Walking On Glass

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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. This novel is presented in three separate threads with three main characters, Graham, Stephen and Quiss. Graham meets Sara at a London party and is smitten. Stephen, also in London, has lost his job due to his mental health issues. Quiss exists in a castle-like prison in an alternate universe with a female companion, desperately trying to work out the solution to the puzzle that will grant their freedom.

Podemos observar, entonces, que si bien en el caso de Graham su historia es bastante situacional, es decir, basada en acciones y situaciones concretas; la de Grout se vuelve extremadamente personal, basada en sus percepciones, sensaciones, y en una interacción limitada con distintos entes sociales. I don't think it was incomprehensible, I just think that at this point Banks was not quite as adept at playing with structure as he has since become. Still, I have not yet read a Banks book that I didn't really really like, and this is not an exception. Cabe señalar, que mientras la historia de Graham y Grout se desarrollan en el Londres “actual”, la de Quiss y Ajayi no tiene una locación identificada hasta el final de la novela, así que, se llega a pensar que bien podrían vivir en otro planeta, estrella, asteroide o galaxia. Por lo antes mencionado, todos los capítulos del hilo de Quiss y Ajayi llevan el nombre de un juego : ajedrez unidimensional, estratego abierto, dominó sin puntos, etc. Having been thoroughly engrossed by Iain Banks' celebrated science fiction novels, I embarked on my third foray into his mainstream works, choosing Walking on Glass. Once again, Banks did not disappoint.His latest book was a science fiction (SF) novel in the Culture series, called The Hydrogen Sonata, published in 2012.

Each part of Walking on Glass, apart from the last, is divided into three sections, which appear at first sight to be independent stories. Two of the stories are set in and around Islington in North London; the other is set in the far distant future. Glasswalking is for those who really dare to take on a challenge, so is great for charities raising money, but is also good for corporate and schools, for focus and goal training. 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.As I was reading I knew what it was like to be each of the characters. To be in love, to understand what it would be like to believe there are tormentors out to get you, or to be frustrated with trying to learn a game just so you can try to solve an impossible riddle.