literary scene with as much controversy as Iain Banks in 1984. <I>The Wasp Factory</I> was reviled by many reviewers on account of its violence and sadism, but applauded by others as a new and <I>Scottish</I> voice--that is, a departure from the English literary tradition. The controversy is a bit puzzling in retrospect, because there is little to object to in this novel, if you're familiar with genre horror.<p> <I>The Wasp Factory</I> is distinguished by an authentically felt and deftly written first-person style, delicious dark humor, a sense of the surreal, and a serious examination of the psyche of a childhood psychopath. Most readers will find that they sympathize with and even like Frank, despite his three murders (each of which is hilarious in an Edward Gorey fashion). It's a classic of contemporary horror. <I>--Fiona Webster</I>