The Crow Road
by Iain Banks · first published 1992
65% recommend35% neutral
Why HN recommends it
A Scottish family novel with a darkly funny opening line about a grandmother exploding. It is a warm study of intergenerational relationships and an accessible entry point to Banks's non-SF fiction.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
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...
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Even though I'm not a great fan of his work, Banks did write one of the most memorable opening lines ever in The Crow Road. Two other great examples: William Gibson's Neuromancer: "The sky above the port was the color of television, tuned to a dead channel." Herman Melville's Moby Dick: "Call me Ishmael." Neither strictly…
on “How to Write an Opening Sentence” ↗I see your, “Many years later [...]" and raise you, “It was the day my grandmother exploded." Iain Banks, The Crow Road.
on “Gabriel García Márquez, Literary Pioneer, Dies at 87” ↗Iain Banks uses this as a hilarious opening line to The Crow Road: "It was the day my grandmother exploded."
on “Pacemaker explosions in crematoria” ↗…indeed I rather prefer the opening paragraphs of Espedair Street, which you can read on the wiki page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Espedair_Street Edit - having said that, I think the start of The Crow Road is rather good as that immature desire to shock is rather appropriate for Prentice McHoan - but you can't really tell how appropriate that is until you've read more of the book.
on “Gabriel García Márquez, Literary Pioneer, Dies at 87” ↗“It was the day my grandmother exploded.” A fabulous first line, from The Crow Road by Iain Banks. Doubly good for me since a friend asked me for a recommendation for an interesting read, and I later discovered that he had sent it, unread, to his grandmother for her birthday.
on “How to Start a Novel” ↗It is -- and it isn't -- fiction, but "The Crow Road" by Iain Banks has been useful to me to reflect on what inter-generational relationships and communities mean and how they develop over time. Enjoy your literary journey.
on “Ask HN: What book should I buy for my 18th birthday?” ↗"Best" is always too hard - here are a handful that I love. Pride & Prejudice - Jane Austen Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell - Susannah Clarke The Crow Road - Iain Banks Equal Rites - Terry Pratchett Three Men in a Boat - Jerome K. Jerome A Short History of Nearly Everything - Bill Bryson Black Holes & Time Warps - Kip Thorne The Inventions of Daedalus…
on “Ask HN: What are the best books you've ever read?” ↗I disagree. Many novels have great openings. "The Horse's Mouth" by Joyce Cary had me from the opening paragraph. I could say the same about "Rebecca" by Daphne du Maurier or "the Crow Road" by Iain Banks. We nicknamed "the Matrix Reloaded", the "Mattress Resprung", because for me it illustrated a major problem in films and books... The beginning and end are great but they sag in the middle…
on “Every novel is boring until it isn't” ↗…trying his contemporary fiction which is just as good. Most people are aware of "The Wasp Factory" which can probably also be classed as science fiction (although not SciFi). He also wrote the excellent "Crow Road" which has probably one of the greatest opening lines in any book I've ever read.
on “A Few Questions About the Culture: An Interview with Iain Banks” ↗Yeh, The Crow Road. I met him once working a book signing. He was brilliant, incredibly down to earth, very very funny and an all round good bloke. His books have kept me enthralled, especially Dead Air and Complicity.…
on “What makes a great opening line?” ↗The Crow Road is my favourite book. It might speak more to Scots – I don't know – but it's wonderful.
on “Iain Banks dies of cancer aged 59” ↗…starve to death. The Forever War - Joe Haldeman - more great pulp sci-fi about the first interstellar war. Old man's war by John Scalzi is very similar and almost as good. Most things by Iain (m) banks. Crow Road, Wasp Factory, The Bridge, Consider Phlebas, Use of Weapons, Player of Games etc. Song of stone was awful though, they're not all winners
on “Ask HN: What are your favorite books of all time, and why?” ↗…Culture novels are exceptional: Consider Phlebas, The Player of Games and Use of Weapons. Highly recommend all three. The rest are probably great too but I haven't read them yet. I also recommend The Crow Road.
on “Iain M. Banks describing GPT – in 2005 novel” ↗I'll counter with "It was the day my grandmother exploded." From The Crow Road by Iain Banks
on “The Lyttle Lytton Contest” ↗Iain Banks' _The Crow Road_ starts like this: > 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…
on “Nuclear-Powered Cardiac Pacemakers” ↗