Iain Banks @ EIBF

Article by Renée Rowland | 17 Aug 2010

 

An audience member asked Iain Banks, at the end of his Book Festival event, how he thought he had changed over the years, to which he replied, “I’m fatter, greyer and angrier.” Having seen him at the Book Festival for the last 4 years, I concur with the last adjective, and Transition, his latest sci-fi/contemporary fiction hybrid, is his angry manifesto. Contemporary political issues and Banks’ own opinions are more than foreshadowed throughout his work, often articulated and commented on in a swiftly entertaining and unique way, but one can’t help but wonder, is Banks going to take a bigger leap for the cause? Burning his passport in protest of the Iraq war c 2003, and the Israeli book embargo in protest of the Palestinian blockade were both actions that Banks, disappointingly, admits have had little effect. My question: How angry can Banks get? How far will he go? His political protests seem to be cyclical and in sync with his contemporary fiction cycle as opposed to his sci-fi novels (perhaps Iain M. Banks is less angry?), so given the publication of the latest Culture novel in October this year, can we expect some extremist action from Iain Banks circa August 2011? [Renée Rowland]

 

Iain Banks appeared at the Edinburgh International Book Festival on 16 Aug