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| Books,
Anna Haysom,
20 January 1999 |
Rating: F3
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Banks' latest offering depicts the world of The Business - an age-old multi-national organisation with sub-Mafia inclinations and cult-like ideals. Through his main character, Katherine Telman, Banks explores the Business' motives and machinations, made all the more plausible with its contemporary frame of reference.
The author manages to gradually instil a sense of paranoia in both his characters and the reader; early on he drops hints of sinister dealings and manipulations. You wonder how far the Business, its shadowy executives, and indeed Banks himself (given his track record), will go. Consequently, you find yourself scrutinising the most trivial details, questioning whether they will pay off at a later stage.
I was left with the impression that Banks was more interested in the idea of the Business than with providing the reader with fully-fleshed out characters in the story he weaves around it. At times, the characters seem to act merely as vehicles to explore the constructs and history of the Business itself. Even his central character is not fully realised and thus difficult to empathise with.
That's not to say I didn't enjoy the novel; I did. However, given the suspense generated throughout the novel, I expected a more satisfactory resolution, and something altogether more substantial from the pen of Banks.
Little, Brown & Company
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