Saturday, September 21, 2002
Title: The Business
Author: Iain Banks
Publisher: Abacus
With The Business it is the first time I've read Banks for awhile, not counting the couple of Iain M. Banks that I read recently. I picked up Song In The Stone a while ago, which was his previous book, but for some reason I never got into it. Maybe got a third of the way through the book and then gave it up, overcome with boredom, but then I did that with a couple of books around that time. So anyway that means I've read everything by Banks to date except that 2/3 of Song Of Stone and for some reason Canal Dreams, which I just never got round to. I tend to find Banks to be a funny one, some of his stuff is really good, but sometimes it takes a bit to get into. Though in saying that I never especially enjoyed Wasp Factory, despite the acclaim for it, possibly because it was his first book and about the fifth by him I read and because people kept telling me how good it was.
Anyway. The Business is the current name for an organisation which dates back to the time of the Roman Empire, which it actually ran for a short period of time - an embarrassingly short period of time that they would rather not be reminded of. Since then they have dealt with states and have interests around the world, but never attempted to try and run their own state again - until now. Determined that the way forward for the Business is to get a seat on the UN they decide to buy a small country, with Kate Telman, the youngest level 3 ever, finding herself involved in this clandestine deal. For the most part the story is pretty much tightly bound to this character, so we see everything unfolding from her view point. Flashes back filling us in on how she was growing up poor on a Glasgow housing estate when she was discovered by a respected level two - who signed her up for an intensive education in the best schools. Coupled with some smart investments she has risen through the business in quick time. The downside of following one character in such a big organisation is that perhaps we don't get as much of the big picture as we could.
Still, an enjoyable work with a quick pace and a sense of an inherent width.
RVWR: PTR
September 2002
