What the hell is this? It's so incredibly boring and completely aimless, and it's just not very well crafted either. I really have to go back to Murakami's rule from 1Q84: if the reader hasn't seen something before, you should take extra time to describe it.

And I knew it all along. I knew that if I even caught a hint of criticism of this book, they would label it as 'Kafka-esque', everyone's favorite shorthand for something that's weird and depressing. People praise Murakami for his true understanding of Kafka, and I have to praise him too because I don't quite get Kafka myself. But I have a strong suspicion about what someone is going to call Kafka-esque, which often just tells me that the critic is reminded of Kafka, and not necessarily that the writing actually has any of the qualities of Kafka. Incidentally, this also feels like the depths of Banks' understanding of Kafka. Kafka.

Okay, so this is supposed to be a book about psychology and an in-depth exploration of our relationships. But first and foremost, it may come as a surprise that it's actually about a freaking bridge. And if you write 'I got in the lift, I went to the building', where exactly is the lift? And the building, in relation to the bridge? Is it alongside it? Does it block the passage along the bridge? Then your character goes beneath the bridge and starts cutting about. I didn't even know what the top of the bridge looked like! Now you're suddenly underneath it? What's there? I'm given next to no tools to visualize this bridge, the buildings, and everything else.

If you're going to build a weird world, well... then build it properly. If you have a message about relationships, don't expect to wow me with psychoanalysis and literary quality before you have a decent plot, well-developed characters, and - oh god! - a proper setting.

Go home, literature. You're drunk.

*I forgot about Beckett too. Was it weird and depressing? Yeah. Did you get it? No. Beckett!

**Scottish for 'walking about'.

Well good gosh golly dang.

I don't know if I want to spoil too much about the story here. So, I'll get this out of the way and say that you should probably read this book. It's just so...weird. And wonderful. It's that kind of slow plodding book that I like. But at the same time, it's full of little things and has such a fast pace that it makes it hard not to like it.

There are a bunch of different writing styles that come up seemingly at random. Yet, they all manage to work their way into the plot, and it's all done so wonderfully.

I think that's about all I really want to say. Sure, it might be a good idea to give more plot details or talk about the prose or the dialogue. But instead, I just think I won't. I can easily understand why somebody might not like it. However, it dives right into the kind of stuff that appeals to me. So, check it out.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a unique and engaging read. It's not for everyone, but if you're willing to take a chance, you might just be pleasantly surprised.

Give it a try and see for yourself what all the fuss is about. You might find that it becomes one of your new favorite books.

Now that was a truly fascinating book!

The most spoiler-free account I can offer is that the encounter with the remarkable Bridge of the title is captivating, and its significance in the protagonist's life is deeply moving. At times, the book may seem a bit detached and uneven, but it comes together beautifully upon completion. Moreover, similar to Danielewski's "House of Leaves", it is a love story in a sense that you don't fully understand until you've finished reading. In bringing this entire project to life, the author clearly shows great respect for his readers.

From a different (and perhaps more mundane) point of view, reading this book is akin to watching the TV show "Once Upon A Time", yet it surpasses it in most aspects. It offers a more immersive and engaging experience, with a depth of story and character that keeps you hooked from start to finish. The author's ability to create a world that is both magical and believable is truly impressive, and it's a book that you'll find yourself thinking about long after you've turned the last page.

This isn't a review, it's a love letter. Sorry.

In the large and disparate family of Iain Banks novels, this is the funny looking kid whom you're sure must be adopted. Yes, it has its daddy's eyes and a wicked grin, but it's... Different. It's not one of the truly creatively nasty ones like The Wasp Factory or Complicity. It's not one of the warm(ish)-hearted ones such as The Crow Road, Whit, or The Quarry. It's not one of the dark, bleak, mildly baffling ones like Canal Dreams or A Song of Stone, nor is it a love story with complications like Stonemouth, Dead Air, or The Steep Approach to Garbadale. It's not Banks-with-an-m, though a knife missile does put in an appearance at one point. It's something altogether stranger, and unmistakably Banks.

(Apologies to Walking On Glass, The Business, and Transition, I haven't forgotten you, honest. As to Espedair Street, well, we haven't yet been introduced. I look forward to making your acquaintance.)

Banks's other books are grounded more-or-less firmly in some kind of reality; this is not. The Bridge is an extended dream sequence.

STOP!

I know what you're going to say, and:

1/ That's not a spoiler, it's mentioned quite explicitly in the blurb.

2/ It's not some kind of wishy-washy, misty-eyed, hand-wavingly vague, delicately allusive, oh-look-at-me-I've-read-a-psychology-textbook dream sequence with lots of notional fog drifting about the place, and sudden and jarring transformations, but something much more solid and robust.

The Bridge is an extended dream sequence in which three main strands of narrative reflect and inform one another. It has the lightness of The Business (see, I told you I hadn't forgotten you), and a much larger dose of verbal dexterity. It is, to be frank, very, very funny with serious undercurrents. It's a puzzle-box, and one of the delights is unpacking it for yourself.

Now, why might you not enjoy it?

Well, and this made my heart sink when I encountered it, but one of the strands is written in the kind of bizarre phonetic spelling that stopped me from reading Feersum Enjinn. I got used to it. Do not skip these sections, they are genuinely hilarious. I wonder if this is where Pratchett got the Feegles from.

There is the whole dream thing to contend with, but I think I've covered that. It's not as if there's that much gratuitous weirdness.

There's a fair bit of sex, so if you're one of Bertie Wooster's aunts... Well, probably just Aunt Agatha, Aunt Dahlia would take it in her stride, don't you think? Probably has done in her time... You might want to look away. Mind you, if you have a problem with sex you'll probably want to steer clear of Banks altogether.

There's the fact that it's not pure fantasy: one of the strands, and hence about a third of the book, is memory, and set in 60s - 80s Scotland (roughly). In fact it's not pure anything, which is perfectly fine by me, but may bother you.

Oh, and there's the possibility that you may be expecting something deep and chin-strokingly serious, in which case you won't like the surface glitter... did I mention that it's really very funny? I did? Oh good. That and that if you are the kind of person who drives themselves mad trying to figure out what each and every reference means then you'll need a padded cell by the end. It might even be worth it.

This leaves me with the ticklish problem of the K-word and, slightly less contentiously, the matter of the G-word. There are, in the bridge section itself, traces of Kafka, and shades of Gormenghast. Both are powerful spices used sparingly, and I doubt I'd have spotted it if I hadn't read Walking On Glass, but they are there. Don't expect heavy and paranoid.

Just to complete this game of Iain Banks bingo, and with due apologies to anyone on the wrong side of the Atlantic, where Transition is Banks-with-an-m, there may be a touch here of the conflict between realism and solipsism - don't ask me about that, I'm no philosopher.

Bingo!

Either I have become accustomed to the author's style, or the ending is indeed less unexpected than in the previous books of the author.

Closer to the one-third mark of the book, it became approximately clear how everything would end.

This may be due to the fact that the author has developed certain writing patterns or tropes that are recognizable to the reader.

However, it could also be that the story is simply unfolding in a more linear and predictable manner.

Despite this, the book still holds some interest as the author explores the characters and their relationships in detail.

It will be interesting to see if the remaining two-thirds of the book can offer any surprises or if it will continue along the expected path.

Overall, while the ending may seem less unexpected, the book still has its merits and is worth reading for fans of the author's work.

One of my perennial favourites is this particular story.

I am truly enamoured with the parallel world of the bridge and the fascinating way its details are intricately seeded from the hero's life. It creates a captivating and immersive experience that draws me in every time.

However, unfortunately, there is a rough patch in the narrative when some barbarians enter the scene. Why is it that most alternate-headworld novels seem to have a rather tedious section involving barbarians? It's a bit of a mystery.

The real-world strand of the story hasn't stayed with me as strongly as the imaginative bravado of the bridge world. Perhaps it's because I didn't get the sense that the character had anything truly major to address in the real world.

Nonetheless, I find myself rereading this story every few years纯粹 for the pure enjoyment it brings. The unique blend of the parallel world and the hero's journey always manages to enthrall me and transport me to a different realm.

I did not have an aversion to this book!!! To be sure, I discovered a significant portion of it to be extremely irritating, with elements that were abusive to animals, salacious, and overly masculine to an unreasonable degree. Perhaps this book was not intended for me. However, I indulged myself by reading the plot summary on Wikipedia because Banks has taught me not to trust him. Honestly, knowing the “twist” from the start made the intersecting narratives more bearable. I was able to focus more on the primary relationships, both romantic and non-romantic yet still loving. The coda at the end earned this book a full bonus star - but you really have to wade through a lot of “Yeah, okay - and?” moments to reach it. There was too much focus on Orr and not enough on Alex or Barbarian.

Additionally, I created a playlist because the characters were constantly revealing themselves through the records they were playing. So, here it is:

1. Little Miss Strange - Jimi Hendrix

2. She Belongs to Me - Bob Dylan

3. Those Were the Days - Cream

4. Longer - Dan Fogelberg

5. Wichita Lineman - Glen Campbell

6. Ode to Billie Joe - Bobbie Gentry

7. Post World War Two Blues - Al Stewart

8. Roads to Moscow - Al Stewart

9. Irreversible Neural Damage - Kevin Ayers

10. Living Wreck - Deep Purple

11. Somebody's Gonna Get Their Head Kicked In - The Rezillos

12. Ne me quitte pas - Jaques Brel

13. Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out - Bessie Smith

14. Total Control - The Motels

15. Precious - Pretenders

16. The Marriage of Figaro (Overture) - Mozart

17. Lawyers Guns and Money - Warren Zevon

18. The Weavers Answer - FAMILY

19. Steeltown - Big Country

20. Bridge Over Troubled Waters - Simon & Garfunkel

21. Will the Wolf Survive - Los Lobos

22. A Pair of Brown Eyes - The Pogues

I truly loved it. There wasn't a whole lot of a traditional storyline to it, but that didn't matter in the slightest.

The way it was written was simply captivating. It had this unique charm of constantly invoking questions within my mind.

With each sentence, I found myself pondering and wondering what was going to happen next, or what a particular phrase or action might signify.

It made for a very, very interesting and enjoyable read. I was completely engrossed from start to finish, and even after I finished reading, those questions continued to linger in my thoughts, making me want to pick it up and read it again to try and uncover more of its hidden depths.

It's the kind of writing that makes you think and engages you on a deeper level, and for that, I am truly grateful.

My first book by Iain Banks and I'm definitely a fan!

Filled with analogies, metaphors, and wordplay, even in the translated edition. This makes the story really come alive and as a reader, you constantly wonder what exactly is connected with what.

In "The Bridge", you follow Alex, who has a car accident on a bridge and ends up in a coma. During his coma, he wakes up in a dream on the same bridge, but now the bridge has turned into a colossal construction that stretches beyond the horizon and provides a living place for thousands of people. The character in his dream, John, has amnesia and goes in search of why he has ended up on the bridge. The psychiatrist Dr. Joyce, a metaphor for Alex's subconscious, tries to help John with extensive dream analyses. Thus, passages with dreams within dreams are created, which makes the story complex but still intriguing. The search for answers sometimes leads to surreal scenes, where - as is characteristic of dreams - John's lack of wonder causes an abundance of questions for the reader.

A must-read!

DNF. 18%.

I didn't get it and didn't care enough to try.

Maybe it was because I was too busy with other things or simply lacked the motivation.

But looking back, I realize that this 18% could have been something more.

It could have been a new achievement, a step forward in my progress.

However, due to my lack of effort and attention, I missed out on it.

This experience has taught me a valuable lesson.

In the future, I will not be so complacent and will make sure to give my all to every opportunity that comes my way.

No matter how small the percentage may seem, it could potentially lead to something great.

So, from now on, I will strive to be more proactive and determined in my pursuits.

After all, you never know what you might achieve if you just give it a try.

Confusing smart Arse pish is a rather strange and perhaps somewhat derogatory term. It seems to imply that someone is being overly clever or showing off their intelligence in a way that is confusing or irritating to others.

We often encounter such people in our daily lives. They may constantly correct others, spout off facts and figures without much regard for the context or the feelings of those around them. While intelligence is generally a positive trait, when it is used in a way that makes others feel inferior or confused, it can have a negative impact on relationships and interactions.

It's important to remember that being smart doesn't mean we have to be a smart aleck. We can use our intelligence to help others, solve problems, and make positive contributions to society. By being respectful and empathetic towards others, we can build better relationships and create a more harmonious and intelligent community.

In his masterful use of vivid language and captivating images, Iain Banks' The Bridge evokes comparisons to Orhan Pamuk's The White Castle. Additionally, as Banks frames his story as the inner workings of a mind in a coma, it reminds one of the mind-centered classic, The Blind Owl by Sadegh Hedayat.

The narrator, whom we'll call John as that's his name in the coma dreams, provides basic details: single, Scottish, thirty-six years old, he crashed his car into another while driving at high speed on a bridge.

John's mental state is a tumultuous journey from start to finish. Sometimes he's deeply immersed in his coma dreams, interacting with a psychiatrist (as he suffers from amnesia and can't even recall his own name), meeting a lovely woman named Abberlaine Arrol, and exploring the surrounding multi-level city that's part of a nearly infinite bridge structure. At other times, John is lucid enough to recall his past life: his family, his girlfriend Andrea, and his years of study.

The progression from chapter to chapter and section to section is intricate, frequently shifting from one mental state to another. To give a taste of what readers will encounter, let's focus on a few provocative scenes.

In the "DREAM WITHIN DREAM WITHIN DREAM" scene, John's psychiatrist believes his amnesia is more due to psychological shock than head injuries. So, the answers to his questions lie in his dreams. How fascinating it is that while in a coma, John dreams of seeing a shrink and is told his dreams hold the key. He then pays close attention to his dreams and records the details in a diary the next morning. These dreams are vivid and surreal, among the most astonishing parts of the novel.

In the "NUTTY AS A FRUITCAKE" scene, before entering Dr. Joyce's office (echoes of James Joyce), John notices something unusual about the shrink's next patient. A thin, worried-looking man is sitting with his eyes closed, and a policeman is sitting on top of him. Dr. Joyce doesn't seem to think twice about this. When John asks why, Dr. Joyce replies that the man, Mr. Berkeley, thinks he's a different object each day, and today he thinks he's a chair cushion. This incident highlights the strong Alice and Mad Hatter tea party vibe that runs throughout the novel.

The "GRAINY BLACK & WHITE" scene shows John's apartment with a built-in television that clicks on and hisses. In grainy black and white, there's a man in a hospital bed hooked up to machines. John wonders how and why this is happening. As readers, we also wonder if what John sees is himself in a coma via some mental projection or out-of-body experience, and how it fits into the context of his overall coma dream.

In the "FREUDIAN SLIPS" scene, after a night of embarrassing sex dreams, John decides to lie about his dreams during his session with Dr. Joyce. However, during the session, he has a shock when he realizes he's dreaming and Dr. Joyce is part of himself. The plot then takes a twist as the doctor suggests hypnosis as the next stage of treatment.

In the "GREEK MYTH AND JUNGIAN ARCHETYPES" scene, John's dreams become like Joseph Campbell's "The Hero's Journey," with images from Greek myths and Medieval legends. During an outing with Abberlaine Arrol, he's asked about his belief in and desire for a Kingdom and a City. We wonder if Abberlaine functions as John's anima, and what to make of her drawing.

The "SURPRISE!" scene has John returning to his apartment to find a crew of Bridge employees carting out all his possessions. He's being relocated to a lower section with a lower status and allowance. When he confronts the foreman, he's shown an order signed by Dr. Joyce. And then, the final insult: he's demanded to surrender his clothes and is given a pair of low-status green overalls. The insults continue as he tries to regain some respectability, and it's quite humorous.

The "MASHING OF LANGUAGE" scene shows John's language veering into a heavy Scottish brogue at different points in the narrative, another reason why his doctor shares the same surname as James Joyce.

Finally, in the "SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION OF REALITY" scene, we wonder if John will be given a choice: to stay in his coma dream or rejoin our more conventional reality. Only Iain Banks knows the answer.

Scottish author Iain Banks, 1954 - 2013.