| Espedair Street | |
 Cover of the first UK paperback edition of the book |
|
| Author | Iain Banks |
|---|---|
| Country | Scotland |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Novel |
| Publisher | Macmillan |
| Publication date | 1987 |
| Media type | Print (Hardback & Paperback) |
| Pages | 249 pp |
| ISBN | ISBN 0-333-44916-9 |
| Preceded by | Consider Phlebas |
| Followed by | The Player of Games |
Espedair Street is a novel by Scottish writer Iain Banks, published in 1987. Iain Menzies Banks (born on 16 February 1954 in Dunfermline, Fife) is a Scottish Writer. Scotland ( Gaelic: Alba) is a Country in northwest Europethat occupies the northern third of the island of Great Britain. English is a West Germanic language originating in England and is the First language for most people in the United Kingdom, the United States A novel (from Italian novella, Spanish novela, French nouvelle for "new" "news" or "short story Publishing is the process of production and dissemination of Literature or Information &ndash the activity of making information available for public view Macmillan Publishers Ltd, also known as The Macmillan Group, is a privately-held International Publishing company owned by Georg von Holtzbrinck A hardcover (or hardback or hardbound) is a Book bound with rigid protective covers (typically of cardboard covered with Cloth Paperback, softback, or softcover describe and refer to a Book by the nature of its binding. Consider Phlebas is a Military science fiction Novel by Scottish writer Iain M The Player of Games is a Science fiction Novel by Scottish writer Iain M A novel (from Italian novella, Spanish novela, French nouvelle for "new" "news" or "short story Scotland ( Gaelic: Alba) is a Country in northwest Europethat occupies the northern third of the island of Great Britain. Iain Menzies Banks (born on 16 February 1954 in Dunfermline, Fife) is a Scottish Writer.
Contents |
Plot introduction
The book tells the (fictional) story of the rise to fame of Dan Weir ('Weird'), a bass guitar player in a rock and roll band called Frozen Gold, and of his struggles to be happy now that he is rich and famous. The electric bass guitar (also called electric bass, or simply bass; ˈbeɪs as in "base" is a Stringed instrument played primarily with the Rock and roll (also known as rock 'n' roll) is a form of Music that evolved in the United States in the late 1940s and early 1950s with roots in mostly African Frozen Gold are a fictional Rock and roll group in the 1987 novel Espedair Street by Scottish writer Iain Banks.
Plot summary
"Two days ago I decided to kill myself. I would walk and hitch and sail away from this dark city to the bright spaces of the wet west coast, and there throw myself into the tall, glittering seas beyond Iona (with its cargo of mouldering kings) to let the gulls and seals and tides have their way with my remains, and in my dying moments look forward to an encounter with Staffa’s six-sided columns and Fingal’s cave; or I might head south to Corryvrecken, to be spun inside the whirlpool and listen with my waterlogged deaf ears to its mile-wide voice ringing over the wave-race; or be borne north, to where the white sands sing and coral hides, pink-fingered and hard-soft, beneath the ocean swell, and the rampart cliffs climb thousand-foot above the seething acres of milky foam, rainbow-buttressed. The Gulf of Corryvreckan (from the Gaelic Coirebhreacain meaning "cauldron of the speckled seas" or "cauldron of the plaid" also called
Last night I changed my mind and decided to stay alive. Everything that follows is . . . just to try and explain. "
Weir starts out in the Ferguslie Park area of Paisley in a very underprivileged Catholic family. Paisley (Pàislig is a town and former Burgh in the west- Central Lowlands of Scotland. Catholic is an Adjective derived from the Greek adjective '' / 'katholikos' meaning "whole" or "complete". He is impressed by a group named Frozen Gold when he sees them live, in the Union of Paisley College of Technology, and auditions with them. The University of the West of Scotland ( Scottish Gaelic: Oilthigh na h-Alba an Iar traces its roots to the late 19th century Paisley, Scotland. Christine Brice likes his songs, and he joins the band. He ends up writing all their material and playing bass guitar, (after trying unsuccessfully to get them to change their name) as the band rises in the drug- and booze-fuelled rock and roll of the 1970s, assisted by A&R man Rick Tumber of ARC Records. A psychoactive drug or psychotropic substance is a Chemical substance that acts primarily upon the Central nervous system where it alters Brain Artists and Repertoire ( A&R) is the division of a Record label that is responsible for talent scouting and artist development In the Three Chimneys tour, singer Davey Balfour takes Dan along on an attempt to break an unofficial (and illegal) speed record for flying around three power station chimneys in Kent in his private plane. KENT (1400 AM) is a Radio station broadcasting a Adult Standards/MOR format Overview Fixed-wing aircraft range from small training and recreational aircraft to Wide-body aircraft and military cargo aircraft.
He reminisces about this from 1980s Glasgow, where he lives as a recluse in a Victorian folly (St Jutes), ever since the tragic events which led to the demise of the band. Glasgow (ˈglæzgoʊ is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom In Architecture, a folly is a Building constructed strictly as a decoration having none of the usual purposes of housing or sheltering associated with a conventional He is posing as his own caretaker, and his friends McCann and Wee Tommy know him as Jimmy Hay. After a memorable fight in a nightclub called 'Monty's', his real identity is revealed. He has grown uncomfortable with fame and wealth, and eventually visits his first girlfriend, Jean Webb, now living in Arisaig. Arisaig is a small village in Lochaber, Invernessshire, on the west coast of the Scottish Highlands.
Literary significance & criticism
The band is loosely modelled on Pink Floyd or Fleetwood Mac although Banks has said, in a newspaper piece, that the character Weird was in part modeled on Fish, the ex-Marillion singer and lyricist. Pink Floyd are Fleetwood Mac are a British / American Derek William Dick, better known as Fish (born 25 April 1958, in Dalkeith, Midlothian) is a Scottish Progressive Marillion are a British rock group Formed in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, England in 1979 their recorded studio output comprises The music stories are very authentic, and are told with great verve. Sex, drugs and rock and roll are present on almost every page, sometimes all three at once. An organism's sex is defined by the gametes it produces males produce male gametes (spermatozoa or Sperm) while females produce female gametes (ova or Egg cells; individual Rock and roll (also known as rock 'n' roll) is a form of Music that evolved in the United States in the late 1940s and early 1950s with roots in mostly African There is a tone of rock journalism in the parts of the book about Frozen Gold. Music journalism is criticism and reportage about Music. It began in the eighteenth century as comment on what is now thought of as ' Classical music '
As Banks' first novel to eschew 'special effects', not being Gothic horror like The Wasp Factory, a literary mystery (Walking on Glass), or science fiction, most critics regard it as one of his most accessible works. Gothic fiction (sometimes referred to as Gothic horror) is a genre of literature that combines elements of both horror and romance. The Wasp Factory was the first Novel by Scottish writer Iain Banks. Walking on Glass was the second Novel by Scottish writer Iain Banks. The device of having an apparently successful and famous person being deeply unhappy (he mentions in the opening sentence that he was considering suicide) is lightly and effectively done. The happy ending is usually seen as either touching or trite, depending on the reader's taste.
Espedair Street is also a real street in Charleston, Paisley, where some of the significant events in the book take place. Charleston is a district in the burgh of Paisley in Renfrewshire, Scotland.
Bibliography
Espedair Street, Iain Banks, London: Macmillan, 1987, ISBN 0-333-44916-9 (paperback ISBN 0-349-10214-7)
Adaptation
A four part BBC radio adaptation of the novel was broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in January 1998. Espedair Street was a four part BBC radio adaptation of the Iain Banks novel Espedair Street broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in January 1998
External links
- Textualities review
- Iain Banks and Fish: How We Met, Independent, The (London), Apr 25, 1999 by Daniel Rosenthal
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