What do you think?
Rate this book
Whit
Original ISBN: 0349107688; this is an alternate cover edition.
455 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1995
92 people are currently reading
3079 people want to read
About the author
Iain Banks
39 books4,846 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.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 273 reviews
March 13, 2009
I'm a sucker for fictional religions, and Banks is brilliant at inventing them. Luskentyrianism is his best effort yet. If the thing you liked most in Cat's Cradle was Bokononism, you may well enjoy this book too. The charming young heroine, Isis, is the Elect of God, and terribly matter-of-fact about it; it's remarkable how quickly you get used to almost anything at all, and find it normal. (Someone's got to be the Elect of God. Why not me?) I particularly enjoyed the scene where she got all indignant about the perfunctory way in which they washed her feet.
Another memorable bit is the incredibly complex and bizarre method they have developed to circumvent the ban on using telephones. You let it ring, and count the rings, but don't actually pick it up. Then you agree on a code which maps numbers of rings onto words. (Whatever could he be satirizing there?) The running joke is the food. The founder of the cult is Scottish, and his wives are from India, so they eat things like Haggis Pakora and Neeps Bhaji. Banks was clearly having fun when he wrote the book, and it's hard not to be amused by all his delightfully silly ideas.
Another memorable bit is the incredibly complex and bizarre method they have developed to circumvent the ban on using telephones. You let it ring, and count the rings, but don't actually pick it up. Then you agree on a code which maps numbers of rings onto words. (Whatever could he be satirizing there?) The running joke is the food. The founder of the cult is Scottish, and his wives are from India, so they eat things like Haggis Pakora and Neeps Bhaji. Banks was clearly having fun when he wrote the book, and it's hard not to be amused by all his delightfully silly ideas.
May 23, 2018
'Whit' is one of the funniest books that I have ever read.
The founder of the cult Salvador is Scottish, who has been rescued by two Indian women. These ladies have a holy of hollies, much like a Communion wafer, which is something called 'slonjish', a hardened and brownish paste like substance. It is taboo to touch slonjish, or even to cast a look at it. As usual with such things in every religion nobody knows the reason why.
I thought about this slonjish, after all it did sound like Hindi, what could it be? And then I had this Eureka moment, it struck me, I thought of that old medicament, Sloans Liniment, used by everyone here in India for various ailments, a sort of a rub to ease aches and pains. In Hindi, it is corrupted to slonjish. This was hilarious. Considering that Salvador has two wives who are from India there is a lot of fusion cooking, Haggis Pakora and Neeps Bhaji.
Funny though the book is, it takes a hard look at sects sprouting all over the world, with their complicated rules, their intricate traditions.
Being an Indian did not help me understand the book, not at all, but it helped me laugh deeply and heartily at stuff like slonjish, the fusion Haggis Pakora and Neeps Bhaji.
The founder of the cult Salvador is Scottish, who has been rescued by two Indian women. These ladies have a holy of hollies, much like a Communion wafer, which is something called 'slonjish', a hardened and brownish paste like substance. It is taboo to touch slonjish, or even to cast a look at it. As usual with such things in every religion nobody knows the reason why.
I thought about this slonjish, after all it did sound like Hindi, what could it be? And then I had this Eureka moment, it struck me, I thought of that old medicament, Sloans Liniment, used by everyone here in India for various ailments, a sort of a rub to ease aches and pains. In Hindi, it is corrupted to slonjish. This was hilarious. Considering that Salvador has two wives who are from India there is a lot of fusion cooking, Haggis Pakora and Neeps Bhaji.
Funny though the book is, it takes a hard look at sects sprouting all over the world, with their complicated rules, their intricate traditions.
Being an Indian did not help me understand the book, not at all, but it helped me laugh deeply and heartily at stuff like slonjish, the fusion Haggis Pakora and Neeps Bhaji.
December 21, 2009
Maybe a 4-star. I'm still digesting.
Review to come.
The review has arrived:
If we could give stars to individual characters, I’d give Isis, the narrator of Iain Banks’ novel, five, which is why I’m revising my initial rating of the book as a whole to four stars.
The novel begins in the religious community of High Easter Offerance, the base of the Luskentyrians, a sort-of-Amish-like sect that has rejected much of modern civilization. The community is ruled by Salvador, its founder, and Isis is his grand-daughter. Unlike Salvador’s other children, Isis is also the Elect of God because (like her grand-father and father) she was born on February 29 (she’s a “Leapyearian”) and heir apparent. She also appears to have an ability to “heal,” though Banks is very coy about (and Isis herself doubts) whether or not it’s real. When it appears that her cousin Morag, a “world-renowned baryton soloist,” has become apostate, she is sent out into the world to bring her back. It turns out that things are not quite what they seem, either with Morag or with the community’s motivations for sending Isis on her mission, but it gives Banks opportunity to look at the phenomenon of religion – how beliefs arise, how they’re manipulated, how modernity clashes with traditional faith, and spirituality vs. religion.
Unlike most of his other mainstream work - The Wasp Factory, Complicity or A Song of Stone, for example - Whit is a satirical comedy. Nothing really “awful” happens to anyone in the story, and Banks is having a great deal of fun telling us about Isis’ adventures in the world of the Cluttered (one of many labels given to the unsaved).
As hinted, the novel succeeds wholly because of its narrator – Isis. She is a naïve but not stupid or ignorant 19-year-old, whose remarkable self-confidence and belief in her grand-father’s religion stand her in good stead as she confronts her co-religionists and the unsaved she meets when she leaves High Easter Offerance. Despite some disillusioning events (her brother betrays her, her grand-father tries to molest her, she learns the truth about the cult’s origins, etc.), Isis doesn’t despair or become cynical, but turns the tables on her “enemies” and succeeds in redeeming her faith and her wayward relatives – probably. Banks manages to end the novel on a somewhat ambiguous note – Isis confronts her grand-father and brother with the truth and extorts control of the cult from them but the “truth” she promises to tell the community is at the end is left unspoken (or was it the entire preceding narrative?):
The other thing about the novel I think deserves mention is Luskentyrianism – the religious faith Banks has concocted. If I were looking for a faith to follow, I could easily see myself following this one. On pages 52-55 of my edition, Isis succinctly lays out the beliefs tenets:
1. God is both and neither male and female, and is referred to as the singular “God” or the third-person plural “Them.”
2. God is omniscient but only “strategically” not “tactically.” I.e., They know what the ultimate outcome will be but They don’t know all the details.
3. God is omnipotent but doesn’t intervene in Their creation unless “things go either apotheosistically well or apocalyptically bad.”
4. Our universe is just one of many They have created.
5. Man is a “deformed child” – God loves us but They regret that we aren’t perfect.
6. There is no Devil; the world’s ills are caused by Man’s inability to clearly see God’s radiant splendor.
7. A fragment of God’s spirit resides in Man.
8. Man’s intelligence, necessary to God’s purpose for him, has nevertheless corrupted his perception of Their purpose.
9. Man must learn “to stand and walk with his spirit rather than crawl with his technology.” What this means is that the Luskentyrians reject most technology, much like the Amish.
10. God’s ultimate aim for Man is unknowable in his present state but will be revealed as he evolves spiritually (leaving open the possibility – in fact, the need – for future prophets).
11. Death is reunion with God.
12. Man can achieve perfection.
13. Body and soul are a unity.
14. Physical love is the communing of souls. This is not “free love” in its worst, stereotypical sense (like drug-addled orgies) but the acceptance of love and its physical aspects in its many forms. As Isis explains, generally the community encourages stable relationships; it’s only at the sects quadrennial Festival of Love that promiscuity is encouraged so that the odds of another Leapyearian being born are increased.
15. All religions contain grains of Truth but are “cluttered up” by the misinterpretations of their followers.
16. God speaks to his people at random moments; it’s prophets like Salvador who hear Them most clearly.
17. Since merit and calmness “are to be found in the out-of-the-way, the byways of life…there is goodness and the potential for enlightenment in doing things differently, seemingly just for the sake of it.”
This is definitely a must read for the Banks fan but I think newcomers to the author might enjoy it, as well.
Review to come.
The review has arrived:
If we could give stars to individual characters, I’d give Isis, the narrator of Iain Banks’ novel, five, which is why I’m revising my initial rating of the book as a whole to four stars.
The novel begins in the religious community of High Easter Offerance, the base of the Luskentyrians, a sort-of-Amish-like sect that has rejected much of modern civilization. The community is ruled by Salvador, its founder, and Isis is his grand-daughter. Unlike Salvador’s other children, Isis is also the Elect of God because (like her grand-father and father) she was born on February 29 (she’s a “Leapyearian”) and heir apparent. She also appears to have an ability to “heal,” though Banks is very coy about (and Isis herself doubts) whether or not it’s real. When it appears that her cousin Morag, a “world-renowned baryton soloist,” has become apostate, she is sent out into the world to bring her back. It turns out that things are not quite what they seem, either with Morag or with the community’s motivations for sending Isis on her mission, but it gives Banks opportunity to look at the phenomenon of religion – how beliefs arise, how they’re manipulated, how modernity clashes with traditional faith, and spirituality vs. religion.
Unlike most of his other mainstream work - The Wasp Factory, Complicity or A Song of Stone, for example - Whit is a satirical comedy. Nothing really “awful” happens to anyone in the story, and Banks is having a great deal of fun telling us about Isis’ adventures in the world of the Cluttered (one of many labels given to the unsaved).
As hinted, the novel succeeds wholly because of its narrator – Isis. She is a naïve but not stupid or ignorant 19-year-old, whose remarkable self-confidence and belief in her grand-father’s religion stand her in good stead as she confronts her co-religionists and the unsaved she meets when she leaves High Easter Offerance. Despite some disillusioning events (her brother betrays her, her grand-father tries to molest her, she learns the truth about the cult’s origins, etc.), Isis doesn’t despair or become cynical, but turns the tables on her “enemies” and succeeds in redeeming her faith and her wayward relatives – probably. Banks manages to end the novel on a somewhat ambiguous note – Isis confronts her grand-father and brother with the truth and extorts control of the cult from them but the “truth” she promises to tell the community is at the end is left unspoken (or was it the entire preceding narrative?):
“…Here was what mattered; here, looking out over these stunned, bewildered, awed, even fearful faces, here was action at a distance, here was palpable power, here was where belief – self-belief and shared belief – could truly signify.
Truth, I thought. Truth; there is no higher power. It is the ultimate name we give our Maker.
I took a deep breath and an abrupt, fleeting dizziness shook me, energising and intoxicating and leaving me feeling strong and calm and able and without fear.
I cleared by throat.
‘I have a story to tell you,’ I said.” (p. 455)
The other thing about the novel I think deserves mention is Luskentyrianism – the religious faith Banks has concocted. If I were looking for a faith to follow, I could easily see myself following this one. On pages 52-55 of my edition, Isis succinctly lays out the beliefs tenets:
1. God is both and neither male and female, and is referred to as the singular “God” or the third-person plural “Them.”
2. God is omniscient but only “strategically” not “tactically.” I.e., They know what the ultimate outcome will be but They don’t know all the details.
3. God is omnipotent but doesn’t intervene in Their creation unless “things go either apotheosistically well or apocalyptically bad.”
4. Our universe is just one of many They have created.
5. Man is a “deformed child” – God loves us but They regret that we aren’t perfect.
6. There is no Devil; the world’s ills are caused by Man’s inability to clearly see God’s radiant splendor.
7. A fragment of God’s spirit resides in Man.
8. Man’s intelligence, necessary to God’s purpose for him, has nevertheless corrupted his perception of Their purpose.
9. Man must learn “to stand and walk with his spirit rather than crawl with his technology.” What this means is that the Luskentyrians reject most technology, much like the Amish.
10. God’s ultimate aim for Man is unknowable in his present state but will be revealed as he evolves spiritually (leaving open the possibility – in fact, the need – for future prophets).
11. Death is reunion with God.
12. Man can achieve perfection.
13. Body and soul are a unity.
14. Physical love is the communing of souls. This is not “free love” in its worst, stereotypical sense (like drug-addled orgies) but the acceptance of love and its physical aspects in its many forms. As Isis explains, generally the community encourages stable relationships; it’s only at the sects quadrennial Festival of Love that promiscuity is encouraged so that the odds of another Leapyearian being born are increased.
15. All religions contain grains of Truth but are “cluttered up” by the misinterpretations of their followers.
16. God speaks to his people at random moments; it’s prophets like Salvador who hear Them most clearly.
17. Since merit and calmness “are to be found in the out-of-the-way, the byways of life…there is goodness and the potential for enlightenment in doing things differently, seemingly just for the sake of it.”
This is definitely a must read for the Banks fan but I think newcomers to the author might enjoy it, as well.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 7, 2023
I knew I would hit a 5-star by Banks at some point! The story of Isis, God’s chosen one in the eyes of a weird religious cult (the Luskentyrians) twists and turns and makes you wonder at many points what on earth can be left to tell? This time, it always turns into something worthwhile and this makes for a great reading experience. Happy for the absence of the over the top cruelty and violence that is part of several others too. This is comedy with serious themes and I enjoyed it very much. Highly recommended.
August 22, 2012
I don't think I've ever misjudged a book so badly in my life - I had completely different expectations when I started off. I was expecting a raging tirade concerning the folly of religion, the blindness of the human race, the contradictions between cold hard logic and warm fuzzy faith. I couldn't have been more wrong.
There was definitely a level of satire here, a warm touch which I noticed is common to Scottish writers, and something which I definitely have a great appreciation for.
The story follows an obscure (and fictional I'm sure) religious cult set in rural Scotland, called the Luskentyrians. Isis Whit is the Elect of God, and she has the divine ability to heal the wounded, and ostensibly to bring animals back from the dead. One of her beloved cousins Morag (weird names abound in this book! Love it.) sends a vague letter renouncing her faith, and Isis goes on a journey to seek her out and bring her back on the straight and narrow. Unlikely events unfold, and her seemingly perfect and sheltered universe slowly reveals its true colors as secrets and mysteries begin to surface.
It could very well be that Iain Banks is an atheist, and like I said there is a relatively clear bit of mockery aimed at religion, but it's not done in a jarring way that I find distasteful. His tone is very subtle, and the way he makes his point about the oftentimes extreme gullibility of humans in the face of the God question was well done, I would say. (Disclosure: I'm Muslim, but if I wanted to get criticised about religion, I'd rather it would be by Banks than someone like Dawkins. Just saying!)
Aside from that, the story had a compelling plot, I was interested in all the characters from the very first page. I generally don't really like ingenue characters, but Isis is a pretty 'tough cookie' as her grandmother would say.
Some things which dampened it a bit were that I felt like Isis' journey was a bit too easy for her. She definitely goes through some trials and tribulations throughout, in fact her entire foundation of belief is thoroughly tested, but it seemed as though she found the solutions far too quickly and Banks was quick to get everything resolved nice and neatly and with as little pain as possible to the characters he loved (I'm assuming). There were some characters I was expecting to hear about at the end, as well, but they sort of only came up when their presence was needed, like a deus ex machina several times over, played their necessary part, and then kind of disappeared into the Scottish mist.
Other than that, it was a thoroughly entertaining read, I had that feeling of not wanting to put the book down. It was an intelligent, fun book to read during my short holiday, and I am definitely looking forward to the other books I have of his on my TBR.
There was definitely a level of satire here, a warm touch which I noticed is common to Scottish writers, and something which I definitely have a great appreciation for.
The story follows an obscure (and fictional I'm sure) religious cult set in rural Scotland, called the Luskentyrians. Isis Whit is the Elect of God, and she has the divine ability to heal the wounded, and ostensibly to bring animals back from the dead. One of her beloved cousins Morag (weird names abound in this book! Love it.) sends a vague letter renouncing her faith, and Isis goes on a journey to seek her out and bring her back on the straight and narrow. Unlikely events unfold, and her seemingly perfect and sheltered universe slowly reveals its true colors as secrets and mysteries begin to surface.
It could very well be that Iain Banks is an atheist, and like I said there is a relatively clear bit of mockery aimed at religion, but it's not done in a jarring way that I find distasteful. His tone is very subtle, and the way he makes his point about the oftentimes extreme gullibility of humans in the face of the God question was well done, I would say. (Disclosure: I'm Muslim, but if I wanted to get criticised about religion, I'd rather it would be by Banks than someone like Dawkins. Just saying!)
Aside from that, the story had a compelling plot, I was interested in all the characters from the very first page. I generally don't really like ingenue characters, but Isis is a pretty 'tough cookie' as her grandmother would say.
Some things which dampened it a bit were that I felt like Isis' journey was a bit too easy for her. She definitely goes through some trials and tribulations throughout, in fact her entire foundation of belief is thoroughly tested, but it seemed as though she found the solutions far too quickly and Banks was quick to get everything resolved nice and neatly and with as little pain as possible to the characters he loved (I'm assuming). There were some characters I was expecting to hear about at the end, as well, but they sort of only came up when their presence was needed, like a deus ex machina several times over, played their necessary part, and then kind of disappeared into the Scottish mist.
Other than that, it was a thoroughly entertaining read, I had that feeling of not wanting to put the book down. It was an intelligent, fun book to read during my short holiday, and I am definitely looking forward to the other books I have of his on my TBR.
September 30, 2013
The thing I have noticed in Iain Banks' contemporary non-culture novels is how quite different they all really are. Yes, Iain had a great style and a unique way of crafting a tale, usually showing us some great inconsistencies, hypocrisies and wrongness within our society, no doubt, but each tale deals with different things showing us more than anything what a quite unique and varied imagination he most certainly had. I have not read all of his books, I still have many left to read and I have read quite a few since The Wasp Factory (including the culture and science fiction works), but with all I have actually read, each one has its own raison d'être. Its quite difficult to really actually pin down a specific genre of fiction for his contemporary novels; all I have read include crime, murder, conspiracy, family secrets and so on. He is not a crime writer, although his works contain crime; he is not a political writer, and some of his books contain politics and he is not specifically a writer stuck into any particular field of literature. What he is or rather was however, was a gripping story teller with his own brand of humour and craftmanship, covering contemporary fields as well as his own Science Fiction created Culture novels. Unequaled during his time because of his originality and creative ability.
Whit is no exception to this. In fact, of all the works I have actually read, its the least distressing and most accessible tale of his. It is by far not his best however, The Bridge still for me holds that mantel (plus some of the Culture works), but still is a good read, really showing that maybe our modern world, our world of materialism and technological progress really could be 'dumbing' us down from any form of spiritualism or belief structures that older, non-technological societies held to be truth. Isis, the young Woman protagonist, during the novel both exposes this modern world we live in as well as shows us that not even these religious cults that try and live naturally without the influence of modern society, really are not immune to its guile either (which is what the book essentially deals with; corruption of the cult from a materialist agenda). An interesting, escapist read.
Whit is no exception to this. In fact, of all the works I have actually read, its the least distressing and most accessible tale of his. It is by far not his best however, The Bridge still for me holds that mantel (plus some of the Culture works), but still is a good read, really showing that maybe our modern world, our world of materialism and technological progress really could be 'dumbing' us down from any form of spiritualism or belief structures that older, non-technological societies held to be truth. Isis, the young Woman protagonist, during the novel both exposes this modern world we live in as well as shows us that not even these religious cults that try and live naturally without the influence of modern society, really are not immune to its guile either (which is what the book essentially deals with; corruption of the cult from a materialist agenda). An interesting, escapist read.
November 21, 2021
I liken Iain Banks- along with all writers who may resemble him- to a student inspired to be recognized as a prolific writer. To fulfil his ambition, with dogged determination, he applies to a publishing company submitting all the samples of his works. The top banana is impressed by his latent talent, but turns him down because he finds Banks’ works subjective to plagiarism. Nevertheless, he will be given a chance to work for the company as a protégé, commissioned to write a story for a literary magazine, instead
I.Banks buries himself in coming up with a cluster of ideas. He makes sure that all his ideas are the figments of his outlandish but advanced imagination. Fortunately, his left hand is as handy as his exceptional ability to weave beautiful prose. He keeps on writing down whatever the train of thoughts rumbling through the tunnel of his mind. As a result, his sentences are more emphatic and riveting than the contents of his stories. However, he comes to realize that writing exquisite sentences does not get anywhere. He needs to embellish them with a story that his readers will find engaging. He will experiment on his convoluted plots which he is not sure of whether they will pan out or not, whether his readers will buy them or not. He will be at his wits’ end, and decide that he’d better focus on topping them with icing of his alluring and glamorous sentences. He predicts that his readers will still enjoy his book regardless of his ideas his readers will find banal. And he is right! In the long haul, his story will be one of those brightest galaxies in the literary universe. With the wisdom of hindsight, he realizes that to be a writer, he has to be creative by trying out his cornucopia of ideas. If he keeps on doing it ,and finds it consistent in the totality of his masterpiece, his writing skills will be extremely well-developed until he becomes a full-fledged writer who will be recognized as one of the best imaginative writers in his generation. Eventually, the publishing company who puts him on probation will now take him by the storm as if he were about to be carved on the pedestal and groomed to pit against the other unbeatable writers.
My analogy between Iain Banks and that hard-driving student above is the fruit of my impression of WHIT, along with his other novels I have read. I have proven my observation that he had this audacious skills in making the story more absorbing despite that the story could be drudging and colourless. It seemed like he was keen to carry out an experiment whether the plot we may not be familiar with yet will sell like a hot cake or not. No wonder I enjoy reading every ravishing line, deeply immersed, insouciant to what will happen to the stories in the next chapter. In other words, Iain Banks may not have been cowed into contentment by taking the risk of writing a book he may not have been sure of its literary success. Lo and behold, his works became best-sellers. He could beat any big-timers in his generation.
There are some parts of the story I was disappointed with.
First: Since I had worked up interest assuming that the story was all about a cult and Isis Whit, the cult-community-proclaimed Elect-God, would have a quest adventure for her apostate cousin, Morag, I recoiled in remonstrance when Morag turns out to be a porn star. Jeers! I had expected something more surprising than that. Instead, I suggest Morag decide to leave her religious group she has been committed to and live in the city. Then, she has become a liberal and hostile atheist who will lock horns with Isis, trying to brainwash her that the religion she is into turns out to be farcical.
Second: The twist that Morag and Isis will make it up to each other after the long, unclear misunderstanding. This twist is superficial and two-dimensional. What I felt from the beginning was that Morag did not want to meet Isis. Her mind has been poisoned by Isis’s brother, Allan. Her anger has been fed to the point that she hates Isis. Jeers! What I had expected was that they would split hairs. The scene would be intense. But nah!
Third: The ending surprised me. Since Isis’s grandfather, Salvador, the Founder, turns out to be a rapist and hypocrite, and she almost falls to his senescent sex urge, she still forgives him under some conditions she has drawn up to save the Order or the cult which he has caused to convert a great deal of people. Jeers! What I had expected was that she would drag him out of the community and make his head hang in shame by divulging his dark side to the converts and the fake religion they are into. Then, the cult would frizzle away into complete oblivion. What a common but exhilarating plot!
If I. Banks was an atheist, but as far as I know he was, the novel could reflect his religious points of view. In fact, most of the settings are the ideas some prominent atheists -but notorious for some incorrigible religious people- have wanted to voice out. For example:
Religion shows a sense of arrogance because its believers are inculcated in the belief that only they will be SAVED.
Religion is a product, especially an avatar of mass hysteria. It is a delusion its believers consider normal, omnipotent, and omniscient. However, behind that circus door, there are logical explanations of which the believers may be ignorant.
Religion is a backward cult that revolts at the changes of human life.
Religion allows different practices of marriage.
Religion is a Luddite. (The cult strictly prohibits its believers from using phones and other machines alike.)
Religion abuses children.
Religion is a sexist.
On the other hand, if I.Banks was a passive atheist, the novel could suggest that no matter what the illogical reasons religion appears to have, for the communal interest, as long as the followers benefit them in a justifiable way, be it as it may stand. That’s how the ending goes. Isis Whit still chooses to save the face of the Order despite the disgrace her grandfather, the Founder, has brought.
This is now my fourth Iain Banks novel. Now I have figured out why his books are so gripping. He is so ingenious. His writing styles may suggest evidence of his blazing desire to learn how to be one of the best writers. So, what I feel now is that I am inspired to do the same thing and excited to read the other results of his literary experimentation.
I.Banks buries himself in coming up with a cluster of ideas. He makes sure that all his ideas are the figments of his outlandish but advanced imagination. Fortunately, his left hand is as handy as his exceptional ability to weave beautiful prose. He keeps on writing down whatever the train of thoughts rumbling through the tunnel of his mind. As a result, his sentences are more emphatic and riveting than the contents of his stories. However, he comes to realize that writing exquisite sentences does not get anywhere. He needs to embellish them with a story that his readers will find engaging. He will experiment on his convoluted plots which he is not sure of whether they will pan out or not, whether his readers will buy them or not. He will be at his wits’ end, and decide that he’d better focus on topping them with icing of his alluring and glamorous sentences. He predicts that his readers will still enjoy his book regardless of his ideas his readers will find banal. And he is right! In the long haul, his story will be one of those brightest galaxies in the literary universe. With the wisdom of hindsight, he realizes that to be a writer, he has to be creative by trying out his cornucopia of ideas. If he keeps on doing it ,and finds it consistent in the totality of his masterpiece, his writing skills will be extremely well-developed until he becomes a full-fledged writer who will be recognized as one of the best imaginative writers in his generation. Eventually, the publishing company who puts him on probation will now take him by the storm as if he were about to be carved on the pedestal and groomed to pit against the other unbeatable writers.
My analogy between Iain Banks and that hard-driving student above is the fruit of my impression of WHIT, along with his other novels I have read. I have proven my observation that he had this audacious skills in making the story more absorbing despite that the story could be drudging and colourless. It seemed like he was keen to carry out an experiment whether the plot we may not be familiar with yet will sell like a hot cake or not. No wonder I enjoy reading every ravishing line, deeply immersed, insouciant to what will happen to the stories in the next chapter. In other words, Iain Banks may not have been cowed into contentment by taking the risk of writing a book he may not have been sure of its literary success. Lo and behold, his works became best-sellers. He could beat any big-timers in his generation.
There are some parts of the story I was disappointed with.
First: Since I had worked up interest assuming that the story was all about a cult and Isis Whit, the cult-community-proclaimed Elect-God, would have a quest adventure for her apostate cousin, Morag, I recoiled in remonstrance when Morag turns out to be a porn star. Jeers! I had expected something more surprising than that. Instead, I suggest Morag decide to leave her religious group she has been committed to and live in the city. Then, she has become a liberal and hostile atheist who will lock horns with Isis, trying to brainwash her that the religion she is into turns out to be farcical.
Second: The twist that Morag and Isis will make it up to each other after the long, unclear misunderstanding. This twist is superficial and two-dimensional. What I felt from the beginning was that Morag did not want to meet Isis. Her mind has been poisoned by Isis’s brother, Allan. Her anger has been fed to the point that she hates Isis. Jeers! What I had expected was that they would split hairs. The scene would be intense. But nah!
Third: The ending surprised me. Since Isis’s grandfather, Salvador, the Founder, turns out to be a rapist and hypocrite, and she almost falls to his senescent sex urge, she still forgives him under some conditions she has drawn up to save the Order or the cult which he has caused to convert a great deal of people. Jeers! What I had expected was that she would drag him out of the community and make his head hang in shame by divulging his dark side to the converts and the fake religion they are into. Then, the cult would frizzle away into complete oblivion. What a common but exhilarating plot!
If I. Banks was an atheist, but as far as I know he was, the novel could reflect his religious points of view. In fact, most of the settings are the ideas some prominent atheists -but notorious for some incorrigible religious people- have wanted to voice out. For example:
Religion shows a sense of arrogance because its believers are inculcated in the belief that only they will be SAVED.
Religion is a product, especially an avatar of mass hysteria. It is a delusion its believers consider normal, omnipotent, and omniscient. However, behind that circus door, there are logical explanations of which the believers may be ignorant.
Religion is a backward cult that revolts at the changes of human life.
Religion allows different practices of marriage.
Religion is a Luddite. (The cult strictly prohibits its believers from using phones and other machines alike.)
Religion abuses children.
Religion is a sexist.
On the other hand, if I.Banks was a passive atheist, the novel could suggest that no matter what the illogical reasons religion appears to have, for the communal interest, as long as the followers benefit them in a justifiable way, be it as it may stand. That’s how the ending goes. Isis Whit still chooses to save the face of the Order despite the disgrace her grandfather, the Founder, has brought.
This is now my fourth Iain Banks novel. Now I have figured out why his books are so gripping. He is so ingenious. His writing styles may suggest evidence of his blazing desire to learn how to be one of the best writers. So, what I feel now is that I am inspired to do the same thing and excited to read the other results of his literary experimentation.
February 4, 2022
I always feel guilty when I give any Iain (M.) Banks novel less than four stars (I've given plenty of them five), and here I am --again -- feeling a little guilty about giving Whit only three.
I was trying to articulate my feelings about a couple of days ago, as I approached the end of the novel, and the best I could come up with was a mild disappointment with how Whit was making me feel in comparison to other novels by Banks. The Wasp Factory, Use of Weapons, Against a Dark Background, all these books left me wishing I had written them, they awed me a bit; Consider Phlebas, Dead Air, they gave me at least a moment of "Ppphhhttting" delight. I wanted one of these from Whit, and for much of the book I thought I was going to get at least a "Ppphhhttt!" The fact that I didn't left me underwhelmed.
That doesn't mean Whit isn't an excellent book. It is. It is a cracking read with, perhaps, one of my favourite Banks characters -- The Blessed Very Reverend Gaia-Marie Isis Saraswati Minerva Mirza Whit of Luskentyre, Beloved Elect of God III. But she just goes by Isis. And it is precisely because it is such a strong book that I found myself disappointed that it wasn't stronger.
I won't tell you anything else because despite the fact that I wasn't blown away by Whit, I recommend it highly. And I can't help wondering where the fuck the television series is of this. It is a wonder of inclusivity, and it could be made even more inclusive with minor tweaks that would do nothing to mess up Banks' intentions; it is perfectly suited to one series or two; it could easily expand beyond the confines of the book itself; and there are parts to fill every anglophile with joy. And I haven't even mentioned how much fun it would be to see Fusillada Debauch (I wonder why he didn't name a Culture ship Fusillada Debauch?) in something like live action.
I was trying to articulate my feelings about a couple of days ago, as I approached the end of the novel, and the best I could come up with was a mild disappointment with how Whit was making me feel in comparison to other novels by Banks. The Wasp Factory, Use of Weapons, Against a Dark Background, all these books left me wishing I had written them, they awed me a bit; Consider Phlebas, Dead Air, they gave me at least a moment of "Ppphhhttting" delight. I wanted one of these from Whit, and for much of the book I thought I was going to get at least a "Ppphhhttt!" The fact that I didn't left me underwhelmed.
That doesn't mean Whit isn't an excellent book. It is. It is a cracking read with, perhaps, one of my favourite Banks characters -- The Blessed Very Reverend Gaia-Marie Isis Saraswati Minerva Mirza Whit of Luskentyre, Beloved Elect of God III. But she just goes by Isis. And it is precisely because it is such a strong book that I found myself disappointed that it wasn't stronger.
I won't tell you anything else because despite the fact that I wasn't blown away by Whit, I recommend it highly. And I can't help wondering where the fuck the television series is of this. It is a wonder of inclusivity, and it could be made even more inclusive with minor tweaks that would do nothing to mess up Banks' intentions; it is perfectly suited to one series or two; it could easily expand beyond the confines of the book itself; and there are parts to fill every anglophile with joy. And I haven't even mentioned how much fun it would be to see Fusillada Debauch (I wonder why he didn't name a Culture ship Fusillada Debauch?) in something like live action.
September 6, 2023
So, so good - even if it did start a little slowly. Loads of funny satire about religion and the patriarchy that accompanies it, told through a seriously exciting kind of whodunnit story of discovery, truth, and a weird religious cult based in Scotland.
Couldn’t put it down in the second half of the book, and restored my faith in Iain Banks after the last one I read. Worthy of a read if you have a chance, and would have given it 5* if I hadn’t been handing them out willy willy recently. Let’s say it’s a 4.8.
Couldn’t put it down in the second half of the book, and restored my faith in Iain Banks after the last one I read. Worthy of a read if you have a chance, and would have given it 5* if I hadn’t been handing them out willy willy recently. Let’s say it’s a 4.8.
January 12, 2013
This was a phenomenally good read. Based around an obscure religious sect in Stirlingshire, we follow the character Isis (Elect of God) on a journey through the Order's past, combined with a quest to find a lapsed member and return her to the fold. I quickly warmed to the character of Isis, a nineteen year-old with enviable courage and a somewhat unworldly but interesting moral compass. I was moved by her predicaments and dilemmas, and endeared to her by her way of dealing with them. The story continues to surprise and engage you right to the end of its 440-odd pages. I had previously read "The Wasp Factory" and enjoyed it, ditto one of his Sci-Fi Culture novels, but I enjoyed this more. Heartily recommended.
January 29, 2022
I so much enjoyed re-reading this. Witty, downright funny and clever. It’s a satire and a human story told with imagination and compassion. One of Banks’s very best, and that’s saying something.
November 16, 2014
I will treasure forever the image of Isis Whit, Elect of God, floating to Edinburgh in an inner-tube.
February 24, 2017
Enjoyable enough, after a slow start, but not one of his best.
May 2, 2025
I’ve enjoyed this as I’ve enjoyed every Iain and Iain M Banks I’ve read. My favourite Iain Banks novels arethe Bridge and The Crow Road. For Whit, I think the first half is three stars; the second four stars.
I found it mildly amusing rather than laugh out loud. Iain was clearly poking fun satirically at both religious cults and modern life and obsessions. It was written in 1995 and slightly of its time.
We start off in an isolated Scottish community with secrets in the past - very much Wasp Factory territory.
We then have “an innocent abroad” on journey into modern (1995) Britain. It reminded me a little of Titus Groan in Titus Alone or even Twoflower in the Colour of Magic. The Morag “revelation” was unexpected and fun.
The pace and story picked up in the second half. The second half reminded me at times of the Crow Road, a Banks book that I liked very much. I grew to like Isis more as she became a detective of the past, and certainly enjoyed the interludes with worldly-wise Yolanda.
I sort of anticipated the outcome of the moral dilemma at the end however the ending was all very satisfying.
This book has sat on my to-be-read shelf for a number of years. I recently read and enjoyed a couple of Iain M Banks novels so this rose to the top of the pile.
I found it mildly amusing rather than laugh out loud. Iain was clearly poking fun satirically at both religious cults and modern life and obsessions. It was written in 1995 and slightly of its time.
We start off in an isolated Scottish community with secrets in the past - very much Wasp Factory territory.
We then have “an innocent abroad” on journey into modern (1995) Britain. It reminded me a little of Titus Groan in Titus Alone or even Twoflower in the Colour of Magic. The Morag “revelation” was unexpected and fun.
The pace and story picked up in the second half. The second half reminded me at times of the Crow Road, a Banks book that I liked very much. I grew to like Isis more as she became a detective of the past, and certainly enjoyed the interludes with worldly-wise Yolanda.
I sort of anticipated the outcome of the moral dilemma at the end however the ending was all very satisfying.
This book has sat on my to-be-read shelf for a number of years. I recently read and enjoyed a couple of Iain M Banks novels so this rose to the top of the pile.
April 15, 2024
Banks remains firmly one of my favourite British authors. He’s a great storyteller; you’re never bored, you always want to read on to the inevitable shocking twist in the tale. There’s always a dark and sinister element to the plot that reveals the corrupt and ugly, sometimes horrific, side of human nature, but counterbalanced by compassion and a ray of hope that there is still some good in us in spite of it all .
March 7, 2020
I’ve decided that Iain Banks is my go-to easy, entertaining reading. I just find his style so readable and funny and clever. This book has a lot of flaws and it is not as insightful about religion/living in a cult as I was hoping, however it is a lot of fun and the main character is brilliant so I can forgive quite a lot.
August 25, 2025
Definitely a more enjoyable and less mental read than The Wasp Factory, very funny and a great page-turner.
He writes compelling characters brilliantly, there could be spin-offs for so many of the gang in this book.
He writes compelling characters brilliantly, there could be spin-offs for so many of the gang in this book.
November 21, 2025
not as heavy/ serious as his other works,, (e.g Wasp Factory)
fun little adventure story,, some cute chatacters
take some time to get you started but once it gets going it pays off
he fucked up the ending though;; might be better off to stop 30pages before the end
unsatisfying climax
fun little adventure story,, some cute chatacters
take some time to get you started but once it gets going it pays off
he fucked up the ending though;; might be better off to stop 30pages before the end
unsatisfying climax
June 4, 2022
More accurate rating: 6.5/10.
Video review: https://youtu.be/dAZsGb3mU04.
Whit was recommended to me (along with The Wasp Factory, which I'll be reading next this coming week) by my partner because he thought I would enjoy the quirky nature of the story, its take on faith and religion; and because the main character, Isis Whit, reminded him of me a little bit (he also wanted to make me try a few different Scottish authors, and Iain Banks is certainly one of them).
Now, the premise of this novel is indeed... Different, given it follows a main female character, the aforementioned Isis Whit - who is the "Elect of God" of a cult called Luskentyrianism, based in a small commune near Stirling, in Scotland -, on her quest to find her missing and believed-to-be lapsed cousin Morag. Plot complications and a sort of mystery follow, which I'll leave to the reader to discover.
It's different because the cult at the heart of this story isn't horrible or overtly creepy, like a lot of cults generally turn out to be. It shuns advanced technology (the novel takes place in the early 90s), sees God as a positive energy present in everyone and everything (so somewhat pantheistic in outlook), and as female, male and neither. Physical love is seen as something positive, but there aren't any orgies or obvious abuses of power tied to that central tenet (initially at least...). That being said, the cult does have one single male founder, and revolves around the revelations he received/receives from the Divine - and Isis Whit is his grand-daughter. As one might guess from the title alone, the Whit family, and its secrets, is what fuels the twists and turns of the novel's plot.
The quirkiness also derives from the relatively benign and hippy-dippy nature of the cult, and from some of its peculiarities: people born on the 29th of February are considered special, for example. The Founder was born on such a date, no surprise there, and that is also why Isis is the "Elect of God" - both are "Leapyearians". 😆 The Founder married two sisters whose family originally came from the Indian sub-continent, and as a result the cuisine of the Luskentyrian commune mixes flavours from the Indian and Scottish culinary repertoires. The commune also has a weird morse-code system that allows them to use the phone in a way that doesn't violate their prohibitions against modern technology. Members have multiple names that assemble various deities and religious figures, and so on and so forth...
I'll admit all of those elements made for an amusing read. Some readers found this book extremely funny, and while I wouldn't go quite that far myself - I never laughed out loud or anything like that -, there were certainly moments where I smiled and appreciated the silliness, or like I said quirkiness, of it all.
This was also strongly tied into the main (and unique POV) character of Isis Whit, an intelligent, generous and surprisingly resourceful nineteen year-old who doesn't let her status as "Elect of God" get to her head. However, she is very naïve when it comes to the modern world - due to her sheltered upbringing -, yet very well-read. Arguably better-read, in fact, than the average "Unsaved" or "Bland". Thus a lot of the humour, such as it was, came from the interactions she had on her journey through the novel. And from the pretty matter-of-fact way she talked about her religion and religious duties, however strange they were.
Indeed, Isis Whit is the one telling the story, in first person, and each chapter felt relatively well-balanced between the unfolding of the narrative's events and expositional passages provided by Isis about her faith, her family, her cult's history, etc... That's where the theming comes in as well, but while I enjoyed some of Isis' reflections on religion and God, I didn't think it ever went very deeply in any particular direction - but I don't feel that was ever really meant to be the point of this book, so it's not something that left me disappointed either.
Whit was decently entertaining and decently enjoyable. It was well-written, and sufficiently original with its premise to make it worth my while - though I certainly wasn't blown away either. That being said, I'm curious about The Wasp Factory, and also curious about Banks' famed Culture series, a classic of science-fiction after all. I'll probably have to give Consider Phlebas a go at some point.
PS: And yes, overall, I did relate to Isis somewhat - which is no mean feat for the very character-relating-challenged reader that I am. 😅
Video review: https://youtu.be/dAZsGb3mU04.
Whit was recommended to me (along with The Wasp Factory, which I'll be reading next this coming week) by my partner because he thought I would enjoy the quirky nature of the story, its take on faith and religion; and because the main character, Isis Whit, reminded him of me a little bit (he also wanted to make me try a few different Scottish authors, and Iain Banks is certainly one of them).
Now, the premise of this novel is indeed... Different, given it follows a main female character, the aforementioned Isis Whit - who is the "Elect of God" of a cult called Luskentyrianism, based in a small commune near Stirling, in Scotland -, on her quest to find her missing and believed-to-be lapsed cousin Morag. Plot complications and a sort of mystery follow, which I'll leave to the reader to discover.
It's different because the cult at the heart of this story isn't horrible or overtly creepy, like a lot of cults generally turn out to be. It shuns advanced technology (the novel takes place in the early 90s), sees God as a positive energy present in everyone and everything (so somewhat pantheistic in outlook), and as female, male and neither. Physical love is seen as something positive, but there aren't any orgies or obvious abuses of power tied to that central tenet (initially at least...). That being said, the cult does have one single male founder, and revolves around the revelations he received/receives from the Divine - and Isis Whit is his grand-daughter. As one might guess from the title alone, the Whit family, and its secrets, is what fuels the twists and turns of the novel's plot.
The quirkiness also derives from the relatively benign and hippy-dippy nature of the cult, and from some of its peculiarities: people born on the 29th of February are considered special, for example. The Founder was born on such a date, no surprise there, and that is also why Isis is the "Elect of God" - both are "Leapyearians". 😆 The Founder married two sisters whose family originally came from the Indian sub-continent, and as a result the cuisine of the Luskentyrian commune mixes flavours from the Indian and Scottish culinary repertoires. The commune also has a weird morse-code system that allows them to use the phone in a way that doesn't violate their prohibitions against modern technology. Members have multiple names that assemble various deities and religious figures, and so on and so forth...
I'll admit all of those elements made for an amusing read. Some readers found this book extremely funny, and while I wouldn't go quite that far myself - I never laughed out loud or anything like that -, there were certainly moments where I smiled and appreciated the silliness, or like I said quirkiness, of it all.
This was also strongly tied into the main (and unique POV) character of Isis Whit, an intelligent, generous and surprisingly resourceful nineteen year-old who doesn't let her status as "Elect of God" get to her head. However, she is very naïve when it comes to the modern world - due to her sheltered upbringing -, yet very well-read. Arguably better-read, in fact, than the average "Unsaved" or "Bland". Thus a lot of the humour, such as it was, came from the interactions she had on her journey through the novel. And from the pretty matter-of-fact way she talked about her religion and religious duties, however strange they were.
Indeed, Isis Whit is the one telling the story, in first person, and each chapter felt relatively well-balanced between the unfolding of the narrative's events and expositional passages provided by Isis about her faith, her family, her cult's history, etc... That's where the theming comes in as well, but while I enjoyed some of Isis' reflections on religion and God, I didn't think it ever went very deeply in any particular direction - but I don't feel that was ever really meant to be the point of this book, so it's not something that left me disappointed either.
Whit was decently entertaining and decently enjoyable. It was well-written, and sufficiently original with its premise to make it worth my while - though I certainly wasn't blown away either. That being said, I'm curious about The Wasp Factory, and also curious about Banks' famed Culture series, a classic of science-fiction after all. I'll probably have to give Consider Phlebas a go at some point.
PS: And yes, overall, I did relate to Isis somewhat - which is no mean feat for the very character-relating-challenged reader that I am. 😅
January 13, 2021
I recently found this book while stocking up on reading material for Christmas and New Year, and I was keen to see what Banks made of an interesting subject choice - the strange beliefs and lifestyles of those on the lunatic fringe of the religious spectrum.
Isis Whit is 19, and a devoted member of the Luskentyrians, a religious community founded by her grandfather when he was a young man. The group is based on a farm near Stirling, and eschews many of the trappings of modern life, choosing simplicity, self-sufficiency, and a decidedly odd mixture of Christian, pagan and New Age beliefs. Isis is considered special because she was born on February 29th, a day considered sacred by the group because it only occurs once every four years. The group receives word that Isis' cousin Morag, a well known classical musician in London, has renounced her faith and is refusing to attend a significant forthcoming festival. Isis is sent to try and find her, and reason with her. This sets off a chain of events that will rock the group to its very foundations.
The book is written in the first person from Isis' perspective, and for the first half or so, you get to see something of how the group was formed, and what it believes (officially, at least). There's a lot of exaggeration for comic effect, which sometimes goes a bit too far, and one or two plot points seem slightly too ridiculous to be credible, but a lot of it is spot-on. In particular, Banks ruthlessly skewers the extremes of belief that some people will go to, and the bizarre and far-reaching effects it can have on the lives of followers. I've been involved in groups at the more extreme end of Christianity, and I've seen very similar things - earnest young people who take their faith absolutely deathly seriously, while catastrophically naive about the things ordinary people go through, are very well-portrayed here. Isis' clueless behaviour and determination to set herself apart from the impurities of the world are very well observed, and the writing very well-crafted.
I expected the book to be quite a slow burn, but the action ramps up a little earlier than I was expecting, and the tone of the book changes with it. Banks looks at a lot of serious issues, including personal morality, what we believe and why, our motivations, the effects of dishonesty, how we can often fool ourselves and ignore the evidence in front of us, and what can happen when we allow ourselves to be easily led. It has a lot to say about any beliefs taken to extremes, and what devastating effects they can have. As someone trying to process the after-effects of religious trauma and abuse, there was a lot I could relate to here, and it was interesting to see the agonies Isis has to deal with as her world begins to fall apart. Her struggles to make sense of it all, while trying to follow some crazy rules to the letter, resonated with me and reminded me of my own experiences.
The ending felt a little abrupt and premature, and I would have liked to see more on what happens to the community following some shocking turns of events, but I have a pretty good idea, having seen a few major religious scandals myself. It's interesting, actually, that this book was written at around the time a scandal broke at the Nine O'Clock Service, a radical group of Christians in Sheffield who were pioneers of using new techniques and music in worship. Their leader, a charismatic figure called Chris Brain, turned out to have sexually abused many in the group. Given that it was very big news at the time, I have to wonder if Banks was inspired by events like this when he wrote the book. I'll have to see if I can find the answer to that question.
Although parts were a bit too slapstick and over-the-top for my liking, having been in the crazy world of cult-like groups myself, I could really easily relate to Isis and her motivations, which massively reminded me of myself as a young person. A very thought-provoking, as well as entertaining, read, which has given me plenty to think about as I try to work out how to deal with a toxic religious legacy.
Isis Whit is 19, and a devoted member of the Luskentyrians, a religious community founded by her grandfather when he was a young man. The group is based on a farm near Stirling, and eschews many of the trappings of modern life, choosing simplicity, self-sufficiency, and a decidedly odd mixture of Christian, pagan and New Age beliefs. Isis is considered special because she was born on February 29th, a day considered sacred by the group because it only occurs once every four years. The group receives word that Isis' cousin Morag, a well known classical musician in London, has renounced her faith and is refusing to attend a significant forthcoming festival. Isis is sent to try and find her, and reason with her. This sets off a chain of events that will rock the group to its very foundations.
The book is written in the first person from Isis' perspective, and for the first half or so, you get to see something of how the group was formed, and what it believes (officially, at least). There's a lot of exaggeration for comic effect, which sometimes goes a bit too far, and one or two plot points seem slightly too ridiculous to be credible, but a lot of it is spot-on. In particular, Banks ruthlessly skewers the extremes of belief that some people will go to, and the bizarre and far-reaching effects it can have on the lives of followers. I've been involved in groups at the more extreme end of Christianity, and I've seen very similar things - earnest young people who take their faith absolutely deathly seriously, while catastrophically naive about the things ordinary people go through, are very well-portrayed here. Isis' clueless behaviour and determination to set herself apart from the impurities of the world are very well observed, and the writing very well-crafted.
I expected the book to be quite a slow burn, but the action ramps up a little earlier than I was expecting, and the tone of the book changes with it. Banks looks at a lot of serious issues, including personal morality, what we believe and why, our motivations, the effects of dishonesty, how we can often fool ourselves and ignore the evidence in front of us, and what can happen when we allow ourselves to be easily led. It has a lot to say about any beliefs taken to extremes, and what devastating effects they can have. As someone trying to process the after-effects of religious trauma and abuse, there was a lot I could relate to here, and it was interesting to see the agonies Isis has to deal with as her world begins to fall apart. Her struggles to make sense of it all, while trying to follow some crazy rules to the letter, resonated with me and reminded me of my own experiences.
The ending felt a little abrupt and premature, and I would have liked to see more on what happens to the community following some shocking turns of events, but I have a pretty good idea, having seen a few major religious scandals myself. It's interesting, actually, that this book was written at around the time a scandal broke at the Nine O'Clock Service, a radical group of Christians in Sheffield who were pioneers of using new techniques and music in worship. Their leader, a charismatic figure called Chris Brain, turned out to have sexually abused many in the group. Given that it was very big news at the time, I have to wonder if Banks was inspired by events like this when he wrote the book. I'll have to see if I can find the answer to that question.
Although parts were a bit too slapstick and over-the-top for my liking, having been in the crazy world of cult-like groups myself, I could really easily relate to Isis and her motivations, which massively reminded me of myself as a young person. A very thought-provoking, as well as entertaining, read, which has given me plenty to think about as I try to work out how to deal with a toxic religious legacy.
February 8, 2024
Very slow to start, half a book of nothing really developing, and then an underwhelming payoff without much in the way of emotional investment. Shame, because I’ve enjoyed the other Banks books I’ve read, but this just wasn’t my sort of story (and I think I knew this from the start).
The character development is arguably the most interesting bit, and the premise of a cult is always something I will be curious about, but this book doesn’t really maximise the potential for a story there.
The character development is arguably the most interesting bit, and the premise of a cult is always something I will be curious about, but this book doesn’t really maximise the potential for a story there.
August 16, 2024
Funny and beautifully written satire of religion and cults, and the behaviour they inspire.
January 8, 2023
I've owned this book for ages, and finally got around reading it – I have a tendency to read English paperbacks when I'm traveling abroad, and very rarely otherwise; this book accompanied me to Amsterdam.
It's all about Isis, a Scottish teenager, who is a member of a weird religious cult. Not just a member, though – Isis is actually their Elect of God. She is tasked with a duty to journey to London to find an apostate cousin and to bring her back to the faith.
It's not an easy task, and while working at it, she ends up disturbing several well-kept secrets within the cult and the family behind it.
It was quite funny, warm and entertaining. As expected, the novel pokes at religion, but does it in a fairly polite and considerate way.
--
Isis Whit on teini 1990-luvun Skotlannissa. Aivan tavallisesta teinistä ei ole kyse – Isis kuuluu luskentyrialaisiin, omaperäiseen uskonnolliseen kulttiin, ja on itse asiassa kultin Jumalan Valittu, kolmannen polven karkauspäiväläinen.
Niinpä Isis saa kunniakseen lähteä Lontooseen jahtaamaan serkkuaan Moragia, maailmankuulua barytontaiteilijaa, jonka pitäisi olla kunniavieraana neljän vuoden välein toistuvilla Rakkauden juhlilla, jotka ovat kultin tärkein juhla. Morag vain vaikuttaa olevan kadottanut yhteyden Jumalaan, joten Isiksen on mentävä suoraan pahuuden pesään hakemaan Morag takaisin kultin siipien suojiin.
Koskapa mikään niin yksinkertaista olisi. Isis pärjää kyllä hienosti vääräuskoisten parissa, vaikka onkin vähän ingénue-hahmo, mitä populaarikulttuurin ja muodin uusimpiin virtauksiin tulee, mutta muuten Isis on kova luu ja pärjää tiukemmassakin paikassa.
Tiukkoja paikkoja tulee, eikä vain Lontoon pyörityksessä: myös omien parissa on petollisuutta ja kun Isis palaa retkeltään, tilanne kultin keskuudessa on kuumentunut ikävästi ja Isiksen maine vaarassa.
Isiksen seikkailujen ohessa kerrataan sitten kultin syntyvaiheita. Kultin perusti Isiksen isoisä, jonka elämäntarina on vähintäänkin mielenkiintoinen. Iain Banksin huumorintaju on aivan totutun terävää ja uskontoja ja kultteja käsitellään kirjassa napakasti, mutta ilman turhaa ilkeilyä. (14.7.2017)
It's all about Isis, a Scottish teenager, who is a member of a weird religious cult. Not just a member, though – Isis is actually their Elect of God. She is tasked with a duty to journey to London to find an apostate cousin and to bring her back to the faith.
It's not an easy task, and while working at it, she ends up disturbing several well-kept secrets within the cult and the family behind it.
It was quite funny, warm and entertaining. As expected, the novel pokes at religion, but does it in a fairly polite and considerate way.
--
Isis Whit on teini 1990-luvun Skotlannissa. Aivan tavallisesta teinistä ei ole kyse – Isis kuuluu luskentyrialaisiin, omaperäiseen uskonnolliseen kulttiin, ja on itse asiassa kultin Jumalan Valittu, kolmannen polven karkauspäiväläinen.
Niinpä Isis saa kunniakseen lähteä Lontooseen jahtaamaan serkkuaan Moragia, maailmankuulua barytontaiteilijaa, jonka pitäisi olla kunniavieraana neljän vuoden välein toistuvilla Rakkauden juhlilla, jotka ovat kultin tärkein juhla. Morag vain vaikuttaa olevan kadottanut yhteyden Jumalaan, joten Isiksen on mentävä suoraan pahuuden pesään hakemaan Morag takaisin kultin siipien suojiin.
Koskapa mikään niin yksinkertaista olisi. Isis pärjää kyllä hienosti vääräuskoisten parissa, vaikka onkin vähän ingénue-hahmo, mitä populaarikulttuurin ja muodin uusimpiin virtauksiin tulee, mutta muuten Isis on kova luu ja pärjää tiukemmassakin paikassa.
Tiukkoja paikkoja tulee, eikä vain Lontoon pyörityksessä: myös omien parissa on petollisuutta ja kun Isis palaa retkeltään, tilanne kultin keskuudessa on kuumentunut ikävästi ja Isiksen maine vaarassa.
Isiksen seikkailujen ohessa kerrataan sitten kultin syntyvaiheita. Kultin perusti Isiksen isoisä, jonka elämäntarina on vähintäänkin mielenkiintoinen. Iain Banksin huumorintaju on aivan totutun terävää ja uskontoja ja kultteja käsitellään kirjassa napakasti, mutta ilman turhaa ilkeilyä. (14.7.2017)
July 31, 2014
I have read all of Iain Banks novels and I read Whit first of all when it was first published in 1986. I re-read it over the weekend to write this review.
Whit is a very whimsical story, and is a great escape. It is set in the lowlands of Scotland, this time close to Sterling where in an old mansion house, a christian sect led by Salvador Whit live out a peaceful communal idyll.
The story is about Isis Whit who is Salvador's granddaughter, who is set a mission to track down her cousin Morag who left the community a few years before to pursue a career in London as a concert musician. I don't want to say much about the story, but just to say it starts as a road movie with Isis trying to make her way to London without using any conventional means of transport and in compliance with the arcane rules of her cult's faith.
The second half becomes a bit scary as the cult turns against Isis, ultimately the mystery of Morag is resolved and the story works its way to a satisfactory ending.
This is a laugh-out-loud, feel-good book. It includes surprise revelations, wacky millionaire aunts and some truly amazing mixed influence cooking: bridie samosa, channa neeps, black pudding bhaji and saag crowdie paneer.
Recommended.
Whit is a very whimsical story, and is a great escape. It is set in the lowlands of Scotland, this time close to Sterling where in an old mansion house, a christian sect led by Salvador Whit live out a peaceful communal idyll.
The story is about Isis Whit who is Salvador's granddaughter, who is set a mission to track down her cousin Morag who left the community a few years before to pursue a career in London as a concert musician. I don't want to say much about the story, but just to say it starts as a road movie with Isis trying to make her way to London without using any conventional means of transport and in compliance with the arcane rules of her cult's faith.
The second half becomes a bit scary as the cult turns against Isis, ultimately the mystery of Morag is resolved and the story works its way to a satisfactory ending.
This is a laugh-out-loud, feel-good book. It includes surprise revelations, wacky millionaire aunts and some truly amazing mixed influence cooking: bridie samosa, channa neeps, black pudding bhaji and saag crowdie paneer.
Recommended.
April 28, 2017
the best way to describe Whit is to create a new genre of books, the cult fairy tale. the lead character, a young woman of high morals and intelligence sets out on a quest to lead her sister back to the fold for a major cult celebration, known for its open sexuality. However our heroine is tested during the quest and challenged by political machinations, buried family secrets, even family betrayals.It is the outcome of these twists and turns that suggest the fairy tale. Throughout Banks writes with a very dry wit and ocassionally pokes fun as the expense of his sheltered characters.
August 5, 2015
Rubbish!
July 23, 2017
Iain Banks does Breaking Amish...
Isis Whit, or The Blessed Very Reverend Gaia-Marie Isis Saraswati Minerva Mirza Whit of Luskentyre, Beloved Elect of God III, to give her her full name, is a happy, devoted and revered member of the Luskentyrian faith (an entirely made up religious cult in a remote-ish part of Scotland). Isis, as the Granddaughter of their Great Founder and a third generation Leapyearian (born on February 29th) is beloved and respected by the entire Community. So much so, that who other than her would be chosen to embark upon a gravely important and potentially hazardous mission - to travel to London and seek out her cousin Morag, who has been residing there to seemingly pursue her career as a solo barytone player, but who has recently written a letter which denounces her Luskentyrian faith and informs them that she will not be attending the 4 yearly Festival of Love (religious orgy), much to the shock and dismay of the whole Community.
Isis is quickly thrown into the world of the Unsaved, the Heathens, the Wretched, whose ways she inevitably finds strange and perturbing. Similar to the aforementioned sect of Christianity, Luskentyrians embrace a life of simplicity - plain dress, manual labour and an element of discomfort (Sitting Boards...) and shun most modern technology, all forms of media and the exchange of currency. Shenanigans obviously ensue.
'Whit' is not a poor novel. Far from it. It is immensely readable due in most part to very competent pacing. The plot is engaging and though funny in parts (Isis' view of the "outside" world is predictably amusing from her innocent and sheltered viewpoint), there were no 'laugh out loud' moments for me. Having said that, the writing is of the high standard that I expect from Banks.
Just not 4 or 5 stars because it left me feeling a bit flat. The ending was anti-climatic, if not downright disappointing, and I felt that the novel had no grand point to make, despite the somewhat controversial subject matter. Aside from a couple of references to WACO and allusions to the corruption of men in power, I missed any comment on religious groups of this type and their impact on the individuals involved. But then again, perhaps a social commentary was not the intention. If Banks' wish was to write an engaging novel with good characters, then job done. Good book, but definitely not a favourite of mine. I think I also prefer it when he goes full weirdo with his books, a la The Wasp Factory and Transition.
Isis Whit, or The Blessed Very Reverend Gaia-Marie Isis Saraswati Minerva Mirza Whit of Luskentyre, Beloved Elect of God III, to give her her full name, is a happy, devoted and revered member of the Luskentyrian faith (an entirely made up religious cult in a remote-ish part of Scotland). Isis, as the Granddaughter of their Great Founder and a third generation Leapyearian (born on February 29th) is beloved and respected by the entire Community. So much so, that who other than her would be chosen to embark upon a gravely important and potentially hazardous mission - to travel to London and seek out her cousin Morag, who has been residing there to seemingly pursue her career as a solo barytone player, but who has recently written a letter which denounces her Luskentyrian faith and informs them that she will not be attending the 4 yearly Festival of Love (religious orgy), much to the shock and dismay of the whole Community.
Isis is quickly thrown into the world of the Unsaved, the Heathens, the Wretched, whose ways she inevitably finds strange and perturbing. Similar to the aforementioned sect of Christianity, Luskentyrians embrace a life of simplicity - plain dress, manual labour and an element of discomfort (Sitting Boards...) and shun most modern technology, all forms of media and the exchange of currency. Shenanigans obviously ensue.
'Whit' is not a poor novel. Far from it. It is immensely readable due in most part to very competent pacing. The plot is engaging and though funny in parts (Isis' view of the "outside" world is predictably amusing from her innocent and sheltered viewpoint), there were no 'laugh out loud' moments for me. Having said that, the writing is of the high standard that I expect from Banks.
Just not 4 or 5 stars because it left me feeling a bit flat. The ending was anti-climatic, if not downright disappointing, and I felt that the novel had no grand point to make, despite the somewhat controversial subject matter. Aside from a couple of references to WACO and allusions to the corruption of men in power, I missed any comment on religious groups of this type and their impact on the individuals involved. But then again, perhaps a social commentary was not the intention. If Banks' wish was to write an engaging novel with good characters, then job done. Good book, but definitely not a favourite of mine. I think I also prefer it when he goes full weirdo with his books, a la The Wasp Factory and Transition.
March 23, 2025
Isis ist sehr behütet aufgewachsen. Sie ist Mitglied der Luskentyrianer, einer Sekte die ohne technische Hilfsmittel lebt. Der Gründer ist Isis' Großvater und Isis ist seine Nachfolgerin, weil sie an einem 29. Februar geboren ist. Alle vier Jahre gibt es bei den Luskentyrianern ein großes "Fest der Liebe", bei der auch die Mitglieder kommen die außerhalb der Sekte leben. Besonders die Anwesenheit von Isis' Cousine Morag ist etwas Besonderes. Morag ist Musikerin und diejenige, die es in der Welt der Ungläubigen am Weitesten gebracht hat. Aber in diesem Jahr will sie nicht kommen und so muss sich Isis auf den langen Weg nach London machen, um ihre Cousine umzustimmen.
Es hat schon etwas, wenn eine völlig weltfremde junge Frau sich in einem Kanu von Stirling nach Edinburgh aufmacht. Isis ist von einer altmodischen Höflichkeit, deren Wirkung sich keine entziehen kann. Ob es ein unhöflicher Busschaffner ist oder ihr Cousin, der ihr bei ihrer Ankunft die Füße waschen darf- sie setzt sich immer sehr charmant durch.
Aber vielleicht ist Isis gar nicht so weltfremd, wie sie sich gerne darstellt. Sie mag durchaus Cds und Lampen, die sie mit kindlicher Freude stundenlang ein- und wieder ausschalten kann. Außerdem ist sie einem kleinen Schluck Alkohol und "Kräuterzigaretten" nicht abgeneigt. Und einem lästigen Kerl einfach Chilipulver ins Gesicht zu streuen, das hat schon was. Aber bei anderen Dingen ist sie herrlich unschuldig. Sie kommt lange nicht dahinter, was ihre Cousine Morag wirklich macht und widersteht allen Versuchen ihres Cousins, sie diskret darauf hinzuweisen.
Auch die Intrigen in ihrer Sekte bemerkt sie lange nicht. Aber als sie sie entdeckt, ist es wie mit allem: sie geht unbeirrt ihren Weg und sorgt dafür, dass die nächste Führerin der Luskentyrianer ihren ganz eigenen Weg einschlägt.
Iain Banks konnte bei mir noch nie viel falsch machen. Aber gerade dieses Buch mit seiner nicht ganz so unschuldigen Heldin ist mein besonderer Liebling.
Es hat schon etwas, wenn eine völlig weltfremde junge Frau sich in einem Kanu von Stirling nach Edinburgh aufmacht. Isis ist von einer altmodischen Höflichkeit, deren Wirkung sich keine entziehen kann. Ob es ein unhöflicher Busschaffner ist oder ihr Cousin, der ihr bei ihrer Ankunft die Füße waschen darf- sie setzt sich immer sehr charmant durch.
Aber vielleicht ist Isis gar nicht so weltfremd, wie sie sich gerne darstellt. Sie mag durchaus Cds und Lampen, die sie mit kindlicher Freude stundenlang ein- und wieder ausschalten kann. Außerdem ist sie einem kleinen Schluck Alkohol und "Kräuterzigaretten" nicht abgeneigt. Und einem lästigen Kerl einfach Chilipulver ins Gesicht zu streuen, das hat schon was. Aber bei anderen Dingen ist sie herrlich unschuldig. Sie kommt lange nicht dahinter, was ihre Cousine Morag wirklich macht und widersteht allen Versuchen ihres Cousins, sie diskret darauf hinzuweisen.
Auch die Intrigen in ihrer Sekte bemerkt sie lange nicht. Aber als sie sie entdeckt, ist es wie mit allem: sie geht unbeirrt ihren Weg und sorgt dafür, dass die nächste Führerin der Luskentyrianer ihren ganz eigenen Weg einschlägt.
Iain Banks konnte bei mir noch nie viel falsch machen. Aber gerade dieses Buch mit seiner nicht ganz so unschuldigen Heldin ist mein besonderer Liebling.
January 26, 2025
Started off badly! We read a previous Iain Banks novel before in our Book Club (the wasp factory) which I really didn’t enjoy. So I was on the back foot from the beginning. Hundred pages in and I was ready to give up scored it a 1 and then I gave myself a good talking to. I’m not a quitter so I persevered and my score has ended with a 4 1/2 although a four on here!!
The story follows a fictional religious cult set in Scotland called the Lyskrntyrian sect.
Isis Whit, a 19-year-old, wise before her time is the Elect of God. She was born on February 29 making her a Leapyearian and Heir apparent. The cult/sect is ruled by Salvador, Isis‘s grandfather.
Every four years they have a festival and Isis‘s cousin Morag a baritone soloist has become apostate (basically left the commune) so Isis is sent to bring her back. This is when the story starts, imagine a 19 year-old trying to travel from Scotland all the way to London with no money apart from £29 no phone (they’re not allowed phones or TVs). Without giving any spoilers what follows is her journey to London, her encounter with her glorious grandmother Yolanda (not Salvador‘s wife) who is living a very different life in numerous cities across the world. Her meeting up with numerous family members and eventually Morag. This is a journey of self discovery and strength and she absolutely has ‘a story to tell you’!!. Bear with the book and the last 200 pages will come alive.
The story follows a fictional religious cult set in Scotland called the Lyskrntyrian sect.
Isis Whit, a 19-year-old, wise before her time is the Elect of God. She was born on February 29 making her a Leapyearian and Heir apparent. The cult/sect is ruled by Salvador, Isis‘s grandfather.
Every four years they have a festival and Isis‘s cousin Morag a baritone soloist has become apostate (basically left the commune) so Isis is sent to bring her back. This is when the story starts, imagine a 19 year-old trying to travel from Scotland all the way to London with no money apart from £29 no phone (they’re not allowed phones or TVs). Without giving any spoilers what follows is her journey to London, her encounter with her glorious grandmother Yolanda (not Salvador‘s wife) who is living a very different life in numerous cities across the world. Her meeting up with numerous family members and eventually Morag. This is a journey of self discovery and strength and she absolutely has ‘a story to tell you’!!. Bear with the book and the last 200 pages will come alive.
January 21, 2025
there is someone in this book who needs to be in jail
otherwise lots of great glasgow mentions (glasgow central station, etc)
otherwise lots of great glasgow mentions (glasgow central station, etc)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 273 reviews