The Wasp Factory by Iain Banks

Reviewed by R.L.Hill

What struck me about this novel is how skillfully Banks presnts us with a cold, calculated and somewhat ingenius child killer and killer of children with whom we can have sympathy for.

Frank Cauldhame, and I don't think his names resemblance to Caulfield is a coincedence, lives with his father on an island on a large sandspit in the Firth, joined to the town of Nairn by a single road.  An island of sand dunes, barns and beaches which, in any other story, could be the location of a Ransomesque group of kids and their adventures.  Frank's own mapping and naming of his world gives testament to events in which he has been an agent; Bomb Circle and Snake Park allude to two of his murders.  The Rabbit Grounds and Muddy Creek being landmarks where animal torturing occurs. Yet Frank's friendship with Jamie, a dwarf from the town, and his (Frank's) understanding of his criminally insane brother Eric's breakdown allow us an insight into Frank's own place in a dysfunctional home life. 

Written from a first person perspective Banks is effective in taking us along inside Frank's thought processes and leads the reader along a path where deviance appears as the norm and where madness and insanity can be judged by degrees. Frank is a Hauden Caulfield for our times and the book is a well judged story of the right pace and length.

On a final note, the eponymous wasp factory in the story is as fascinating as it is metaphorical.  I found myself re-reading the description of it several times in order to understand its workings and meaning.

I recommend this book to anyone from teen to centurion.