The Crow Road

by Iain M. Banks

Paperback, 501 pages

English language

Published Nov. 6, 1996 by Abacus.

ISBN:: 978-0-349-10907-7

(22 reviews)

From its bravura opening onwards, THE CROW ROAD is justly regarded as an outstanding contemporary novel. 'It was the day my grandmother exploded. I sat in the crematorium, listening to my Uncle Hamish quietly snoring in harmony to Bach's Mass in B Minor, and I reflected that it always seemed to be death that drew me back to Gallanach.' Prentice McHoan has returned to the bosom of his complex but enduring Scottish family. Full of questions about the McHoan past, present and future, he is also deeply preoccupied: mainly with death, sex, drink, God and illegal substances...

9 editions

StorydevGrace reviewed The Crow Road by Iain M. Banks

Review of 'The Crow Road' on 'Storygraph'

4 stars

For the first half, I felt like I was reading a collection of disjointed stories, wondering where the plot was, and I almost DNF.
I stuck with it because Prentice's life is so much like mine during my coming of age - easily influenced by intelligent adults around me, my crisis of faith as a teenager and the return of a close-knit Scottish town to find everyone changed. So I kept reading out of curiosity: How much is Prentice like me?
On the one hand, I'm glad I stuck with it because those disjointed stories were like the chain lift in a log flume. 75% in, clunk, there was the plot, and along with it, suspense and dread for the protagonist, jacked up to 100, and woah, that's a cracking steep drop!
I can't recommend this to someone struggling with a short attention span unless, as I did, those …

Courts reviewed The Crow Road by Iain M. Banks

A tale of life and growth, and the absurdity of it

5 stars

It's hard for me to put into words why I loved reading this book so much. Maybe the way Prentice (the main character) grows throughout the book? The setbacks, the two steps forward, one step back kind of progress that happens to us all, where we cannot see how we have changed for the better? I don't know, I just know that there are so many passages and exchanges that resonate well with me, especially regarding religion. This was a great read!

Stephanie Jane reviewed The Crow Road by Iain M. Banks

Great turns of phrase

4 stars

I received my review copy of The Crow Road as part of its twenty-fifth anniversary celebrations. Has this book really been around for that long?! Iain Banks is an author I have been aware of for ages, but I think this is the first time I have ever read any of his books. What an omission! And one I am glad to have rectified now. The Crow Road is, now anyway, quite a nostalgic book to read focussing as it does on everyday life. It is proudly Scottish and I liked the intermingling of social classes together with the resultant snobbery. Our 'hero', Prentice, is a likeable waster and expertly portrayed so I could easily see how he has become such a famous character in literary circles. Banks has a shrewd eye for detail and nuance together with a gorgeously poetic turn of phrase so reading the prose in this book was an absolute delight. I loved the descriptions and metaphors. For me, the only things that let down The Crow Road were that I did sometimes become confused about who was who in such a large cast and that my attention did frequently stray from the main storyline. It was strange - individual scenes are brilliant but the overall narrative didn't keep me gripped in the same way.

franksbooks reviewed The Crow Road by Iain M. Banks

Review of 'The Crow Road' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

There’s a moment where Uncle Rory decides to Just Use It. I sense that Banks had a similar moment about half way through where the pace and structure of the novel changes quite a bit. Thankfully, just like Prentice, it does settle down and allow us to better enjoy the prose, the characters and – dare I say – the whiskey.

jellybeyreads reviewed The Crow Road by Iain M. Banks

Review of 'The Crow Road' on 'Goodreads'

No rating

I gave this up a little more than a third of the way through. It's not bad, in fact I think it's actually very good at what it is, but I just don't care about what it is--a semi-literary, semi-comic coming-of-age tale/family saga centered on several not-terribly-interesting white boys/men. It glories in its late-20th-century Scottishness which I found both charming and irritating. I suspect I would have enjoyed that aspect more if I'd also enjoyed the actual story.