Product Description

A little knowledge can be a very dangerous thing. Innocent in the ways of the world, an ingenue when it comes to pop and fashion, the Elect of God of a small but committed Stirlingshire religious cult: Isis Whit is no ordinary teenager. When her cousin Morag - Guest of Honour at the Luskentyrian's four- yearly Festival of Love - disappears after renouncing her faith, Isis is marked out to venture among the Unsaved and bring the apostate back into the fold. But the road to Babylondon (as Sister Angela puts it) is a treacherous one, particularly when Isis discovers that Morag appears to have embraced the ways of the Unsaved with spectacular abandon. Truth and falsehood; kinship and betrayal; 'herbal' cigarettes and compact discs - Whit is an exploration of the techno-ridden barrenness of modern Britain from a unique perspective.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #9187 in Books
• Published on: 1996-09-12
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 455 pages

Review
'Fierce contemporaneity, an acrobatic imagination, social comment, sardonic wit.the peculiar sub-culture of cult religion is a natural for Banks, and Luskentyrianism is a fine creation' - The Times 'One of the most relentlessly voyaging imaginations around' - Scotsman 'Entertaining.comically inspired' - Guardian

About the Author
Iain Banks came to widespread and controversial public notice with the publication of his first novel, THE WASP FACTORY, in 1984. He has since gained widespread popular and critical acclaim with further works of fiction and, as Iain M Banks, science fiction.

Customer Reviews

Laugh out loud funny
Without doubt the funniest Iain Banks book I have read to date and very different to the others. This is a great twist on the old innocent abroad yarn with the naive yet wise Isis Whit out to save her cousin from the clutches of the corrupt world and resolve the power struggles within her increasingly fractious community. In itself it doesn't sound much but you'll laugh out loud more than once and you'll marvel at another dazzling and beguiling tale from Iain Banks.

Ideal starter for those who are yet to take a trip into the Banks imagination, but also a welcome diversion off the dark path of his other novels for those who are already blooded by The Wasp Factory, Complicity and so on. Female friends of mine who have read his books all seem to rate this one as their favourite as it has a strong female lead and all the blokes are secondary characters and are largely buffoons and stooges for Isis. A cracking read with more than a few twists to keep those pages turning.

The Whit and Wisdom of Banks
Iain Banks first novel, The Wasp Factory, was published in 1984. In the years since, he's won critical acclaim, topped best-seller lists and has even written Science Fiction books under the cunning nom-de-plume 'Iain M. Banks'. He's also seen this book, "The Crow Road", adapted for television by the BBC in 1996. "Whit" is his eighth non-sci-fi book, was first published in 1995 and comes with the subtitle "Isis Amongst the Unsaved".

The book's central character is Isis Whit, commonly called Is - though more formally known as Blessed or Beloved Isis. Isis is a Luskentyrian, a member of a religious sect founded by her grandfather, Salvador. Like him, she is very important to the faithful - she holds the position 'Elect of God' and is a future leader of the Luskentyrians. Home is High Easter Offerance - located in Scotland, on the banks of the River Forth. The book opens in May 1995, when Isis is nineteen years old and with the Festival of Love approaching. The Luskentyrians consider people born on the 29th of February very special - the Blessed Isis herself was born on that date. As a result, a Festival of Love is held every four years - at the end of May in the year preceding a Leap Year. As the end of May is nine months before the end of February and it is a Festival of Love, I'm sure you can figure out what happens at it...

Isis' cousin, Morag - while not strictly considered a missionary - has been living in London for six years. Based on her letters, it appears she has become a successful musician - an internationally renowned baryton soloist, no less. She had been due to return to High Easter Offerance for the festival, where she would have been the Guest of Honour. However, her most recent letter to the community includes the news that she has turned her back on her faith and will not be returning. One possible option was for Isis to take Morag's place as guest of Honour - something she wasn't entirely keen on. Instead, Isis is sent to London to try and rescue her cousin - the book tells the story of her journey and return.

This is only the second book by Banks I've read, the first being "The Crow Road". Like it, I found "Whit" to be very enjoyable. It's told entirely from Isis' point of view - she describes her journey, outlines her discoveries, explains her beliefs and tells the history of her sect. Luskentyrians avoid modern technology as far as possible - nothing at High Easter Offerance runs on electricity, for example. It's amusing, at times, to see her reaction to life in the 'modern' world. There are several very strong supporting characters - Yolanda, Isis' very colourful and hugely entertaining Texan grandmother, particularly stands out. The only disappointment is that some of them didn't make a bigger appearance. Highly recommended !

Enchanting!
It's hard to pigeonhole Iain Banks. As a writer he's traversed the entire literary landscape of Scotland in every medium from science fiction through thrillers, warped social satire, and even the literary equivalent of the road movie, if you count "Raw Spirit". "Whit" has a little bit of all of the above. Its leading character is also unlike almost all other Banksian narrators: the teenage Isis Whit, brought up in a remote commune by an other-worldly religious cult, is a far cry from the cynical, dysfunctional individuals who are Banks's stock in trade. In fact she's more like a modern-day Alice exploring a Wonderland of modern technology, habitual dishonesty, sexual weirdness, and unconventional spirituality. Her breathless naivety as we follow her travels through her own wide eyes paints a remarkable picture of life in modern Britain, and colours a mystery as gripping as that of "The Crow Road" and just as enchanting. Of course, by the book's end, Isis has had to come to terms with the realisation that all is not necessarily as it seems in Paradise; she leaves us older and wiser, but not, we hope, disillusioned.

For me this is easily one of Banks' best books. It's the only one of his that you might seriously contemplate lending to your grandmother and is much more accessible to the Banks newcomer than much of his work. The mystery element which pervades the story is fascinating, making this an un-put-downable read. And there are enough searching questions about life, God and the world we live in to make this much more than just another mystery story. The quirks of Banks' writing style and the weirdness of his characters come across in the most engaging way. 450 pages will pass like they're 100.