The polarizing literary debut by Scottish author Ian Banks, The Wasp Factory is the bizarre, imaginative, disturbing, and darkly comic look into the mind of a child psychopath.
Meet Frank Cauldhame. Just sixteen, and unconventional to say the least:
Two years after I killed Blyth I murdered my young brother Paul, for quite different and more fundamental reasons than I’d disposed of Blyth, and … I’d disposed of Blyth, and then a year after that I did for my young cousin Esmerelda, more or less on a whim.
That’s my score to date. Three. I haven’t killed anybody for years, and don’t intend to ever again.
It was just a stage I was going through.
more
Dark, very dark. If you are anything like me you will not be able to put it down. There will be twists and turns.
Although I got bored with all of the childish “war games” this young man played, I loved the sociopath aspect and seeing the world through his eyes. Being on an island inhabited by him and his father, I suppose he had to keep himself entertained. But it got too immersive with mundane, boring details that seemed far too repetitive.
However, the …
Funny story; when I was nineteen, a coworker gave me this novel (along with Notes of Dirty Old Man, by Charles Bukowski) as a secret Santa present, in an office I worked in. We barely knew each other, and he had never read this book. His brother said it was good. This is not the sort of book you should give to someone you don’t know. It’s …
I like crazy stuff and my goal is to read as many disturbing and crazy books as I can. I was told this one would be insane. This book blew my mind! It was disturbing and sick but I couldn’t put it down. The whole thing is dark but in the end worth the read. If you can stomach messed up stories I recommend it!
Had the privilege of reading this years ago as a teenager. Absolutely disgusting read, couldn’t put it down.
An original book for its time and one that put Iain Banks firmly into the public view. This is my touchstone book as a writer. It’s engaging, with dark humour, and is considered a Gothic tale, one that found favour with most reviewers when it was released. The tale of 16-year-old Frank Cauldhame delivers a mystery, taking us into the unique mind …
I read this book years ago and I still think about it on at least a monthly basis – read it and share your thoughts.
Tense and unflinching, this story is a bleak slow burner focusing on the casual violence and homicidal tendencies of maladjusted youth Francis Cauldhame.
Told through Frank’s narration, we follow his daily mayhem, drinking, vandalism, animal torture/killing, and slowly learn about the darker elements of his psychology.
Upon hearing the news of …
I put off reading The Wasp Factory for a long time because of its gruesome reputation. With extra time from the coronavirus lockdown, and in a general mood of moroseness, I decided to give it a shot. It’s short and a quick read. The story is narrated by 16-year-old Frank Cauldhame, who lives on a Scottish island with his father, who is the very …
Totally bizarre but utterly enjoyable, brilliant read!
A man after my own heart. Kills straight fiction, but his passion is in sci-fi
One of the best books I’ve read this year even though it was published in 1984, but this is one twisted dude or is she, I mean he…only the dog that attacked him will know. His building of the torture device known as the Wasp Factory was so twisted of how he liked to watch them choose their paths that in many places would cost them their lives. …
Of all the books that inspired me to try and start writing, this is the one that’s lodged most firmly in my mind. Only try it if you like weird, but in a kind-of-funny way, because the plot of this one is off the scale on that score!
This is just a great book – I’ll try to find time to write a more in-depth review at a later date.