by Ian Banks
This is the story of Kit and Guy. Kit is Guy's son and is somewhere along the Asperger's syndrome. Guy has brought Kit up from the time he was left on his doorstep as a baby. He has never told Kit who his mother is, or he has told him many times but each time he is given a different story. Guy is in the latter stages of cancer.
The story is told by Kit and takes place over a winter weekend, when a number of Guy's old university friends have come to visit, with the purpose of trying to find a compromising video tape they made when they were media students at the nearby university, and lived together in this same house.
On this simple plot Ian Bank's crafts a very funny, poignant novel. The characters are few but are brought to life wonderfully in a way that left me wanting the story to continue beyond the ending of the novel. The book is given more edge by the fact that the author died of cancer before publication.
A word of warning. The book makes liberal use of the F-word and C-word, so don't read if this will put you off. Otherwise enjoy! 9/10
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