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    Stonemouth: A Novel
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    Stonemouth: A Novel
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    Stonemouth: A Novel
    Ebook414 pages7 hours

    Stonemouth: A Novel

    By Iain Banks

    4/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this ebook

    A desperate young man becomes entangled with a Scottish crime family in this “brilliant, irresistible” novel from the author of The Wasp Factory (The New York Times).

    Stewart Gilmour is back in Stonemouth, Scotland. An estuary town north of Aberdeen, Stonemouth has a beach that can be beautiful on a sunny day. But on a bleak day, Stonemouth seems to have nothing to offer but fog, cheap drugs, and gangsters—and a suspension bridge that promises a permanent way out.
     
    Stewart got out five years ago. He didn’t jump, he just ran—escaping the Murstons, a local family of mobsters. But now their patriarch has died, and in an uneasy truce, Stewart has returned home for the funeral. His long exile has also kept him away from Ellie Murston, and if he knows what’s good for him, he’ll avoid a reunion—and the topic of his old classmate Callum Murston’s untimely death.
     
    But once he’s back, Stewart steps squarely into the minefield of his past, and as he wrestles with feelings of guilt and loss, he makes some dark discoveries and his homecoming takes a lethal turn. A quick drop into the cold, gray Stoun is starting to look like an option worth considering.
     
    The basis for a BBC series, Stonemouth is a darkly witty, “beguiling” tale of warring clans, broken hearts, brotherhood, and the long, hard process of growing up—if you can stay alive long enough to try (The Guardian).
     
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPegasus Books
    Release dateOct 9, 2012
    ISBN9781453271506
    Unavailable
    Stonemouth: A Novel

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    Reviews for Stonemouth

    4/5

    185 ratings21 reviews

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    • 4/5
      Nostalgia and Privilege are linked and perhaps inverted in this strange tale which avoids the grisly but doesn't provoke constant laughter. Banks may simply be referring to small town Scotland. He may also be speaking of the EU. There was considerable space where history is to forgiven for mutual advantage. That may be my dizzy head .


      The hero of the narrative is caught with his pants down and must return home five years after the fact. There is a Crow Road analysis under way. It isn't concluded.

      Karen's comment about cultural references was also sage. I'm sure I'm able to read anything into that. Alas this was a 3.25 experience.
    • 3/5
      I didn't quite get the point or purpose of this book, although it was fine enough. The whole small-town drug lord setup didn't quite feel realistic, though what do I know - perhaps it really is like that. Maybe the descriptions of the town (or Toun) are most poignant for someone who grew up in a place like it. The amount of dialogue (and inner monologue) also bothered me a bit as it didn't always ring true as a 25-year-old's speech but rather an older man trying hard for some street cred. All in all, and especially at the end, it all felt a bit facile to me. Of course now my feelings about the book are also coloured by Banks's announcement of his terminal illness a little while ago.
    • 4/5
      Just a placeholder for now.

      Very nostalgic and romantic for Banks. Set against a back-drop of not quite civilized gang thuggery in NE Scotland, this is very much a book about boy meets girl, and family and friends.
    • 4/5
      Not absolutely at his best and maybe less challenging than some of his works, this stills shows Banks's ability to draw fascinating characters with depth, and to paint a strong picture of the world within which they live without drowning the book with superfluous description. A good solid Banks without it making it onto "will definitely read again" list.
    • 4/5


      Some of this book is classic Banks: highly charged situation, dysfunctional main characters and an unnerving start, but it doesn't quite have the same twist that a lot of his other fiction has.
      That said, it is written very well, and makes for a compelling read. Can only give it four stars though.
    • 4/5
      It's a bit Iain Banks by the numbers, but it also has a lot of what made Banks such a great author in it: believably flawed characters, an adventure blown up a little past plausibility, loving descriptions of a place.
    • 4/5
      While there are familiar elements to the story, it being set in small town Scotland, it is a new tale from Ian Banks. The story is told in a first person point of view style, and on a first reading at least, realistically leaves some loose ends where the protagonist cannot be sure of who did what and why.

      Taking place over a long weekend the story unfolds with a mixture of narrative and flashbacks to explain the background relationships and the reasons why Stewart Gilmour ended up an exile from his home town. There is a believable cast of characters, they all seem real and with complex motivations, even the low-key gangster types. The underlying plot is one of relationships and how they interplay over time. It also covers some of the issues of the Scottish diaspora well, how it feels to return to your hometown and meet your school friends who have stayed. I could empathise well with those thoughts.

      Overall definitely worth reading, the story got me hooked after about 50 pages or so and I took an extended lunch and then stayed up late to keep on reading it. I think it will probably stand up well to a second reading to check on some of the clues uncovered later in the book. I also reckon it would make a very good TV drama, with lots of interpersonal interplay.
    • 5/5
      Once more, we are in Iain Banks' Scotland, with a family reunion leading to an exploration of dark secrets. But unlike 'The Crow Road' or 'The Steep Approach to Garbadale', this time the gloves are off and the knives are out - which as far as the protagonist Stewart Gilmour is concerned, is very much the problem. Five years before, he was run out of town after an indiscretion outraged the family of his soon-to-be-wife. Unfortunately for Stewart, that family is one of the two who run things in his home town, on the north-east coast of Scotland. And when matters don't meet with their approval, things can get broken. Only fingers, if you're lucky.Now Stewart has come back for the funeral of the family patriarch. Old wounds may get reopened. New wounds may be inflicted. The problem for Stewart is how to emerge from the weekend of the funeral alive.Unlike many other Iain Banks novels, this one is comparatively light on humour. The setting is described vividly; small-town Scotland has rarely been so well depicted. Banks grew up on the Scottish east coast but it rarely features in his novels. As we have come to expect, much of the story is told in flashback, following Stewart from his schooldays in the mid-1980s growing up alongside the powerful families of the town to the action of the novel at age 25.The character painting is quite rich; Stewart's contemporaries in the town of Stonemouth are a realistic bunch, down to the cameo appearances; we mostly see Stewart, his best mate Fergus, and the Murston family who the story centres around; Joe the patriarch, his son Don and his four sons (the muscle behind the family firm) and his two daughters, Grier and Ellie, the wronged party in the family scandal. For a character of such importance, we see little of Ellie until the last third of the novel (and with good reason; Stewart has been given clear warnings about what might happen to him were he to think about trying to get too close to Ellie over the weekend.) But once Ellie takes her own decisions about that, she becomes a major character despite what her family think she ought to do. That Ellie takes control of the situation only makes matters worse.Stewart has spent his five years' exile from home building a career; Banks shows us very clearly how it feels to go back to a previous life after making a new life somewhere else. 'Stonemouth' is probably one of the most realistic of Ian Banks' novels.
    • 4/5
      This is one of the best Iain Banks novels I've read. It's on a par with The Crow Road for plot and character realisation. Banks is very good at creating flawed but likeable characters. As with many of Banks' leading men, Stewart is a bit of an idiot, but not an annoying idiot. He's just human. The rest of the cast of characters could easily have been ciphers but Banks imbues them with enough humanity to make them matter as people as well as tools to move the plot along. The story itself is funny and sad and tragic and scary, set in a remote Scottish town run by rival criminal families who maintain a veneer of civility while using murder and violence as a means to control the population when their power is threatened. Stewart has had to leave town for a stupid mistake that offended one of the families and is now returning 5 years later for a funeral. He has to negotiate the politics of the town as though he's in a mediaeval court. As the book progresses, we find out what it is that Stewart did, and who else was involved. It's an ancient story that could have been a Greek tragedy or a play by Shakespeare but instead spans the first two decades of this century.
    • 4/5
      Stonemouth by Iain Banks is set in a small town in Scotland as Stewart Gilmour returns to attend a funeral. He has had to ask for special dispensation from the local crime boss to come home as 5 years ago he did something that changed the course of his life and caused the crime family to lose face. Although the father allows him to come, his sons are not quite so happy to see him.This was a simple, darkly brooding story as Stewart comes back to face his past. The author delivers his story in a slightly acerbic style with an overabundance of profanity that at times was a little jarring but every so often there would be sections that were haunting and foreboding yet so beautifully written that I was totally drawn into this story. Each character was well drawn and complete. They each had their own motives for acting as they did although the author often took his time about revealing this. Through most of the book we learn about Ellie, Stewart’s lost love, through the words of other people but I found when she finally appeared she was well able to dominate the page. A coming-of-age story, a crime thriller and a slightly strange romance story, Stonemouth was an interesting, atmospheric read delivered by an author who appears to be equally talented at portraying nostalgia and violence. I had previously read his novel The Wasp Factory so I was a little surprised that there wasn’t some shocking twist in Stonemouth, but the author played it straight and simply kept to his story of past and present relationships.
    • 4/5
      This book should be filed on my shelves with the other romantic thrillers that I love so much (Joan Aiken The Butterfly Picnic and a few more, Mary Stewart Touch Not the Cat and a few more). It's as if Iain Banks heard my pleading for more books like this - and just tossed one off - just for me. It obviously doesn't matter that the 'I' (or eye) of the story is a young man - I get the same delicious satisfaction as the story folds and unfolds.
    • 4/5
      From Ian Banks non Sci-Fi collection.Gritty drama played out in a small insular Scottish town, Stonemouth. Stewart has come back to Stonemouth after five years away. The reason for his absence and the reason behind the local's reaction to his return are slowly divulged over the weekend. Through the use of flashbacks and Stewart's introspective thoughts of the events before his departure we gradually drawn to the dramatic conclusion of the book. Highly recommended.
    • 4/5
      Stewart Gilmour is back in Stonemouth after five years in exile after having insulted the daughter of the local druglord/mafiaboss and, thus, her entire Family. The brilliance of this story lies in how the past is revealed - it reads almost like a mystery in that all the characters know what has happened, but the reader only finds out as Stewart goes along and meets people and recalls events. There'll be some interesting back-story with pretty much every character Stewart encounters on his few days back home.I did sometimes feel like I wanted Banks to just get on with it and that there were a few too many flashbacks, but once I realized how much each little sidestory was filling in the background, I started really enjoying myself. There are some severe characters in Stonemouth, borderline caricatures, but that's also part of Stewart's story - the more dangerous he feels they are, the more frightening do they become in his narrative, to the point of sometimes ludicrous exaggeration. On the other hand, the relationships between Stewart and his friends and especially his relationship with Elle is described in such real terms that it's completely convincing and I was very happy that the ending had the same trepidations I would have had as it made it all feel very real.The audioversion is slightly let down by the narrator's sometimes iffy take on a Scottish accent - most of the time it's the standard one taught to English actors, but there were moments when I was completely taken out of the narrative due to some odd pronunciations. If I go for a reread, it'll be the printed version.
    • 5/5
      A love story. Delightful. Hardly even gruesome.
    • 5/5
      This captured small town Scotland perfectly and with great humour. It really entertained me.
    • 5/5
      Stewart Gilmour. twenty-five, is returning to his hometown five years after being literally chased out by the Murstons, one of the local crime families. He is, in fact, returning to attend the funeral of Joe Murston, the old head of the family which is the only reason he is being allowed to return and, then, only for the weekend.Stewart uses this time to reunite with old friends and avoid, although mostly unsuccessfully, old enemies. He also spends much of his time reminiscing about the past and indulging in 'what-ifs' especially about Ellie Murston, the girl he loved and lost and the reason for his exile.Stonemouth gives a very violent and fascinating depiction of small-town Scotland, one immersed in drugs and drink and run by crime lords. Despite references to video games and iphones, the town seems largely untouched by the outside world. In the five years that Stewart has been away, very little has changed - the poker games continue in the same place, the watering holes are all populated by the same people, and the conversations seem to take up exactly where they left off when Stewart was so unceremoniously sent packing.The only real change seems to be in Stewart himself. He has matured and is now able to recognize and accept his own role in past and present actions. In possibly the best depiction of maturity ever given in literature, Stewart says, "we all sort of secretly think our lives are like these very long movies with ourselves as the principal characters obviously. Only very occasionally does it occur to any one of us that all these supporting actors, cameo turns, bit players and extras around us might actually be in some sense real, just as real as we are and that each one of them thinks that the Big Movie is really all about them".At its most basic, Stonemouth is a book about sin, guilt, and redemption, about maturing enough to overcome 'that core of childish greed within us'. The ending of Stonemouth could easily have descended into melodrama or, worse, falsity. However, it is Bank's ability to depict change within stasis which allows it to rise above and makes Stonemouth ultimately a very satisfying read.
    • 4/5
      Some insights on infidelity. Interesting. Pleasant narrative but faded in parts.
    • 4/5
      I enjoyed this; it was Banks back on form. A very engaging story with pervading undercurrents of menace, guilt and possible redemption. the central character had me totally drawn in: I cared what happened to him. The descriptions of the place and events were very evocative.
    • 5/5
      A return to form from Iain Banks with what is probably his finest novel since "The Crow Road".Indeed, this book ploughs a similar furrow to "The Crow Road", featuring the return to his small town roots of a Scots exile who has now found refuge and a career down in London. Here the principal protagonist is Stewart Gilmour who is returning. As the novel opens Gilmour is waiting to meet the main enforcer for one of two gangs that, between them, effectively run the small town of Stonemouth (a fictional town which we infer is not far up the coast from Aberdeen), to check that he will have safe passage for the weekend.As the novel progresses we gradually find out more - Gilmour, now in his mid twenties, has not been back for five years, and had only just managed to escape with his life.More and more details emerge and it becomes clear that the network of relationships and affiliations within the town are complicated, and often counter-intuitive.The plot goes through several sinuous turns, but never loses the reader's avid attention, and while Gilmour is far from perfect, and clearly not blameless, he is an engaging character who readily wins the reader's sympathy. I found that I couldn't put this book down, and now feel slightly bereft that I have finished it!
    • 4/5
      Stonemouth by Iain Banks (2012 Little, Brown, 356pp)I enjoyed Stonemouth for many reasons. To begin with, while the location in the book was made up it came across as very real, as did the characters. In addition, as someone who moved away from my hometown I could relate to Stewart (Stu) Gilmore’s feelings about returning home. (Not that I was run out of my hometown by gangsters.) Iain Banks caught the sense of returning home and finding oneself in familiar surroundings where things appear to have never changed, time never to have moved on, and yet you feel different.I liked the way facts about Stu’s life in Stonemouth were revealed and Iain’s treatment of Stu’s interaction with old friends and companions wrung true. His treatment of Stu’s conflicting thoughts and internal reasoning about how his former girlfriend would react to him felt realistic.The first half of the novel moved relatively slowly and I did wonder if I would have read it had it not been an Iain Banks novel. However, about halfway through it picked up the pace and I found myself not wanting to put it down. In fact, I had to force myself to put the book down at 1am on a midweek night so that I could get some sleep. (I only had twenty pages left at the time and so I finished it in Starbucks the following morning before going into work.)Iain Banks always likes to take a shot at the establishment. The scene at the golf course presents him with this opportunity and his description of the gathering reminded me of all the recent coverage in the UK press about the “Chipping Norton Set” and the environment of collusion between politicians, agents of law and order, and those with a predilection for pursuits beyond those considered strictly legal, but all for the “better good”, of course. This scene could also be taken as a “hats off” salute to the film, “Hot Fuzz”, in which Bill Bailey’s two characters (Sergeants Turner) are seen to be reading Iain Banks and Iain M. Banks novels, and in which a similar approach to peace keeping can be observed.It is the first book I’ve read in a long time in which the ending was not a foregone conclusion. Right up until the end it could have gone any number of ways and Iain Banks did a great job of laying any number of false trails that the reader could follow. As I approached the end of the book I had at least four possible endings in mind and I was kept guessing to the last few pages.Many reviewers have considered this book to be a disappointment for a Banks novel. I do not agree with them. While “Stonemouth” is not “The Bridge”, “Walking on Glass”, “The Crow Road”, “Espedair Street”, “Complicity”, or “The Was Factory”, it is still a good read with a lot to offer and a novel that would have been acclaimed had it been written by someone else. Thank you, Iain, for another enjoyable story.
    • 5/5
      This is a book about the relationship between the past and the present. It is a subject Banks writes about a lot, and a common factor between his realist fiction and science-fiction. In the latter case, the present happens to be the past, in the former, vice-versa.The protagonist specializes in floodlighting and his first word is 'Clarity'. This automatically makes me think he will be an unreliable narrator but Banks could well be playing a double-bluff game. That opening word also reads like an answer to the criticisms of Banks's previous work 'Transmission'.The Scottish landscape plays a strong role here and it is lovingly described. The predicament of the central character is original and gripping. Shades of earlier works including 'The Wasp Factory', 'The Bridge' and 'The Crow Road' pervade the work.The Sci-Fi leaks in: Military metaphors: waves rolling up a Firth like a 'doomed army' - a village 'besieged' by Tesco supermarkets. Temporal: The appeal of a girls legs is described in terms of time-zones. Geometrical: The protagonist proposes to this girl near a bridge whose reflection forms a perfect circle.The big question of what happened in the past is not so interesting, ultimately as why and how it happened. The issue of repression plays strong here. In general, I think that the town of Stonemouth could be viewed as a symbol for the 'old' Scotland in an era of globalisation. It is violant, yes, and repressed but it is also emphasized as 'secure' in a rather Conservative way.Banks great strength is that he sides, in great optimism, with the secular and the rational. He does so again here, to strong effect.