books
review
RELATIONSHIP FICTION
Julian Barnes lone, Etc (Jonathan Cape £15.99)
5v ,;;"-.s ated by the ‘rauqht love 'a"<it‘- o‘ la'aN Barnes hiking /t Over ti<,..:>°.’ess f' no the prospect of this deer) ', .."ai‘."ac t:.'e And at first a .ch noes seen: to offe" , aloe't a decaue .s s'. angry, self- “I: .a":: cant" '.:: cie')‘o"stra‘.e tl‘e -_~-‘.-s"‘. '1‘ " s "o 81.;arti)!c)ds <2 a"<i "ari "at".e, '.‘.'I‘.:Ie
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of the onset of middle age and its accompanying fears and loneliness make Love, Etc a much more satisfying read. iAIlan Radcliffe)
BRETON FICTION No Great Mischief
Alistair MacLeod (Jonathan Cape £15.99) 4 Canada has a great trio of tetcernational’y famous writers in Carol Sh'e‘ds, Aiice Munro and Michael Of“,(la€i°.l€. TF‘C'C'S a fourtn turbo has been absent from th.s 'st ‘or too 'ong, tho-deb may be 0022"“ to the fact that A ista r hfacLeod takes around ten years to to a book; 63, be “as 0.20 iseed his ‘ rst nove;
lvlacLeoo .s a do et, tweed-capped acaoem c, who has ‘.'.‘."I’. n short stones about tne tiny, remote commanty of Cape Breton, Nova Scotfa lvtacLeod s an astouedrg writer wno has spent a decade ooi sr ng and burn snr‘g words o'“ the ex. e to loss exoer enced by teose who le‘t Scot and for Canada, and the 1 es 0‘ fan“. ‘y, r story and aegaage that bind these characters over 200 years later
T".s book :3 lice a beta“; sentimenta' song sang 'ate at cignt u'xben yOa’re J'.."<, but :t’s 'aceo I" a toughness ma<es :g'eam
Mo ra lef‘rey-
12 August 2000
SC ENCE FICTION
Iain M. Banks
Look To Windward (Orbit £16.99)
In 1987, Consider Phlebas unleashed on an unsuspecting public the insanely imaginative world of the Culture, a highly evolved, near-perfect race. There then followed two more Culture novels which consolidated Iain M. Banks’ position as a first rate sci-fi writer. He then began a series of experimental books, with varying success, but Look To Windward is a return to the mind-boggling world of the Culture and what’s more, it's one of his best works yet.
The story centres around Orbital Masaqi, one of the Culture’s gigantic bracelet-shaped artificial worlds, and home to a famous Chelgrian composer and exile,
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A welcome return to form for Banks
Ziller. In the build-up to a climactic concert on the Orbital, the Chelgrians send an emissary, Quilan, to persuade Ziller that he should make a permanent visit back home. Underneath the surface though, is a plot so secret that even Quilan doesn't know about it at first.
All of this is really just a backdrop of sorts for the author's startling breadth of imagination. The action shifts effortlessly between past, present and future, while we delve into a nanoscopic world, and are transported across unimaginable distances with ease. The factor which sets Banks' novels apart from the sci-fi pack however, is his ability to combine all of this bamboozling technology with an incredibly touching humanity. His characters - be they humans, aliens or machines - are delicately drawn and it is their failings and triumphs which really draw you into these unfamiliar landscapes and make Look To Windward a
welcome return to form. (Doug Johnstone)
CONTEMPORARY FICTION lsla Dewar
Two Kinds Of Wonderful (Review £9.99)
Ten years ago, Ro/ left her family to start a new life in London. Pulled back to Edinburgh for her Nan's funeral, emotional wounds still fester but the lighthearted plot showered with sensational family secrets culminates in renewed, if siiohtly manic, family happiness
Like her character, who fell into a career of offbeat Journalism and SIOI'yV‘JrlIng, lsla Dewar has a gossip columnist's ability to distil details which gently tease the reader until she discloses some ltl|(y snippet which reveals Just a little more In a confidential, posthumous letter, Nan emerges as a bit of a raver, which explains why an uncoiiipi‘elieiidinu Roz must scatter her ashes on lvlull.
Dewar lyrically reflects the soundbite age when she comments on a red triumph convertible she inherits from Nan. "This wasn't a car. It was a lifestyle’. Dippinc; in and out of her charac tei‘s' confused iiiiiids, Dewar Wittin reports on the generation gap, conc Iudinc; that it is a creVice not a crater (Denyse Presley)
'books
events munsniiv 1o
Edinburgh
Christopher Harvie ()ch (’ollege. Rut-hum Room. l’iiixei‘sit} of Iicliiihtii'gli. South Bridge. (132 \322. (i..‘~I)piii. l‘i‘ee. Joint author of Hip RUM] (Ii) Home Rule
(Polygon [I I9”! discusses his hook.
\\ Iiieli charts the progress of Scottiin cle\oliitioii during the leth century
MONDAY 14
Glasgow
Terry Jones \Vuicisionc‘s. 153 15." Satieliieliall Street. 333 9W5. 5.30pm. I‘ree I‘tll IIL‘Ixc‘lCcI. Jones l'c'utls Il‘mll “Iv/11c“ .'lll(/ 'I'lii’ .S‘i/iiin' il’;i\ iIioii U299). the sequel to his first. eiioi‘iiiotisl} popular iio\el for )oiiiig adults The King/u .'ll1(l 'I‘lic'
Squire.
Glasgow
Marc Pye \\';iieisioiie‘s. IS.) IS" Satieliieliall Street. 333 9M5. "pm. l‘i'ee but tieketetl. .\l;ire l’} e reads from his first iio\el /.i)//ipr)/) (Seepti'e illli \L‘I iii
(ilgisgon. See I'tlHi('\/’HHHIL’ [wee f).