A veritable classic tale, ages very well with a compelling coming of age story.

This book was archived before I had a chance to read it.

Another great read,it's about the Mchoan family in the early 1980s,sometimes I got confused with the family,and going back in time,but still a good read.

'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
I love the author’s books & have the majority in either hardback or paperback so when I had the opportunity to have this book on my kindle I couldn’t resist. A modern classic that I can read again the characterisation is so very very good & the plot keeps you riveted. Some may say it’s now slightly dated but it gives you a true reflection of life a quarter of a century ago

My honest review is for a special copy I voluntarily read

The Crow Road by Iain Banks.

Isn’t odd how the fates align sometimes?

Apparently it is twenty five years since this book was first published. My consciousness told me that the BBC dramatisation had starred Strictly Come Dancing Winner Joe McFadden as the erstwhile Prentice , our young anti-Hero, so when I took a quick pass at it on a You Tube, I realised that outgoing time lord Peter Capaldi also starred! I vaguely remembered

This is my first book by Banks and I was more than prepared to dislike it just because of the hype surrounding his books, but then I thought on.. if there is enough hoopla about a book’s quarter century anniversary that the good Folks at Netgalley reissue it, it has to be given a fair shot.

I found it a thoroughly engaging story! As a confirmed Sassenach I thought Mr Banks offers us a truly authentic Scottish Voice. The majesty of the Scottish landscape, juxtaposed against a family saga of a most singular nature. This is a complex and densely packed story of two generations of brothers and the close circle of friends and acquaintances that orbit them.

There are mysteries and secrets abounding and the timeline jumps around more than a kilted highlander dancing a reel, but it it was amusing, heart breaking and revealing. Love in all it’s forms is examined, faith and mysticism appraised and sibling rivalry and jealousies of many kinds unearthed throughout the course of the story.

I have read that the sudden insertion of a Murder Mystery in the last third of the book seemed incongruous to some readers, but for me it was just another facet to an already cleverly constructed tale, specifically designed to confound and keep the reader guessing about the fate of good old Uncle Rory!


The elements if taken in isolation would seem bizarre, but in combination are genius. I am a convert!

I was delighted to read this 25th anniversary edition of this fantastic book. It is a gem

Brilliantly and cleverly written. I was hooked and laughed the whole way through. This book was a pleasure to read. The writing style is unique and tells the story in an unforgettable way.

The Crow Road (reissued) was an enjoyable read. It seems its author, Ian Banks, at his brilliant best. He captures not only the landscape but the language of Scotland, his homeland.

Couldn't read on time due to a broken e reader. My sincere apologies to the author and publisher for this.

This was a reread to tie in with the new 25th anniversary edition. It's still marvellous, a wonderful evocation of early manhood and looking for one's place in the world, wrapped up in an eccentric family saga and murder mystery. It's Scottish to the core, but also completely universal.

A family saga, which for the last few chapters turns into a murder mystery.
A book about a well off Scottish family and a very well off Scottish family.
Mainly narrated by Prentice, a student at university, but often jumping between characters & times.
Not sure if it’s because I was reading on a kindle (and I was reading an ARC), but it was a complete pain every time the book jumped to another character, because there was nothing to indicate which character was now ‘speaking’. That I could have dealt with, but also, you didn’t know when they were speaking from - present, as a teenager, as a child...
As a consequence, this wasn’t a book I devoured or was particularly eager to read. It was a trudge.
There are some very funny parts, hence still 3 stars, and I loved the character Kenneth. I loved every time he was narrating & his children’s stories.
Prentice was just too much of a wet lettuce. And Ash - what was she thinking at the end!
All the drinking & hangover scenes just seemed cliche (although credit here, this book was written 25 years ago, so maybe when first released, these last pages wouldn’t have seemed so tired).
Wouldn’t recommend. Has put me off reading more by this author (I enjoyed The Wasp Factory), but not a memorable book.

The book starts with my favourite first line of any book I have read
'It was the day my grandmother exploded'. I had previously seen this as a TV mini series many moons ago and cannot understand why I haven't ever read any of Bank's work. The book starts with a death yet there is no sadness there with the dark humourous storytelling from our protagonist Prentice McHoan. It almost feels like a comedy of errors with so very funny laugh out loud moments, that cut through the dreary subject matter being described. Whether it is death or humour, Banks writes with a cheerful melancholy making the book a brilliant read. There are some cringe moments in the book Prentice having relations with his uncles girlfriend, that he considered to be his aunt growing up being one of them. Religion and class differences is also played out in a way that is reminiscent of 'upstairs downstairs 'culture from decades previous which makes for an interesting read. However I will say you do need to keep a close eye on characters. Banks jumps generations frequently and there is no forewarning it will just be a new paragraph. I advise to look up a family tree and keep it close at hand as it helped me immensely. The story flows easily enough with the spectre of uncle Rory occasionally popping up from time to time. We see insights from Rory personally as well as from others and even through his work that Prentice becomes enthralled in. We see our protagonist trying to work out his place in life , his relationships and with the death of a loved one his stance on religion wavering also. This never really felt like a murder mystery that it turned into which makes the ending even more shocking and sad. Overall I enjoyed the book, particularly the descriptions and side stories that are intertwined in the book through different time jumps. Prentice is also a brilliant narrator - his character likable but with the realism of being floored makes him somebody you would like to befriend.

I knew of this and had seen the dramatisation on TV years ago (famously highlighting what was to be some of the best actors of their generation), but never read the book. What a treat I had missed there .. this is by no means a quick read, and has its own cadence that repays careful savouring of both plot and language - the wee twists of language are a hoot, and you genuinely want to kick Prentice in the pants to get over himself at various points ... having also only seen it years ago I'd long since forgotten the plot and particular people's angles .. suffice to say that you genuinely want to know how it all disentangles...
A superb novel, thriller, perhaps slightly gothic read about coming of age for Scots of a certain generation .. Read and enjoy.

Thanks Netgalley and the Publisher. Not sure whether I was in the mood for this genre of book or just found it very confusing.

This book was not for me, didn't finisish, to much information a out everything else and not a lot of story. This is only my opion as it has some brilliant reviews.

The remote setting, obviously well known (or researched by) the author makes this novel stand-out, By the end the many flashbacks, although irritating at the time) make sense and provide a valuable back-ground to the community and family. Overall a welcome change to the many curent formuleric offerings.

I only read the first few pages as I quickly realised that this is not a book I enjoy reading at the present time. This is in no way a criticism of the book/author as I am sure it will be enjoyed by many people. I think it is a reissue from of an old book and I had this 'deja-vu' feeling that I did read it many years ago

This book was first released 25 years ago and an anniversary edition was re-released in November. Set in Scotland in the late 1980s and early 1990s, the reader learns that ‘the crow road’ means dead.

As I hadn’t read this book when it first came out, I really didn’t know what to make of it, as not a lot happens for a long time. When Banks was asked what this novel was about, he said, “It’s about Death, Sex, Faith, cars, Scotland and drink”, so we’re no better off really. Despite its high acclaim, I really couldn’t see what the fuss was about or was able to read too much into it. A plot which only vaguely piqued my interest in the last quarter, the rest being about the rather mundane lives and loves of Prentice McHoan, (a student), his family and friends. Prentice is unremarkable in his typical student drunken antics, boozing, bonking, spouting half-baked philosophical theories and rebelling against his parents’ views - in this case refusing to visit home on grounds of different religious beliefs. He seems hellbent on a self-destructive course, crashing his exams, imbibing mind-blowing quantities of alcohol and dope, refusing to speak to his Dad, lying to his Mum, jealous of his older brother’s success and feeling rather sorry for himself. I felt ambivalent about our main character, his immature and churlish nature.

There was so little happening in the story that I must admit that I found it really hard to concentrate at times, as it just didn’t hold my interest. With the leaping back and forth in time and frequent changes in narrator, it wasn’t always evident, initially at least, which character was doing the narrative. Was the author deliberately trying to confuse us or even irritate us by doing this - whatever it certainly succeeded. In the last quarter something resembling a plot finally took shape and was a redeeming feature, but why did it take so long for this to emerge?

I would like to thank Netgalley and Little Brown Book Group UK for the opportunity to read an advance copy of the ebook in return for an honest review.

I first read this book some years ago and being a fan of Iain Banks work was happy to be given the encouragement to read it again.
From the opening sentence, which is startling in itself, the book is a roller-coaster ride. The jumping backwards in time gets annoying and at times makes the book difficult to follow. Despite that the book is well written and I couldn't stop reading.

This book tells the story of Prentice and his family mostly through narration by Prentice.

The can get a little confusing at times so it is a book you want to concentrate on to get the best from the intricacies of the story.

The book was first published in 1992 and the story is set in the 80s/90s era and there is an amount of local language that might be a little difficult to follow if you are unfamiliar with the Scottish phrases but if you persevere, you will pick up the gist of what they mean.

The story is poignant with a good dose of humour thrown in and well worth a read.