Iain Banks / Iain M. Banks fans discussion

Discuss Canal Dreams here.

I recently reread this book having got stuck about halfway through about ten years ago. I found all the Japanese-isms easier to relate to now that I live in Japan. I was also impressed with the depth of his research.

I live in Japan, too, Chris, as you know, but I didn't recall that CD was Japan-flavored. I'll have to reread it myself! I remember being less than impressed by it the first time, as I was still vainly hoping for Iain Banks novels to be more like Iain M. Banks novels, and being disappointed with them because they weren't. Now I appreciate the Banks novels on their own terms, although I still prefer M.

Hi Felicity, whereabouts do you live? I'm in Nagano, middle of the Japan Alps. Very pretty up here, but still crazy hot in the summer.

Yeah, although the story was set in Panama the central character of Canal Dreams was Japanese, and there were a lot of flashbacks to her life in Japan. I tried to read it about 15 years ago and just couldn't get into it, but I re-read it about a month ago and found it a lot easier. It was still only okay, but I could identify with the Japaneseisms a lot more. His research was pretty solid, I'll give him that. I think the only thing I wasn't sure about was the radiators in Japanese schools - never seen one! However, the character is from Sapporo so maybe its different up there. I guess he could have been referring to those horrible kerosene stove heaters we use in the winter. You really don't want to touch those.

I'm in Tokyo. A friend recently went to Nagano for the weekend; I said, "Oh, it'll be nice and cool up in the mountains," and she laughed at me.

The thought of Banks doing research is novel. For most of his stuff, he wouldn't seem to need to, as it all comes out of his head, or else is drawn from a vast cultural sump of Scottishness. But I remember being impressed by the verisimilitude of the radio show in Dead Air, which grounded the rest of the story. It goes to show, I suppose, that when you write weird stuff, the most important thing is getting the mundane details right!

For some reason I don't like this book very much. I don't have any complaints, it just "didn't click". OTOH, many people can't stand one of my favs, A Song of Stone...