The Bridge

Iain Banks was born in Scotland in 1954 and published his first book - "The Wasp Factory" - 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'. "The Bridge" was first published in 1986.

"The Bridge" opens at the scene of a car crash - well, more or less. Rather than a description of the wreckage and how bad the injuries are, we're treated to the thoughts running through the driver's own head. He's knows there's plenty of blood, and is specifically aware of the circle of pain on his chest - presumably from the impact with the steering wheel. However, there's also a touch of panic - especially with the sudden realisation that he doesn't know what his name is. It's probably lucky, then, that he didn't realise he was slipping into a coma...

Our hero comes round on 'The Bridge', having been found floating in the water with no memory, no identification and a strange circular mark on his chest. (There were also six broken ribs and a few head injuries). He spent a couple of months in hospital, and was christened John Orr by the nurses who treated him - a name he still uses, since he still can't remember his real name.

The Bridge itself is huge - it's at least fifteen hundred feet high and disappears over the horizon in both directions. About six or seven thousand live in each section, and there's probably room for more. In each section of the Bridge, there may be up to a dozen languages in use - most people speak the language specific to their own profession, as well as the Bridge's official, ceremonial language. Unfortunately, it seems that the Bridge's official language is the only one Orr can speak. For some time, Orr had tried to find out something about the Bridge - exactly where it's located, how old it is, something about the places that lie at its ends. (It's said that 'The City' is at one end and 'The Kingdom' is at the other - although nobody appears to have been in either place. The answers to some of his questions, he suspects, would be found in the library. Naturally, he's bewildered that the section he lives in has somehow managed to lose theirs).

About eight months have passed since Orr's arrival, and his treatment is continuing as an out-patient. He is one of Doctor Joyce's star patients - Joyce specialises in the analysis of dreams and hopes to learn, through these, something about our hero's past life. However, for the bulk of his treatment, the dreams he has been telling Joyce about have been a work of fiction - since the dreams he had been having were only partially remembered and scarcely worth the analysis. (Nevertheless, when Orr is eventually able to remember his 'real' dreams in detail, he decides to carry on telling the doctor about his fake dreams).

As yet, there's been no need for Orr to provide for himself : he's expenses are easily covered with his Hospital Out-Patients Living Allowance, and he has also been provided with a luxurious apartment. Mr Brooke, an Engineer and occasional drinking buddy, is probably the closest thing he has to a friend. (Engineers are apparently one of the Bridge's highest ranking castes, so he's a very influential drinking buddy, too). It's through Brooke that he meets Abberlaine Arrol, the daughter of the Bridge's Chief Engineer. (Orr is summoned one night to Dissy Pitton's - Brooke and his cronies want to visit the local brothel, but they obviously need to ditch Abberlaine. Orr was chosen to look after her, while Brooke visited the ladies of negotiable affection). Abberlaine, in time, proves a useful ally.

It's Orr himself who tells most of the story, recalling the details of his life on the Bridge and his dreams - "I walk on, and catch the stationary rickshaw up". We're also told, in time, something of his 'real' life. However, since these parts are told about him, rather than by him - "He came to stay in Sciennes Road, just liking the name, not knowing the place"- it doesn't appear his memories are returning. Some of the dream sequences can be fairly amusing - many of them feature a sword-wielding, barbarian hero who speaks with a very broad Scottish accent. I'd have preferred a little less time spent dreaming and a bit more time investigating the Bridge itself, admittedly - though it's still a very good book overall.

Brilliant and engrossing (0/0 people found this helpful)

I've read most of Iain Banks's books and this is my favourite. I was engrossed in the various stories and couldn't put the book down although I would have to agree that it did fade a bit towards the end. I was totally oblivious to the apparent similarities to other writers - I'm obviously not as well read as other reviewers - and it was only at the end of the book that I realised how it all fitted together. I'm glad I didn't read the reviews before the book as the detail in them would have spoiled my enjoyment of it.

One for literature students (0/0 people found this helpful)

Banks is on record as saying The Bridge is his favourite of his novels, and it's the one most beloved of modern Scots literature lecturers (because it's obscure and complicated enough to justify detailed study, is set in a surreal but identifiable version of a much-loved Scottish landmark (the Forth Bridge) and makes a good companion piece to Alasdair Gray's Lanark). Personally though, I prefer The Wasp Factory, Espedair Street, The Crow Road, Complicity and Dead Air.

I'd echo the comments that The Bridge starts strongly but peters out. The world of the bridge is fascinating and well realised, the people less so, but long before the end you're thinking 'just get on with it'.

Life is but a dreamý (7/9 people found this helpful)

Iain Banks' 3rd novel tells the tale of a car crash victim and the symbolic dreamscape he inhabits while deep in a coma. The fantasy world of the bridge is full of delightfully strange oddities and vivid characters, even weirder 'dreams within dreams' (one of which, an amusing fantasy barbarian warrior pastiche, sees Banks experimenting with the sort of illiterate phonetic prose he would later perfect in Feersum Endjinn), and Banks flashback fleshing out of the lead characters real life history is skilfully done. While Banks descriptive and character writing is excellent however, there is something missing here - and that's any strong narrative. The Bridge has one of the slightest plots of any Banks novel, and unlike his previous two novels there are no unexpected plot twists along the way - from the very beginning its made perfectly clear that we are in the dreamworld of a comatose man, and from then on follows a pleasantly weird but rather languid symbolic journey as the character puts his thoughts in order before coming round. The Bridge is certainly recommended for its strong characterisation, inventive weirdness and beautiful prose, but with a very predictable story arc and a paper-thin plot I wouldn't rank this as amongst the authors very best works. A triumph of style over content.

"Lanark" it is not... (4/12 people found this helpful)

Having read some of Banks' other works, "The Wasp Factory", "Complicity" and "The Crow Road", I was an admirer of his style. However, "The Bridge" comes across as a cheap, clinical copy of Alasdair Gray's superb "Lanark". The parallels are too numerous [even in its structure] for it to be pure coincidence and its execution too poor to be worthwhile. Banks' turns of phrase here are too scientific, too convoluted to really convey the dreamlike states they describe. It lacks the poetry and fluidity of his other work, and for fans of Gray's epic, reading "The Bridge" will be a toil.

Iain Banks

Reader Reviews:

Tossing A Coin For Luck (0/0 people found this helpful)

Brilliant and engrossing (0/0 people found this helpful)

One for literature students (0/0 people found this helpful)

Life is but a dreamý (7/9 people found this helpful)

"Lanark" it is not... (4/12 people found this helpful)

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