It's a great book, but this is another spare copy that's ended up in my hands. Hope it finds a happy home.

Posted to a fellow bookcrosser (tiata) on 4th August 2005 as a RABCK to celebrate the registering of my 50th book. I hope it's enjoyed in the States!

Amazon.com:
"I had been making the rounds of the Sacrifice Poles the day we heard my brother had escaped. I already knew something was going to happen; the Factory told me."
Those lines begin one of the most infamous of contemporary Scottish novels. The narrator, Frank Cauldhame, is a weird teenager who lives on a tiny island connected to mainland Scotland by a bridge. He maintains grisly Sacrifice Poles to serve as his early warning system and deterrent against anyone who might invade his territory.

Few novelists have ever burst onto the literary scene with as much controversy as Iain Banks in 1984. The Wasp Factory was reviled by many reviewers on account of its violence and sadism, but applauded by others as a new and Scottish voice--that is, a departure from the English literary tradition. The controversy is a bit puzzling in retrospect, because there is little to object to in this novel, if you're familiar with genre horror.

The Wasp Factory is distinguished by an authentically felt and deftly written first-person style, delicious dark humor, a sense of the surreal, and a serious examination of the psyche of a childhood psychopath. Most readers will find that they sympathize with and even like Frank, despite his three murders (each of which is hilarious in an Edward Gorey fashion). It's a classic of contemporary horror. --Fiona Webster

More compelling than I imagined when I requested it from mrmustard. My socialwork background must be kicking in. It has moved up a notch on my list of TBRs. Many thanks for sending it from the UK!

The book is superbly written but whether you like it or not probably depends a lot on your own psychological makeup and life experience. There is beautiful prose but horrific content. The amoral actions and thinking of Frank reminded me of classic sociopathic behavior. Yet at the end you can't help but be touched by his life. While the descriptions of the animal torture and ritualistic "protection" spells are vivid and could make many people stop reading I found that I shut off my emotions and enjoyed the pictures painted by Baines. Maybe I've read one crime story too many or that was just the way I coped with the indifference with which Frank tortured and took life. It did make me mull over "nature versus nurture" for the entire family.
I chuckle to think that I was sent this book based on my attempt to send a humorous message to MrMustard. Many thanks...I think bits and pieces of the book will reappear in my head periodically.

Off to schoolinathome. Enjoy!

Thanks a bunch tiatia, I had never even heard of this author nor the book, until we had one of "sick shit Swaps" in the bookrealy forums. So I started looking for it right after that and then you posted on the relay, again big thanks to you. This one will probably go into another sick shit swap and be passed on soon.

I got this book from paperbackswap.com after having it on my wish list for months. I really liked it. From reading reviews and the back of the book, I thought it was going to be a lot more "bizarre" though. I'm going to repost the book on paperbackswap because it's on the club's wish list and I know someone is going to want it.

Got it off of paperbackswap.com. After I finish reading it I'll post it back into the PBS system.