Canal Dreams

You've lived one nightmare. You continually dream other nightmares. Then circumstances put you into a situation that you wish was only... a nightmare. World famous Japanese cellist Hisako Onoda, afraid of flying, takes the slow boat to her European tour via the Panama Canal. Civil unrest has forced her boat and three others to become marooned in Lake Gatun. Days pass slowly for Hisako... practice, dinner parties between the three crews, scuba diving, and a new love affair. Then something happens to upset this pleasant order. This event cascades into a life-or-death battle, something skill in cello playing cannot help. Hisako must pull strength from her past, as a student activist, an ostracized youth, and a woman with a secret. During her time in Lake Gatun, she dreams vividly of passions and trials. The lines between dream and reality become mixed at time, to Hisako's horror. Banks concocts an engaging story of a woman with a past, and an unpleasant future. This novel, like The Wasp Factory: A Novel, reflects on what people can and will do in trying circumstances. I read the Abacus 1990 Great Britain edition, but I suspect there were no changes in other editions.

Iain Banks first novel, The Wasp Factory, was published in 1984. In the years since, he's won critical acclaim, topped best-seller lists and has even written Science Fiction books under the cunning nom-de-plume 'Iain M. Banks'. He's also seen this book, "The Crow Road", adapted for television by the BBC in 1996. "Canal Dreams" is his fifth non sci-fi book and was first published in 1989. The book's central character is Hisako Onoda, a world-famous cellist. As the book opens, Hisako is en-route from Japan to Europe, where she's due to perform in a series of concerts. However, as she's terrified of flying, she's making the journey by boat. Having travelled to Honolulu on the Gassam Maru, she then boarded the Nakodo - which was due to take her to Rotterdam via the Panama Canal. Unfortunately, due to `civil unrest' in the region - armed conflict between guerrilla fighters and government forces - the canal has been closed. Fro the moment, the Nakodo and two other ships are essentially trapped on Gatún Lake. Although they are hoping for the all-clear to continue their journey soon, the conflict I, unfortunately, coming closer. There are elements of a thriller to "Canal Dreams", but the strength of the book lies in telling Hisako's story. She is a very well-developed character, though her past in only gradually given away - the book jumps backwards and forwards, looking at some of the key events of Hisako's life. It's a method that may take a little getting used to - especially if you haven't read anything by Banks before. However, for me, I felt it really added to the enjoyment of the book. Hisako's travelling companions aren't so well developed, and little is told of their lives, thoughts or motivations. However, as "Canal Dreams" doesn't set out to tell their stories this really isn't a problem - and I would absolutely recommend this book.

It's a testament to Banks' abilities that this book is even readable considering how awkward it feels. As one can see from other reviews, it's probably his least liked book, and while I didn't hate it as much as the others seem to, I'm not going to go and claim that it's his masterpiece. It has an interesting premise, a near future where involves a rather complicated seeming political situation that somehow involves the Panama canal. Why are we at the canal? Because the main character, a Japanese cello player can't bring herself to fly anywhere so she's taking a ship to Europe. The main character is probably where the trouble starts, he does his best to give her some sort of personality through loads of actually rather striking backstory (his plotting skills may be off in this book but he sure can write and pull out a memorable scene) but the character comes off as rather isolated and distant and it's never really explained why she's that way. Even with the backstory, her motivations are a bit clouded (I can understand her fear of flying but why such an extreme reaction?). Also, he keeps throwing in absolutely bizarre dream sequences that while more like most people's dream sequences (ie they make no sense) they also seem to have no relation to the action at hand which makes them interesting reading but rather irrelevant. I haven't even touched on the plot itself . . . basically during the voyage while they're stuck in the canal, a bunch of terrorists take over the ship . . . and without giving too much away it doesn't go well (he gets bonus points for an inventive use for grenades, talk about style) and our cello player suddenly turns into Bruce Willis. Then the book ends. So all the pieces are there, but they just aren't put together well. So what's good about it? The writing itself is excellent, some of his best descriptions are here and as I mentioned earlier, he has a good eye for setting a striking scene. The book itself isn't that long, which means even if you don't enjoy it, it'll be over soon, so he gets points for not dragging out something that wasn't going too well to begin with. So the book mostly succeeds in little moments, flashbacks and small scenes and the like, but when you put it all together, it doesn't hold all that well. Oh well, he can't hit it out of the park every time. Obviously not the book to go for if you're trying to introduce someone to him, it makes for a quick read on its own and there's enough decent stuff to recommend it to fans, even if they'll have no reason to read it more than once.

I enjoyed reading this book. This was one of the first Iain Banks novels which I read and I really liked it. Now, with hindsight, I must say that my opinion is that it certainly isn't his best, but good nontheless. If you've never read Banks before and enjoy intellectually stimulating novels, then I'd recommend A Song of Stone or State of the Art. If you just want a nice cosy book which is exciting fun to read and which is more intellectually written than you're average Hollywood Movie/Book, then buy this. Good for long journeys. One other thing. All these people who just say "This book is pants, or bollocks!" to any book, should try writting one themselves. You might not like the book, and there is certainly no author around who can't accept that some people didn't like their book, but I believe each author deserves respect for what they wrote. Especially somebody like Iain Banks who perhaps doesn't writes nice and easy children books, but incredibly fascinating and encapturing books. I certainly enjoy the way when he changes his style of writing. Take Feersum Endjinn, Inversions, A Song of Stone, Use of Weapons, and more. Iain Banks is cool and I hope he writes many more books in the future.