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The Quarry

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The Quarry

By: Iain Banks
Narrated by: Peter Kenny
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About this listen

Kit doesn't know who his mother is. What he does know, however, is that his father, Guy, is dying of cancer. Feeling his death is imminent, Guy gathers around him his oldest friends - or at least the friends with the most to lose by his death. Paul - the rising star in the Labour party who dreads the day a tape they all made at university might come to light; Alison and Robbie, corporate bunnies whose relationship is daily more fractious; Pris and Haze, once an item, now estranged, and finally Hol - friend, mentor, former lover and the only one who seemed to care.

But what will happen to Kit when Guy is gone? And why isn't Kit's mother in the picture? As the friends reunite for Guy's last days, old jealousies, affairs and lies come to light as Kit watches on.

©2013 Iain Banks (P)2013 Hachette Audio Fiction Genre Fiction Literary Fiction

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Critic reviews

"Eerily compelling." (William Leith)
All stars
Most relevant  

What made the experience of listening to The Quarry the most enjoyable?

the narration and the steely response to cancer with a touch of rage into the night with humour and understanding

Who was your favorite character and why?

the son

What does Peter Kenny bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you had only read the book?

brings out the individual characters of the protagonist and the friends and especially his father

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

yes

Any additional comments?

just thanks to all involved especially Iain Banks and Peter Kenny

Excellent narration of Iain's last book

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I had high expectations for the last book by my beloved author and so was underwhelmed by the actual storyline, which didn’t seem to match the quality of many previous offerings. However, I suppose the useless feeling of loss and disappointment is poignant and somewhat reflects how I feel about the untimely loss of such a great writer and insightful human. It’s a nice book, more than a little melancholic with a pervasive tiredness about it.

A bit anticlimactic

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Like many, I mourn the loss of one of our greatest writers; Iain Banks. So, I’m biased, I admit it. Despite my bias, this is a great novel. For the Banksians out there, the story is written from the perspective of a teenage boy; like Wasp Factory. The flow is quick with political undertones like Crow Road. It’s dark too, like Complicity and The Bridge. It also has that dark humour that’s hidden inside the modern dysfunctional family, Garbadale, Stonemouth and Business. In summary, a great finale – you need to listen to this.

One final note, Peter Kenny, he's a perfect choice to narrate Banks' work. He provides the icing on the cake.

Goodbye Mr Banks.

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I could listen to Peter Kenny read almost anything, I love his way. Combined with another great observation of the human condition from Iain Banks the experience is great.

I lay in the garden for two days in listening heaven with breaks for people, drinks and food, what more could you ask for.

An excellent listen for a sunny day

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A wonderfully narrated piece of work by Peter Kenny in bringing the characters in my favourite Banks novel to life. Brought so much deeper when you realise what the author was going through while writing it. It’s almost like a book-end in the sense that his first and last published novel’s focused so intently on the dynamics in the relationship between a father and son.

If you liked the book, you will love this.

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OK - so the book was not his best, but we need to cut this great guy some slack - he was after all dying before he even started the book. Banks is just a fabulous imagination and while this was a great listen and was pretty well read, I will so much more miss him for his 'Feersum' SciFi. I am so glad he also loved his SciFi so much.
If either of us were religious - I would be saying - Bless you Banks!

A must read the the devoted Banks fans like me

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first book of Ian'# I've read. laughed and cried. disappointed when it was over. now looking for more of his stuff

compeling

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What did you like best about The Quarry? What did you like least?

This was my first Banks encounter and I was expecting a lot and had no knowledge of any of this previous work. It reminded me of one of those 1950s American plays of great intensity by Tennessee Williams, Arthur Miller or Eugene O'Neill - a family gathers in one room and over the space of two hours they haul out the dark secrets and through tears, cursing, accusations and several litres of alcohol they leave relationships in tatters and the mother in tears. Banks does the modern version - something like "Peter's Friends" but instead of Aids being the elephant in the room the father of the central character is dying of cancer. Through the familiar haze of alcohol, drugs and sharp tongues the groups of his university friends who have gathered to say goodbye tear through each other's reputations. Told by his son who suffers from Aspergers, the book builds up to a climax that never materialises and then fades into nothingness. I suspect that the dying man's rant echoes Banks's own cry of anger and frustration at his unfortunate disease. He does not manage to recreate the dramatic intensity of the American playwrights and his plot is shallow and rather pointless.

Would you ever listen to anything by Iain Banks again?

Not sure

A climax that never happens

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Would you listen to The Quarry again? Why?

Iain Bank wrote this book then announced he too had cancer and died shortly before this book was rushed through and published.
This will not be the first or last. He is a great storyteller and writer. One of the 20th century greats.

What did you like best about this story?

He has a great way of bringing together his characters.

Which character – as performed by Peter Kenny – was your favourite?

Kit - he is intelligent so insightful.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

all of it

Iain Banks last novel

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The writing is wonderful and the characters intriguing, but the mystery at the heart of the story is not really resolved well enough in my opinion.

Enjoyable but slightly dissapointing

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