The Bridge: Amazon.ca: Iain M. Banks: Books

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Product Description

Ingram

Rescued from the sea and devoid of personality or memory, all John Orr knows is the Bridge, the mysterious world-spanning structure, leading from nowhere to nowhere, on which everyone seems to live, but he cannot shake his dreams of war or his desire for Chief Engineer Arrol's provocative daughter, Abberlaine. Reprint.

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Customer Reviews

35 Reviews

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(4)

Average Customer Review

4.0 out of 5 stars (35 customer reviews)

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5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best, Mar 11 2002

By	W. G. Hardy "gaz_23" - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Banks himself has stated that this is possibly his favourite of all his creations. How can I argue with the great man?? I must confess that this is indeed one of my personal favourites of Banks.
Richly and superbly written it explores the mind of a car-crash victim whilst in a coma, his hopes and fears. This dances the fine line between being an Iain Banks (non-scifi) and being an Iain M. Banks (scifi).

One of the other reviewers, below, compares the theme to Irvine Welsh's Marabou Stork nightmares. However, The Bridge was written first (1992 - 1st edition in the UK, Welsh's - 1996). Just thought that it was worth pointing out.

Fans of Philip K. Dick will probably adore this, as I did. As with all Banks however, it will not be for everyone.

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2.0 out of 5 stars Inventiveness is relative, Dec 27 2001

By	B. Scanlon (San Francisco, CA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I'm an avid science fiction reader, which is how I came to read this non-science fictional book by Mr. Banks. Of course, since most of the action takes place in a highly unreal and allegorical world born of the mental difficulties experienced by the protagonist, it might easily be marketed as fantasy, if not science fiction.

If you aren't used to the SF field, you may find the inventiveness here quite astounding. If you are familiar with SF, however, you may be looking for more than just inventiveness, and it is here that I think this book, like many others written by Banks and marketed in the regular fiction area fails miserably.

I do in fact read non SF books, like those by Carver, Powers, and Pynchon, but the writing here does not measure up to these heavyweights, and as an SF book it is weak indeed. Check out my listmania list guide to books I =love= by this author.

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4.0 out of 5 stars Maybe not the best place to start., Sep 1 2001

By	"nwc18" (Toronto, Canada) - See all my reviews

This is one of Banks' less readable outings. The use of language is just too complex for The Bridge to be considered a page-turner, but it is a book well worth the work for Banks fans. That said, it is perhaps a bad place to start with this author (I would recomend Complicity or The Player of Games, both captivating, well writen books, and considerably easier reads). It involves a man in a dreamscape while lying in a coma (maybe). He has had an accident on a large road/rail bridge and now finds himself on an endless, self-sufficient bridge covered with cities and farmland. He has no memories of his past, but knows that he doesn't fit in. And then things start to get complex and sureal, with bloodthirsty barbarians, war criminals, missing libraries, and a few Banks in-jokes (this book was his third published, but he had already written five [I think] SF books that hadn't sold, a couple of them about the Culture, and that's the why of the knife-missile).

An earlier reviewer commented on this book's similarity to Marabou Stork Nightmares by Welsh. The comment that this book seems to draw on Welsh as an influence would be reasonable, except that The Bridge was written ten years before Marabou.

Happy reading.

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Most recent customer reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Banks Builds a Bridge You Want to Travel On
In this strong novel, Banks blends scenes of emotion with an almost "Brazil"-like world... Read more

Published on Aug 24 2001 by Billychic

3.0 out of 5 stars A Bad Day at the office
I think that Iain Banks would have to admit that this was not among his stronger stories, the writing is still excellent, and his prose is amongst the best of his contemporaries,... Read more

Published on Jan 25 2001 by Daniel Hofinger

5.0 out of 5 stars An intense compelling read.
Numerous tales intertwine here, each intriguing and pulling the reader onward. I felt like I was bobbing in a troubled sea, waves and currents increasing from many directions... Read more

Published on Aug 31 2000 by Hank Schwartz

2.0 out of 5 stars Mayday! Mayday!
Help! My love of Banks' Culture series forced me to read this book. Bad idea. Now I know more than I want to about Scottish hippies and their nightmares. Read more