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Raw Spirit
Raw In Search of the Perfect Dram [Paperback] Banks, Iain
366 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2003
144 people are currently reading
1177 people want to read
About the author
Iain Banks
32 books4,861 followersThis author also published science fiction under the pseudonym Iain M. Banks.
Banks's father was an officer in the Admiralty and his mother was once a professional ice skater. Iain Banks was educated at the University of Stirling where he studied English Literature, Philosophy and Psychology. He moved to London and lived in the south of England until 1988 when he returned to Scotland, living in Edinburgh and then Fife.
Banks met his wife Annie in London, before the release of his first book. They married in Hawaii in 1982. However, he announced in early 2007 that, after 25 years together, they had separated. He lived most recently in North Queensferry, a town on the north side of the Firth of Forth near the Forth Bridge and the Forth Road Bridge.
As with his friend Ken MacLeod (another Scottish writer of technical and social science fiction) a strong awareness of left-wing history shows in his writings. The argument that an economy of abundance renders anarchy and adhocracy viable (or even inevitable) attracts many as an interesting potential experiment, were it ever to become testable. He was a signatory to the Declaration of Calton Hill, which calls for Scottish independence.
In late 2004, Banks was a prominent member of a group of British politicians and media figures who campaigned to have Prime Minister Tony Blair impeached following the 2003 invasion of Iraq. In protest he cut up his passport and posted it to 10 Downing Street. In an interview in Socialist Review he claimed he did this after he "abandoned the idea of crashing my Land Rover through the gates of Fife dockyard, after spotting the guys armed with machine guns." He related his concerns about the invasion of Iraq in his book Raw Spirit, and the principal protagonist (Alban McGill) in the novel The Steep Approach to Garbadale confronts another character with arguments in a similar vein.
Interviewed on Mark Lawson's BBC Four series, first broadcast in the UK on 14 November 2006, Banks explained why his novels are published under two different names. His parents wished to name him Iain Menzies Banks but his father made a mistake when registering the birth and he was officially registered as Iain Banks. Despite this he continued to use his unofficial middle name and it was as Iain M. Banks that he submitted The Wasp Factory for publication. However, his editor asked if he would mind dropping the 'M' as it appeared "too fussy". The editor was also concerned about possible confusion with Rosie M. Banks, a minor character in some of P.G. Wodehouse's Jeeves novels who is a romantic novelist. After his first three mainstream novels his publishers agreed to publish his first SF novel, Consider Phlebas. To distinguish between the mainstream and SF novels, Banks suggested the return of the 'M', although at one stage he considered John B. Macallan as his SF pseudonym, the name deriving from his favourite whiskies: Johnnie Walker Black Label and The Macallan single malt.
His latest book was a science fiction (SF) novel in the Culture series, called The Hydrogen Sonata, published in 2012.
Author Iain M. Banks revealed in April 2013 that he had late-stage cancer. He died the following June.
The Scottish writer posted a message on his official website saying his next novel The Quarry, due to be published later this year*, would be his last.
* The Quarry was published in June 2013.
Banks's father was an officer in the Admiralty and his mother was once a professional ice skater. Iain Banks was educated at the University of Stirling where he studied English Literature, Philosophy and Psychology. He moved to London and lived in the south of England until 1988 when he returned to Scotland, living in Edinburgh and then Fife.
Banks met his wife Annie in London, before the release of his first book. They married in Hawaii in 1982. However, he announced in early 2007 that, after 25 years together, they had separated. He lived most recently in North Queensferry, a town on the north side of the Firth of Forth near the Forth Bridge and the Forth Road Bridge.
As with his friend Ken MacLeod (another Scottish writer of technical and social science fiction) a strong awareness of left-wing history shows in his writings. The argument that an economy of abundance renders anarchy and adhocracy viable (or even inevitable) attracts many as an interesting potential experiment, were it ever to become testable. He was a signatory to the Declaration of Calton Hill, which calls for Scottish independence.
In late 2004, Banks was a prominent member of a group of British politicians and media figures who campaigned to have Prime Minister Tony Blair impeached following the 2003 invasion of Iraq. In protest he cut up his passport and posted it to 10 Downing Street. In an interview in Socialist Review he claimed he did this after he "abandoned the idea of crashing my Land Rover through the gates of Fife dockyard, after spotting the guys armed with machine guns." He related his concerns about the invasion of Iraq in his book Raw Spirit, and the principal protagonist (Alban McGill) in the novel The Steep Approach to Garbadale confronts another character with arguments in a similar vein.
Interviewed on Mark Lawson's BBC Four series, first broadcast in the UK on 14 November 2006, Banks explained why his novels are published under two different names. His parents wished to name him Iain Menzies Banks but his father made a mistake when registering the birth and he was officially registered as Iain Banks. Despite this he continued to use his unofficial middle name and it was as Iain M. Banks that he submitted The Wasp Factory for publication. However, his editor asked if he would mind dropping the 'M' as it appeared "too fussy". The editor was also concerned about possible confusion with Rosie M. Banks, a minor character in some of P.G. Wodehouse's Jeeves novels who is a romantic novelist. After his first three mainstream novels his publishers agreed to publish his first SF novel, Consider Phlebas. To distinguish between the mainstream and SF novels, Banks suggested the return of the 'M', although at one stage he considered John B. Macallan as his SF pseudonym, the name deriving from his favourite whiskies: Johnnie Walker Black Label and The Macallan single malt.
His latest book was a science fiction (SF) novel in the Culture series, called The Hydrogen Sonata, published in 2012.
Author Iain M. Banks revealed in April 2013 that he had late-stage cancer. He died the following June.
The Scottish writer posted a message on his official website saying his next novel The Quarry, due to be published later this year*, would be his last.
* The Quarry was published in June 2013.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 234 reviews
January 29, 2025
This eventually turned into a book I really enjoyed. At first it’s hard to believe the amount of nonsense thrown at the wall. GR reviewers have very mixed feelings. Iain Banks was a very respected novelist and many are shocked with his utter lack of restraint here. Why can’t he stick to his subject, why so much about expensive cars, his childhood chums who often accompany him on this jaunt, his unrestrained views on politics, book business people he knows or knew long ago, yada, yada, yada? Raw Spirit is supposed to be about whisky and a little travel in Scotland. Well it is, you just have to be prepared for a lot more.
Banks was asked to write this book and he dove in full force. He travels mainly by car, often his own posh vintage Range Rovers, Porsches and BMWs. Occasionally there is a rental or a train ride. He discusses roads, accommodations, history, landscape, food and oh, yes, distilleries and whisky now and then. The criss crossing around Scotland isn’t orderly. Banks starts with his admitted favorites heavy on smoke and peat, on Islay. His unscientific opinion is that since he likes hot curry it would be natural to like the smokiness of Islay whisky. Just his thought. You are not browbeaten if you prefer the less peated whiskies though. There seems to be some kind of travel budget but the whisky he buys is generally above my personal budget. Then again, I don’t go purring around in a Porsche either.
Banks can be a real comedian and I quickly became engaged in his travels. When the political rants start I generally tuned them out and moved on. I learned a lot about places, names, and ultimately whisky. He is careful to limit the “barbecued licorice and coiled tarry rope” business although those two bits did come from his pen. You get a brief explanation of whisky making, but not exhaustive. For me the book went from 0 to 9 with a little patience. I like his ending with the author saying “it is all subjective, of course, and what I like, you may not.” I actually think he meant it too.
Banks was asked to write this book and he dove in full force. He travels mainly by car, often his own posh vintage Range Rovers, Porsches and BMWs. Occasionally there is a rental or a train ride. He discusses roads, accommodations, history, landscape, food and oh, yes, distilleries and whisky now and then. The criss crossing around Scotland isn’t orderly. Banks starts with his admitted favorites heavy on smoke and peat, on Islay. His unscientific opinion is that since he likes hot curry it would be natural to like the smokiness of Islay whisky. Just his thought. You are not browbeaten if you prefer the less peated whiskies though. There seems to be some kind of travel budget but the whisky he buys is generally above my personal budget. Then again, I don’t go purring around in a Porsche either.
Banks can be a real comedian and I quickly became engaged in his travels. When the political rants start I generally tuned them out and moved on. I learned a lot about places, names, and ultimately whisky. He is careful to limit the “barbecued licorice and coiled tarry rope” business although those two bits did come from his pen. You get a brief explanation of whisky making, but not exhaustive. For me the book went from 0 to 9 with a little patience. I like his ending with the author saying “it is all subjective, of course, and what I like, you may not.” I actually think he meant it too.
December 28, 2013
As a whisky drinker and fan of Iain Banks I can't believe how long it's taken to get around to reading this book. Still it may have been better never to have read this book. It is one of the biggest let downs I have ever read.
I had expected to be taken on a literary tour of the distilleries of Scotland, to hear their stories and anecdotes and to meet the people that make the industry. To me this is the essence of a travel book - the people that make the place/industry/whatever that is being investigated. I was also expecting to be informed more about the different whiskies and more tasting notes. This book falls down on each of these expectations.
It is clear that Banks' talent for fiction is not transferred to what is essential a travel book. From the very outset I found the book to be very self-centred. In the very first pages it is made abundantly clear that Banks is being paid to write this book and he practically brags about this. Then there is the fact that there is in fact very little about whisky in the book (roughly a quarter of the book, if that). Instead we get bogged down with stories from Banks' past, various escapades with friends and political rants. All well and good if that's what I had chosen to read.
So as I have finished this book I have a sense of emptiness - I loathe writing negative reviews but have been compelled to on this occasion. I have learnt little new about whisky, moreover my impression of Banks has changed. His fiction works will always be amongst my favourites, yet this is a personal, expenses paid tour that offers nothing to his works.
I had expected to be taken on a literary tour of the distilleries of Scotland, to hear their stories and anecdotes and to meet the people that make the industry. To me this is the essence of a travel book - the people that make the place/industry/whatever that is being investigated. I was also expecting to be informed more about the different whiskies and more tasting notes. This book falls down on each of these expectations.
It is clear that Banks' talent for fiction is not transferred to what is essential a travel book. From the very outset I found the book to be very self-centred. In the very first pages it is made abundantly clear that Banks is being paid to write this book and he practically brags about this. Then there is the fact that there is in fact very little about whisky in the book (roughly a quarter of the book, if that). Instead we get bogged down with stories from Banks' past, various escapades with friends and political rants. All well and good if that's what I had chosen to read.
So as I have finished this book I have a sense of emptiness - I loathe writing negative reviews but have been compelled to on this occasion. I have learnt little new about whisky, moreover my impression of Banks has changed. His fiction works will always be amongst my favourites, yet this is a personal, expenses paid tour that offers nothing to his works.
July 17, 2019
A fabulous journey through the eyes of Iain Banks into the World of Single Malts. I would advise all lovers of the 'malt' to read this, it so beautifully written, as you would expect from the master of the written word. (Oh how I miss his contribution to the collection of his works, a tragedy, so young, so talented)
July 29, 2021
I used to enjoy whisky. I also enjoy Iain Banks's novels. So it made sense to read a book about whisky by Iain Banks. Ironically, I picked this book up from the boxes of books stored in the church hall where we have our Wednesday AA meetings. I put 50p in the honesty box.
The book is very readable. Iain travels around Scotland visiting distilleries and buying up hunners of bottles. One might say that it's a self-indulgent book by a writer with too much money and who likes nothing more than to talk about his cars and motorcycles and throws money away on expensive wine and restaurants. And that isn't entirely wrong either, but for all that it is still strangely compelling and enjoyable. He shares a lot of anecdotes about his life, many of which are rather amusing, such as his enjoyment of urban climbing. And although he talks a lot about his expensive cars, it's clearly more than just self-indulgent prattle; this is a man who knows and loves the automobile and his enthusiasm is infectious. He also knows Scotland very well and it's fun to read his descriptions of the various roads across the country.
Overall this is a great book. I enjoyed it a lot more than i thought I would. I'd give it a four.
The book is very readable. Iain travels around Scotland visiting distilleries and buying up hunners of bottles. One might say that it's a self-indulgent book by a writer with too much money and who likes nothing more than to talk about his cars and motorcycles and throws money away on expensive wine and restaurants. And that isn't entirely wrong either, but for all that it is still strangely compelling and enjoyable. He shares a lot of anecdotes about his life, many of which are rather amusing, such as his enjoyment of urban climbing. And although he talks a lot about his expensive cars, it's clearly more than just self-indulgent prattle; this is a man who knows and loves the automobile and his enthusiasm is infectious. He also knows Scotland very well and it's fun to read his descriptions of the various roads across the country.
Overall this is a great book. I enjoyed it a lot more than i thought I would. I'd give it a four.
July 8, 2014
I should have loved this book. It has whisky, my favourite poison, and Iain Banks, a writer I enjoy, visiting all of Scotland's distilleries in search of the perfect dram. The book had featured on my wish list since forever, before a good friend sent it my way. And still I couldn’t enjoy it.
That is a shame because there is some excellent writing to be found here. A passage on countryside upbringing or an imagining of the walk to a secret still, yet another on Banks’ novel Complicity and his writing process – when the guy bothers he is one of the best living authors. Unfortunately, the writing on the intended subject of the book is not nearly so moving and there is so much extraneous waffle that I assume it can only have been included to hit a requisite word count.
Banks is a self-confessed ‘petrol head’ and between his diversions on his array of cars, the features or otherwise of the particular A and B roads of his journey and the scattered rants on the Wars on both Iraq and Drugs – with reference to ‘a bunch of bag-arsed feminist nutters’ – he appears as a vaguely left-leaning Jeremy Clarkson. There is also page after page of Accidental Partridge, where any number of quotes could have been lifted direct from Norwich’s finest radio DJ: ‘I have a sort of parallel route that avoids the A9… where there is a good long bit of dual carriageway; this alternative route takes a good half-hour longer than using the A9 the whole way…’
We are treated to an entire page on speed limits as well as a perfect example of a line that never should have made it past the editor: ‘…I have to stick it [his Jag] round the corner in a car park at the back of the station. It was that or the nearby multi-storey. Should have gone for the multi-storey.'
Too much of the whisky writing itself feels cribbed from other sources – the many tours and visitor centres Banks passes through perhaps. I could have missed it, but there doesn’t seem to be much rhyme or reason to his journey. This reader wondered if the book could have benefitted from a few maps or photographs of the different locations. In the end, despite the best efforts of this talented writer, one set of scenic pagodas very much blend into the next.
That said, more than a few page corners were turned down because my curiosity was sufficiently aroused to want to taste them for myself, despite Banks’ acknowledgement of his uneducated palate. So not one for the whisky enthusiasts. Not a particularly great travel guide to Scotland, either, unless you like B roads and tales of driving them. Banks and his pals certainly seem to have enjoyed their presumably all-expenses-paid year of drinking, so fair play to them.
And while the initial premise is interesting enough – Scottish writer exploring the roots of its most famous creation, the execution is a clumsy, bloated and disappointingly dull read. Perhaps the year’s worth of hangovers took their toll on the prose. Or maybe the real difficulty I had with Raw Spirit was that it kept making me wish I had a drink in my hand instead of this book!
That is a shame because there is some excellent writing to be found here. A passage on countryside upbringing or an imagining of the walk to a secret still, yet another on Banks’ novel Complicity and his writing process – when the guy bothers he is one of the best living authors. Unfortunately, the writing on the intended subject of the book is not nearly so moving and there is so much extraneous waffle that I assume it can only have been included to hit a requisite word count.
Banks is a self-confessed ‘petrol head’ and between his diversions on his array of cars, the features or otherwise of the particular A and B roads of his journey and the scattered rants on the Wars on both Iraq and Drugs – with reference to ‘a bunch of bag-arsed feminist nutters’ – he appears as a vaguely left-leaning Jeremy Clarkson. There is also page after page of Accidental Partridge, where any number of quotes could have been lifted direct from Norwich’s finest radio DJ: ‘I have a sort of parallel route that avoids the A9… where there is a good long bit of dual carriageway; this alternative route takes a good half-hour longer than using the A9 the whole way…’
We are treated to an entire page on speed limits as well as a perfect example of a line that never should have made it past the editor: ‘…I have to stick it [his Jag] round the corner in a car park at the back of the station. It was that or the nearby multi-storey. Should have gone for the multi-storey.'
Too much of the whisky writing itself feels cribbed from other sources – the many tours and visitor centres Banks passes through perhaps. I could have missed it, but there doesn’t seem to be much rhyme or reason to his journey. This reader wondered if the book could have benefitted from a few maps or photographs of the different locations. In the end, despite the best efforts of this talented writer, one set of scenic pagodas very much blend into the next.
That said, more than a few page corners were turned down because my curiosity was sufficiently aroused to want to taste them for myself, despite Banks’ acknowledgement of his uneducated palate. So not one for the whisky enthusiasts. Not a particularly great travel guide to Scotland, either, unless you like B roads and tales of driving them. Banks and his pals certainly seem to have enjoyed their presumably all-expenses-paid year of drinking, so fair play to them.
And while the initial premise is interesting enough – Scottish writer exploring the roots of its most famous creation, the execution is a clumsy, bloated and disappointingly dull read. Perhaps the year’s worth of hangovers took their toll on the prose. Or maybe the real difficulty I had with Raw Spirit was that it kept making me wish I had a drink in my hand instead of this book!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 22, 2021
All about Scotch single-malts, sports car drives on wee little roads, and Iain Banks' drinking mates
*Second read:
So much more to appreciate after 2 years further along in my whisky journey, and listening during a weeklong whisky trip to Speyside and Glasgow. Great fun, discursive, and self-indulgent, way too much car geekery, but well worth a listen for all Scotch whisky and Iain Banks fans.
What would you do if you were already a successful Scottish SF author who loved malt whiskies and sports cars, and wanted to travel the length and breadth of Scotland to try as many as you could?
Well, you'd ask your publisher to pay for the whole bloody thing, of course. For you average Joe it wouldn't work, but somehow he pulled it off.
The more you read, the more you realize just how much Iain Banks loves to drink alcohol of all sorts, though Scotch single malts most of all. And how many friends he has who enjoy the same. And how many different sports cars he's owned over the years. And how many trips he's done all over Scotland. If I didn't love his SF and non-SF books so much, I might get annoyed that he's just a bit full of himself, but his sense of humor is so self-deprecating that I forgive the man. He'd be a fantastic guy to drink and chat with at the pub or bar, and he also loves to eat heartily, so it's amazing he wasn't obese.
There's no question this travelogue masquerading as a book about whisky is a self-indulgent affair. He drops so many names of friends and cars and restaurants and hotels and such that you'd think he's just a total man of leisure, until you remember just how many books he's written, and very good ones at that, especially the Culture series. The sense ironic sense of humor pervades this book, regardless of what he is describing.
He does talk quite a lot about his distillery visits as well, and his favorites include the peatiest & smokiest Islays (Laphroaig, Lagavulin, Ardbeg), Speysides (Macallan, Glenfiddich, Glenlivet), Highland (Glenmorangie, Balblair, Dalmore), Campbeltown (Springbank), and Islands (Talisker, Highland Park, Arran), and plenty others as well. The amount of bottles of great whiskies he bought and drank with friends sounds tremendous, and I'm right envious of the guy.
As we are planning a two-week Scotch whisky tasting tour of Islay, Speyside, and the Highlands this summer, this book really did the trick to whet our appetites for that most glorious of spirits.
*Second read:
So much more to appreciate after 2 years further along in my whisky journey, and listening during a weeklong whisky trip to Speyside and Glasgow. Great fun, discursive, and self-indulgent, way too much car geekery, but well worth a listen for all Scotch whisky and Iain Banks fans.
What would you do if you were already a successful Scottish SF author who loved malt whiskies and sports cars, and wanted to travel the length and breadth of Scotland to try as many as you could?
Well, you'd ask your publisher to pay for the whole bloody thing, of course. For you average Joe it wouldn't work, but somehow he pulled it off.
The more you read, the more you realize just how much Iain Banks loves to drink alcohol of all sorts, though Scotch single malts most of all. And how many friends he has who enjoy the same. And how many different sports cars he's owned over the years. And how many trips he's done all over Scotland. If I didn't love his SF and non-SF books so much, I might get annoyed that he's just a bit full of himself, but his sense of humor is so self-deprecating that I forgive the man. He'd be a fantastic guy to drink and chat with at the pub or bar, and he also loves to eat heartily, so it's amazing he wasn't obese.
There's no question this travelogue masquerading as a book about whisky is a self-indulgent affair. He drops so many names of friends and cars and restaurants and hotels and such that you'd think he's just a total man of leisure, until you remember just how many books he's written, and very good ones at that, especially the Culture series. The sense ironic sense of humor pervades this book, regardless of what he is describing.
He does talk quite a lot about his distillery visits as well, and his favorites include the peatiest & smokiest Islays (Laphroaig, Lagavulin, Ardbeg), Speysides (Macallan, Glenfiddich, Glenlivet), Highland (Glenmorangie, Balblair, Dalmore), Campbeltown (Springbank), and Islands (Talisker, Highland Park, Arran), and plenty others as well. The amount of bottles of great whiskies he bought and drank with friends sounds tremendous, and I'm right envious of the guy.
As we are planning a two-week Scotch whisky tasting tour of Islay, Speyside, and the Highlands this summer, this book really did the trick to whet our appetites for that most glorious of spirits.
May 14, 2008
Generally I like Banks, I like whisky, I like Scotland and I like road trips. Thought this was going to be a good book that combined a little of each - with some added history and knowledge of this special drink combined with what Scotland, steeped in heritage, has too offer. Started off well, but slowly descended into sanctimonious nonsense about his fast cars. Poor stuff from the author who wrote such vibrant novels as Wasp Factory, Complicity and Crow Road.
March 22, 2009
I read this with a map of Scotland in one hand and a dram of whisky in the other, which definitely enhanced my experience, but you could certainly take this book neat and enjoy it just as well.
September 9, 2013
Fun, very informative, in a chaotically anecdotal way, about Banks' own favorite Scotches and by way of travelling to various distilleries, his favorite places in Scotland.
I enjoyed it and read it in less than two days, but I have to admit he sometimes goes on just a wee bit long in his personal stories of exploits with his old buddies, and he shows off his cars just a little too much. (Me, jealous of his BMW M5? Naw. ;-)
But over everything else I felt very sad that this exuberent, talented, strongly-opinionated good guy died this year, much too young. I'm sorry for his loved ones and I'm sorry about all the books of his I will never get to read now (he wasn't even 60 when he died - he would have had at least another ten books in him).
When I travel to Scotland I will raise a dram in his honor. At least once.
Recommended if you like his novels or good single-malt Scotch.
I enjoyed it and read it in less than two days, but I have to admit he sometimes goes on just a wee bit long in his personal stories of exploits with his old buddies, and he shows off his cars just a little too much. (Me, jealous of his BMW M5? Naw. ;-)
But over everything else I felt very sad that this exuberent, talented, strongly-opinionated good guy died this year, much too young. I'm sorry for his loved ones and I'm sorry about all the books of his I will never get to read now (he wasn't even 60 when he died - he would have had at least another ten books in him).
When I travel to Scotland I will raise a dram in his honor. At least once.
Recommended if you like his novels or good single-malt Scotch.
January 27, 2015
It was quite a pleasant reading. Iain Banks touches much more than just whisky: this books mostly speaks about Scotland itself, people, nature, and culture, about the invisible threads that connect history with our times. It is also a very personal text, filled with humour and autobiographical anecdotes.
September 14, 2016
Do I qualify as a philistine if I admit that this is my favourite Iain Banks book?
April 16, 2020
This novel is like hanging out with an interesting guy at his house. It’s starts of with lots of interesting stories and opinions. But after a few hours, you are patiently waiting for a reason to wrap up and leave.
Definitely a readable book. Banks is a descriptive and fun writer with many interesting facts and tidbits of information. Although he jokes about the fact he cannot believe people paid him to explore distilleries in Scotland, Banks does a solid job of finding creative ways of describing buildings and the quality of different whiskeys.
Although it is an easy read, a lot of the material in unmemorable and towards the end it feels like the whole process is repetitive and I looked forward to wrapping it up and moving on to something else.
Recommended for anyone looking for an easy read, enjoys informal travel guides on Scotland, and has an any kind of interest in Whiskey or Spirits.
Definitely a readable book. Banks is a descriptive and fun writer with many interesting facts and tidbits of information. Although he jokes about the fact he cannot believe people paid him to explore distilleries in Scotland, Banks does a solid job of finding creative ways of describing buildings and the quality of different whiskeys.
Although it is an easy read, a lot of the material in unmemorable and towards the end it feels like the whole process is repetitive and I looked forward to wrapping it up and moving on to something else.
Recommended for anyone looking for an easy read, enjoys informal travel guides on Scotland, and has an any kind of interest in Whiskey or Spirits.
June 26, 2013
Ian Banks drives around Scotland visiting friends and distilleries. Chatty and witty enough to be entertaining for 50 pages, but essentially repetitive after that. If it had an index the stuff about the distilleries might be useful; far too much about driving.
July 16, 2024
A great storyteller - very interesting read. It's not my genre and I struggled to stay engaged at times, but very much enjoyed it. It's barely about whisky.
November 14, 2014
I would have picked this book up in any case, as I'm a big fan of Banks and could probably enjoy reading him write about the intracacies of inventory management, but since we are headed to Scotland next September, I found this book--about Scotch whiskey and the Scotland distilleries that make it--quite fortuitious. This is Banks's first book of non-fiction, having made his career on both the literary fiction that appears under his own name and the science fiction that appears under his obvious nom de plume of "Iain M. Banks" (a full explanation of just why appears within this current text), and he spends quite a bit of time just coming to terms with the joy that is his as a successful author who can suggest to his publisher that he write a book based on his hobby--drinking whiskey--and then actually get paid for not only writing it, but have an expense account with which he can indulge his hobbistic fantasies. And, of course, there's all the friends who are incredulous at first, but quick to offer to lend a hand (well, I would have, too!).
As a tour book or even a guide to Scotland and its distilleries, this is a poor entry, but as a travel book in which something is discovered about the land and the man, Raw Spirit fits the bill perfectly. Perhaps there's something inherently Scottish in the fact that this could likely have been billed as Banks's autobiography, rather than a drinking quest. In either case, it's probably of much more interest to a fan of the man than a fan of the drink. Even as such, I identified a number of potential stops along the way for my own trip as well as now having a template for my own travel diary.
As a tour book or even a guide to Scotland and its distilleries, this is a poor entry, but as a travel book in which something is discovered about the land and the man, Raw Spirit fits the bill perfectly. Perhaps there's something inherently Scottish in the fact that this could likely have been billed as Banks's autobiography, rather than a drinking quest. In either case, it's probably of much more interest to a fan of the man than a fan of the drink. Even as such, I identified a number of potential stops along the way for my own trip as well as now having a template for my own travel diary.
July 14, 2024
“Banksie, hi. What are you up to?”
“Well, I’m going to be writing a book about whisky.”
“You’re what?”
“I’m going to be writing a book about whisky. I’ve been, umm, you know, commissioned. To write a book about it. About whisky. Malt whisky, actually.”
“You’re writing a book about whisky?”
“Yeah. It means I have to go all over Scotland, driving mostly, but taking other types of transport – ferries, planes, trains, that sort of thing – visiting distilleries and tasting malt whisky. With expenses, obviously.”
“You serious?”
“Course I’m serious!”
“Really?”
“Oh yeah.”
“… Do you need any help with this?”
Iain Banks was a Scottish author of incredible imagination and range, who gained huge popular and critical acclaim during his writing career. He wrote both mainstream (I’m not sure whether that word is entirely applicable, to be honest, but I can’t think of something more appropriate) fiction and science fiction, the latter mostly set in his incredible Culture universe. He died in 2013, aged just 59, after a short illness.
I don’t usually start my book reviews with a biography of the author but I think it’s pertinent here. Although Raw Spirit is a book about whisky it’s about far more than that, where we learn as much if not more about Banks than we do about his quest to discover the perfect dram.
I picked up my old and somewhat dog-eared copy of Raw Spirit whilst on holiday in Scotland back in 2015 and devoured it during that week. Earlier this year I returned to Scotland to undertake a road trip I’d been talking about doing for around ten years, driving the iconic North Coast 500 route over several leisurely days in April and May. Banks’s book was the perfect choice for my evening entertainment since it covers many of the same places and journeys. I threw it into my suitcase with every intention of reading it and I think I got to about page 17 during my holiday. The Germans have a word for it: ‘Kofferbuch.’ A book one takes on a trip with the intention of reading, but never actually read.
That’s not to say it’s a bad book – far from it. I think it had a lot more to do with long days behind the wheel driving through some of the most stunning scenery I’ve ever seen, in perfect weather, before winding up at various bars and restaurants each night where numerous pints, bottles of wine and the occasional dram were consumed.
As a result, I really got into this reread once I was home, which in some respects was better because it provided me with an opportunity to reminisce on that trip and the various other excursions I’ve enjoyed in Scotland over the years. Consequently, I recognised many of the places Banks describes, and I found things haven’t changed all that much since he undertook his arduous mission back in 2003.
In approaching this commission, Banks opted to take the long, scenic route and this comes through in the book, where he reflects on various memories, recounts some amusing anecdotes and ends up in several escapades with his friends and wife, Ann, who are ‘helping’ him to sample Scotland’s vast array of single malts. Every now and again we get to the whisky, which Banks covers with excellent and colourful tasting notes. However, this is really a love letter to Scotland, which is brought to life with Banks's trademark rich descriptive prose.
Without doubt, it’s also a love letter to cars and the fun of driving through Scotland’s wonderful landscapes. Early on in the book I laughed out loud at Banks's five-page paean to his Land Rover Defender, and he similarly gushes about his BMW M5 and a couple of Porsches, one of which ends up on its roof (which comes as no surprise). Inappropriate names for caravans rubs shoulders with Banks's wonderful turn of phrase as he lovingly describes the cars he’s driving as much as the journey itself.
“The drive up Loch Lomond side, across Rannoch Moor and through Glencoe is necessarily a little more sedate than it would have been in the BMW, but the Jag can pick up its skirts and make an overtaking dash when it needs to all the same, and the engine sounds great when it’s gunned, like a Tyrannosaurus fart sampled and played back at 960 b.p.m.”
Rather like this review, the book is full of detours, taking us down Great Wee Roads and peppered with stories of Banks's life, meaning Raw Spirit is about whisky and a lot more besides. That approach might be frustrating for the whisky purist but I loved it. Alongside his visits to the various distilleries there’s also a side-quest to see if he can find an illegal still, echoing back to a time when ‘peatreek’ was made in secret by remote crofters, well out of the way of the hated taxman.
This is also a book written at a very specific point in history, Banks’s journey coinciding with the Iraq War in 2003. Banks makes no secret of his uncompromising critical views on the war, US and UK politics in general, and the importance of the humane treatment of refugees. He was never afraid to speak his mind and I appreciated his honesty, reflecting that his views are still just as relevant in 2024 as they were in 2003, whether you agree with them or not.
The repercussions of the war aside, this was a book which made me smile and stirred many happy memories of my own. I found myself nodding as Banks enthuses about brands of whisky I’m also a fan of, and I’ve made some notes about those I still need to track down.
Whilst I loved this book there was also a tinge of sadness reading it this time around. What comes across most of all was Banks’s zest for life and the way he lived it to the full until his untimely passing. His death left a huge gap in the literary world, and I can’t help but think about the books we’ll never get to read as a consequence. In that respect the search for the perfect dram is also a sharp reminder of what life is really all about. Treasure your friends, stand up for what you believe in, and do the things which bring you joy because you never know what’s around the corner.
Put another way, I’m already busy planning another Scotland road trip for 2025, this time taking in more of breathtaking Glencoe and the wild, mountainous Isle of Skye, which has been on my bucket list for far too long. I think I’ll probably manage to find the time to squeeze in one or two distilleries along the way as well. It would be rude not to.
Slàinte
“Well, I’m going to be writing a book about whisky.”
“You’re what?”
“I’m going to be writing a book about whisky. I’ve been, umm, you know, commissioned. To write a book about it. About whisky. Malt whisky, actually.”
“You’re writing a book about whisky?”
“Yeah. It means I have to go all over Scotland, driving mostly, but taking other types of transport – ferries, planes, trains, that sort of thing – visiting distilleries and tasting malt whisky. With expenses, obviously.”
“You serious?”
“Course I’m serious!”
“Really?”
“Oh yeah.”
“… Do you need any help with this?”
Iain Banks was a Scottish author of incredible imagination and range, who gained huge popular and critical acclaim during his writing career. He wrote both mainstream (I’m not sure whether that word is entirely applicable, to be honest, but I can’t think of something more appropriate) fiction and science fiction, the latter mostly set in his incredible Culture universe. He died in 2013, aged just 59, after a short illness.
I don’t usually start my book reviews with a biography of the author but I think it’s pertinent here. Although Raw Spirit is a book about whisky it’s about far more than that, where we learn as much if not more about Banks than we do about his quest to discover the perfect dram.
I picked up my old and somewhat dog-eared copy of Raw Spirit whilst on holiday in Scotland back in 2015 and devoured it during that week. Earlier this year I returned to Scotland to undertake a road trip I’d been talking about doing for around ten years, driving the iconic North Coast 500 route over several leisurely days in April and May. Banks’s book was the perfect choice for my evening entertainment since it covers many of the same places and journeys. I threw it into my suitcase with every intention of reading it and I think I got to about page 17 during my holiday. The Germans have a word for it: ‘Kofferbuch.’ A book one takes on a trip with the intention of reading, but never actually read.
That’s not to say it’s a bad book – far from it. I think it had a lot more to do with long days behind the wheel driving through some of the most stunning scenery I’ve ever seen, in perfect weather, before winding up at various bars and restaurants each night where numerous pints, bottles of wine and the occasional dram were consumed.
As a result, I really got into this reread once I was home, which in some respects was better because it provided me with an opportunity to reminisce on that trip and the various other excursions I’ve enjoyed in Scotland over the years. Consequently, I recognised many of the places Banks describes, and I found things haven’t changed all that much since he undertook his arduous mission back in 2003.
In approaching this commission, Banks opted to take the long, scenic route and this comes through in the book, where he reflects on various memories, recounts some amusing anecdotes and ends up in several escapades with his friends and wife, Ann, who are ‘helping’ him to sample Scotland’s vast array of single malts. Every now and again we get to the whisky, which Banks covers with excellent and colourful tasting notes. However, this is really a love letter to Scotland, which is brought to life with Banks's trademark rich descriptive prose.
Without doubt, it’s also a love letter to cars and the fun of driving through Scotland’s wonderful landscapes. Early on in the book I laughed out loud at Banks's five-page paean to his Land Rover Defender, and he similarly gushes about his BMW M5 and a couple of Porsches, one of which ends up on its roof (which comes as no surprise). Inappropriate names for caravans rubs shoulders with Banks's wonderful turn of phrase as he lovingly describes the cars he’s driving as much as the journey itself.
“The drive up Loch Lomond side, across Rannoch Moor and through Glencoe is necessarily a little more sedate than it would have been in the BMW, but the Jag can pick up its skirts and make an overtaking dash when it needs to all the same, and the engine sounds great when it’s gunned, like a Tyrannosaurus fart sampled and played back at 960 b.p.m.”
Rather like this review, the book is full of detours, taking us down Great Wee Roads and peppered with stories of Banks's life, meaning Raw Spirit is about whisky and a lot more besides. That approach might be frustrating for the whisky purist but I loved it. Alongside his visits to the various distilleries there’s also a side-quest to see if he can find an illegal still, echoing back to a time when ‘peatreek’ was made in secret by remote crofters, well out of the way of the hated taxman.
This is also a book written at a very specific point in history, Banks’s journey coinciding with the Iraq War in 2003. Banks makes no secret of his uncompromising critical views on the war, US and UK politics in general, and the importance of the humane treatment of refugees. He was never afraid to speak his mind and I appreciated his honesty, reflecting that his views are still just as relevant in 2024 as they were in 2003, whether you agree with them or not.
The repercussions of the war aside, this was a book which made me smile and stirred many happy memories of my own. I found myself nodding as Banks enthuses about brands of whisky I’m also a fan of, and I’ve made some notes about those I still need to track down.
Whilst I loved this book there was also a tinge of sadness reading it this time around. What comes across most of all was Banks’s zest for life and the way he lived it to the full until his untimely passing. His death left a huge gap in the literary world, and I can’t help but think about the books we’ll never get to read as a consequence. In that respect the search for the perfect dram is also a sharp reminder of what life is really all about. Treasure your friends, stand up for what you believe in, and do the things which bring you joy because you never know what’s around the corner.
Put another way, I’m already busy planning another Scotland road trip for 2025, this time taking in more of breathtaking Glencoe and the wild, mountainous Isle of Skye, which has been on my bucket list for far too long. I think I’ll probably manage to find the time to squeeze in one or two distilleries along the way as well. It would be rude not to.
Slàinte
August 22, 2025
So strange listening because of course, it's not Iain narrating. And when I first read it I knew Iain casually but didn't know many of the names in the book, while now several are good friends. Listening to it is a moving experience. Iain was irrepressible and he's much missed.
Last night I tried a new to me whisky, Loch Lear, and thought of him.
Last night I tried a new to me whisky, Loch Lear, and thought of him.
July 30, 2015
I love Banks' science fiction. However, the rabble-rousing and ranting in this book just got old. I fast-forwarded to the final chapter to confirm nothing had changed. Technically a DNF.
Oh well. Moving on to the next book.
Oh well. Moving on to the next book.
October 6, 2019
A rather unusual approach to seeking out the best dram, and very Iain Banks in approach.
If this book fails to invoke a response to immediately seek to source some of the many whiskys referenced, you might be broken.
If this book fails to invoke a response to immediately seek to source some of the many whiskys referenced, you might be broken.
March 18, 2022
File this one under "wish I liked it more." The petrolhead/political diversions just didn't hit for me. Any and all of the whisky-related stuff was great. Perhaps I just need my travelogues to have a little more...intrigue? Danger? Barriers to success? I don't know. Felt like a long, long magazine article, which sometimes works but not in this case, necessarily.
August 14, 2023
This is nominally a book about whisky, and there are plenty of descriptions of whisky and distilleries. However, they start weak and become formulaic, my interest in car parks is limited. I suppose it primarily a travelogue, but I have read better...
May 10, 2020
Part an exploration of whisky and whisky-making, part a tour of Scotland, and part memoir, this is an enlightening and fascinating book. Although it does go on a bit long, and bloats a bit even for a driving enthusiast like myself. Less about driving and more about whisky would have been good.
October 16, 2024
I absolutely loved this, Iain Banks talking about whisky, music, driving around Scotland, politics and history as well as vignettes of his life and his writing. I can't imagine a more perfect book for me, and the fact he was a Godspeed You! Black Emperor fan made me smile :D
Read
February 14, 2022It seems like now is a good time to read this book, as I'm going to be spending the week at a former whisky distillery in Speyside.
December 6, 2022
This would be the proverbial 3 and a half stars. Started off as a 5 star but the more I read, the more of a chore it seemed to become. A whisky book with whisky at the forefront of the book, but then fading to form the backdrop for discussion of cars, cars, more cars, wine, boats, some old cars, motorbikes and all other things. I maybe just wanted a different thing than this book became.
Your mileage may vary depending on your reverence of Iain Banks, but it left me a little cold.
Your mileage may vary depending on your reverence of Iain Banks, but it left me a little cold.
October 6, 2022
As a whisky lover, I was really looking forward to reading this. The premise is great. Travelling around Scotland searching for the perfect dram. Whisky is very subjective and there are many that I like that my friends don't and vice verse so I know finding the perfect dram is near enough impossible. However, it can certainly be fun and interesting trying to find it.
However, this book is neither fun nor interesting.
There are certain things I expect to read in a book about finding the perfect dram. I would want to know about the distilleries, their history, their flavour profile, the ingredients, the local area, maybe some words from local people about why the whisky is so wonderful and if the author is visiting the distillery, then maybe some words from the people who run them would be fascinating.
This is what I would like. What I don't want to read about is:
the author's jaguar
the author's land rover
the author's other cars
the author's boats
the author's motorbike
the roads being used and why some are great and others aren't
the war
drunken stories about jumping hotel balconies
a drunken story about jumping off a wall
and there are still other non-whisky tales dotted throughout the book. In fact, these tales are prevalent that the actual whisky is reduced to about a third of the actual book.
And when we do finally read about the whisky, the majority of the time it's the author telling us that he went on the distillery tour but it's much like the others, some wisecrack about not being able to take photos and then buy crates of whisky to put in the car and take home. When the opportunity did arise to speak to a distillery manager, the author refused. What's the actual point?!
If you want to read a whisky book, there are better ones out there.
If you want to read a travel book about Scotland, I'm sure there are better ones out there.
If you want to read about the things the author likes and his friends who we have no connection to, then this is the book for you.
However, this book is neither fun nor interesting.
There are certain things I expect to read in a book about finding the perfect dram. I would want to know about the distilleries, their history, their flavour profile, the ingredients, the local area, maybe some words from local people about why the whisky is so wonderful and if the author is visiting the distillery, then maybe some words from the people who run them would be fascinating.
This is what I would like. What I don't want to read about is:
the author's jaguar
the author's land rover
the author's other cars
the author's boats
the author's motorbike
the roads being used and why some are great and others aren't
the war
drunken stories about jumping hotel balconies
a drunken story about jumping off a wall
and there are still other non-whisky tales dotted throughout the book. In fact, these tales are prevalent that the actual whisky is reduced to about a third of the actual book.
And when we do finally read about the whisky, the majority of the time it's the author telling us that he went on the distillery tour but it's much like the others, some wisecrack about not being able to take photos and then buy crates of whisky to put in the car and take home. When the opportunity did arise to speak to a distillery manager, the author refused. What's the actual point?!
If you want to read a whisky book, there are better ones out there.
If you want to read a travel book about Scotland, I'm sure there are better ones out there.
If you want to read about the things the author likes and his friends who we have no connection to, then this is the book for you.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 25, 2018
It took me a long time to read this book. That's not a criticism of the book, but rather a credit to the warmth and personality that it carries.
I've long been a fan of the late Iain Banks, and even met the man a couple of times, and his warm and pleasant personality shone through, as it does in the pages of Raw Spirit. In fact, this book which is likely the closest thing we will ever get to an autobiography. And when he passed, I found it difficult to continue reading his cheerful anecdotes about driving around and enjoying life in Scotland with his friends and family.
It's a fascinating adventure through the wilds and hills of Scotland, as Banks regales us with stories of his various travels, and the various cars he's owned and the roads he liked to drive them round. There's a lackadaisical nature to the writing that only slips when his heated feelings on the then current 2nd Gulf War was occurring and Banks and his wife were avidly protesting against the military action and the Blair/Bush conglomerate which was fueling the "blood for oil".
As such, I can imagine that to some, this mixture of reportage, anecdote and enthusiast whisky knowledge will be of variable interest to some, as even I found at times that the balance wasn't quite right and some segments felt like lists of whiskies and percentages, onto to then go into several pages about the engine of some car that Banks was fond of.
Still, I can't not recommend a book that make me want to holiday in my own country and to explore the depths of the joy that is the Uisge Beatha.
I've long been a fan of the late Iain Banks, and even met the man a couple of times, and his warm and pleasant personality shone through, as it does in the pages of Raw Spirit. In fact, this book which is likely the closest thing we will ever get to an autobiography. And when he passed, I found it difficult to continue reading his cheerful anecdotes about driving around and enjoying life in Scotland with his friends and family.
It's a fascinating adventure through the wilds and hills of Scotland, as Banks regales us with stories of his various travels, and the various cars he's owned and the roads he liked to drive them round. There's a lackadaisical nature to the writing that only slips when his heated feelings on the then current 2nd Gulf War was occurring and Banks and his wife were avidly protesting against the military action and the Blair/Bush conglomerate which was fueling the "blood for oil".
As such, I can imagine that to some, this mixture of reportage, anecdote and enthusiast whisky knowledge will be of variable interest to some, as even I found at times that the balance wasn't quite right and some segments felt like lists of whiskies and percentages, onto to then go into several pages about the engine of some car that Banks was fond of.
Still, I can't not recommend a book that make me want to holiday in my own country and to explore the depths of the joy that is the Uisge Beatha.
May 4, 2014
This is celebrated SF and fiction author Iain Banks' only non-fiction book. Ostensibly a book about the many varieties of single-malt scotch whisky, it is in fact the closest thing we will ever have to an autobiography of the sadly deceased genius.
The book reads like a Bryson-like travelogue as Banks traverses his native Scotland, sampling whiskies from each of it's distilleries, in search of the perfect dram. Along the way he entertains the reader with tall tales from his youth, and dissertations on politics, drugs, war, motorbikes and other random subjects. It makes the whole thing very readable indeed, far from a dry treatise on scotch, and is full of the author's trademark humour.
It's also surprisingly informative, and as an amateur enthusiast it taught me a lot about both the technical and more romantic sides of whisky manufacture and how the various tastes are introduced into the drink.
If I had one criticism it would be that the book is a bit too self-indulgent. I learnt as much about Banks himself as I did about the subject matter, but perhaps that's the point. In any case, as a fan of both the author and his subject that didn't bother me too much. This is a book written from the heart, and it shows.
The book reads like a Bryson-like travelogue as Banks traverses his native Scotland, sampling whiskies from each of it's distilleries, in search of the perfect dram. Along the way he entertains the reader with tall tales from his youth, and dissertations on politics, drugs, war, motorbikes and other random subjects. It makes the whole thing very readable indeed, far from a dry treatise on scotch, and is full of the author's trademark humour.
It's also surprisingly informative, and as an amateur enthusiast it taught me a lot about both the technical and more romantic sides of whisky manufacture and how the various tastes are introduced into the drink.
If I had one criticism it would be that the book is a bit too self-indulgent. I learnt as much about Banks himself as I did about the subject matter, but perhaps that's the point. In any case, as a fan of both the author and his subject that didn't bother me too much. This is a book written from the heart, and it shows.
July 19, 2009
Banksie! I hear you're writing a book about whisky - you'll be wanting a hand with that then ...
Offering the noted author Iain Banks the opportunity to write a book about whisky is a little bit like giving a five year old child the keys to a sweet shop and the toy shop next door as well. This is an enormously self indulgent book, but Banks writes in an engaging and humorous way about his various wanderings around the Scottish highlands and islands in a variety of interesting cars and bikes, accompanied by friends and acquaintances sampling the wares of different distilleries in search of the elusive perfect dram.
In between the tasting notes and distillery reviews, we are also treated to descriptions of 'great wee roads' for driving on, restaurant recommendations, anecdotes about daft escapades from his youth and assorted political rants (the second gulf war was just kicking off as the project got underway). This book really needs to be read with a notebook to keep a record of any whiskies that you might want to try yourself and a Google Earth window open so that you can trace the great wee roads that are so eloquently described.
Offering the noted author Iain Banks the opportunity to write a book about whisky is a little bit like giving a five year old child the keys to a sweet shop and the toy shop next door as well. This is an enormously self indulgent book, but Banks writes in an engaging and humorous way about his various wanderings around the Scottish highlands and islands in a variety of interesting cars and bikes, accompanied by friends and acquaintances sampling the wares of different distilleries in search of the elusive perfect dram.
In between the tasting notes and distillery reviews, we are also treated to descriptions of 'great wee roads' for driving on, restaurant recommendations, anecdotes about daft escapades from his youth and assorted political rants (the second gulf war was just kicking off as the project got underway). This book really needs to be read with a notebook to keep a record of any whiskies that you might want to try yourself and a Google Earth window open so that you can trace the great wee roads that are so eloquently described.
June 12, 2015
This book is a curious thing in that the percentage spent specifically discussing whisky, history, the process, the specific distilleries is actually a LOT less than you'd think. Instead you get a lot of Iain Banks' own observations on his friends, sailing, cars, what makes a great road, more cars, a ton of old anecdotes, digressions on politics (the book was written as the Iraq war was getting into full swing) and a LOT of insight into various bits of Banks' previous writing and his own history.
So: if you're expecting a straight up book about Whisky and know nothing about Banks himself, this would probably be pretty disappointing. If you're a fan of Banks, his style of writing and humor, whisky AND are willing to bear with him through a billion fun digressions, then this is absolutely a great read (and coincidentally informative regarding single malt whisky). With Banks now tragically gone, this was actually as close as we might have gotten to an unintentional memoir or a look into the author himself behind the fiction so for that I really enjoyed it.
So: if you're expecting a straight up book about Whisky and know nothing about Banks himself, this would probably be pretty disappointing. If you're a fan of Banks, his style of writing and humor, whisky AND are willing to bear with him through a billion fun digressions, then this is absolutely a great read (and coincidentally informative regarding single malt whisky). With Banks now tragically gone, this was actually as close as we might have gotten to an unintentional memoir or a look into the author himself behind the fiction so for that I really enjoyed it.
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