Iain Banks: calling time on Raw Spirit
On a slow day in a London publishing house this must have seemed like a good idea, get one of Scotland's most famous novelists to visit each of the distilleries in Scotland and write it up as a book. As Banks himself points out in the book, the prospect of getting paid a handsome sum of money to go drinking Scotch across the length of the country is an attractive one and so Ian Banks' first nonfiction book was born (though it has taken me a few years to finally get around to reading it). The idea that a master wordsmith and Scotch lover goes in search of 'the perfect dram' is an attractive one if he can pull it off; sadly, he can't.
He starts with a fair degree of enthusiasm with the Islay malts such as Laphroaig and Lagavulin but something soon becomes very apparent. Writing a book about 100 odd distilieries and keeping it interesting is going to be pretty difficult since i) books of whisky tasting notes are already widely available and make for poor cover to cover reading, ii) the visitor centres/tours of distilleries are pretty generic and iii) whisky itself, while wide ranging in flavour is pretty damn similar in the production process. It would be too much to say that if you've seen one distillery you've seen them all but once you're past ten, you can probably stand down.
Accordingly the book veers away from what you think you're going to be reading – a book on whisky – and becomes a somewhat self indulgent collection of anecdotes of Ian Banks drinking with his mates. We're introduced to 'Dave' and 'Jim' and Ian Banks in turn becomes 'Banksie' as we are inducted into the group. The trouble is, most tales of things you do with your mates when drunk are funny only to you and your mates and putting it down in even half decent prose for a wider audience is not enough to salvage it unless you're a drunk with the wit of Dudley Moore's Arthur.
About half way through the book we get this piece of dialogue;
'This could be your best book ever, Banksie,' Dave says.
'Na,' I tell him. 'It could just be rubbish.'
Dave pauses for a moment. 'Yeah, but it could be your best book ever, Banksie.'
The dialogue ends there, Banksie doesn't answer because he's already said what he's probably come to realise. I wondered why he should have included this piece in the book in the first place but it too is a joke. The joke though is never on him because he's the one getting paid to write the book and the one getting paid to drink.
What's sad is that where he could have filled the pages with the stories of the distilleries and the people and the traditions, in this book, Banksie is at the centre of every story but he's not a comic writer and the stories fall flat. There's the time when Banksie said 'lake' instead of 'Loch' and Jim threatened to tell everyone that Banksie had 'been down South for too long'. We learn too of the time at a hotel where Jim, having ordered a bottle of wine and some glasses from room service, drops them causing a general commotion. Banksie tells us that 'all of this sounds hilarious from the bathroom; I start laughing quietly to myself and I'm still giggling when the night porter arrives with the brush and pan and replacement glass.' Yeah, I broke a glass last night too, it was crazy.
What's more is that even for a major and popular distillery like Talisker, there is less than a page and a half dedicated to the place, and that's a lot more space than most get. With many getting no air time at all, with 100 distilleries, there can be no more than 70 of the 360 pages of this book actually dedicated to the subject matter. There are commentaries on the Gulf war, most of Scotland's roads (he doesn't like the A9 but the B974 is brilliant apparently) and extensive descriptions of his Freelander, BMW M5 and other cars.
I have no doubt that Dave and Jim will love this book, and if you're a huge Iain Banks fan and want to know what it's like hanging out with Banksie for a few weeks, this probably comes a close second to the real thing. Personally, I'd rather get car reviews from Top Gear and comedy from Ricky Gervais. As for picking up anything about the whisky industry, if you're interested enough to even consider reading a 360 page book on whisky then you're probably already pretty clued up on the basics and this book will not deliver much more. I put the book down when two thirds of the way through calling time on this particular road trip for I think I'll sip my bedtime dram alone tonight having had all I can take of Dave's, Jim's and Banksie's 'wild and crazy guy' antics. If only they were that funny.
Andrew MacMichael
I cannot disagree with you more about Raw Spirit. I have never been a fan of Iain Banks fiction, having been dissapointed reading the newly published The Wasp Factory in my teens. I thoroughly enjoyed Raw Spirit. You're correct that the book does wonder off topic, in the way that much travelogue does. It certainly is semi-biographical but is none the worse for it offering a real insight into the writers personality, lifestyle, recreations (perhaps too much on cars) and politics (including the first Gulf War around the time the book was written and like most Scots Iain is on the Left). It is very honest and down to earth. Above all it is a eulogy to Malt Whisky from a man whom loves a dram (or three) and went on a (somewhat sporadic) voyage of discovery with more than a little humour.
Lyssie
I have NEVER read an Iain Banks novel - I don't read novels. Raw Spirit was wonderful. An off road trip around this beautiful country of Scotland, taking in some great Distilleries and memorable "DRAMS"
I read this prior to giving up on moving to France and coming to stay in Scotland, Banksie "thank you" for showing me the way and for educating me about Scots pronunciation!! You're a Grand Chap and a fellow "Piss Artist!!!" Love You!!!
Food Blog Critic
Critic for critics' sake.
Shame you're not Scottish to enjoy (did you miss Oh! Flower of Scot....) in the Gealic (or did you not read that far - or did you miss the interprention or have you no sense of humour?.
Never mind - but thank you Andrew and Lyssie
The review is spot on. The book is a tedious load of padded phish, My copy was free, but I still wanted to invoice the author for the wasted hours reading it. Sadly, I can't. - I.B. was a great fiction writer though.
Nico Huizinga
Simply an enjoyable warm roadtrip. On several occasions I actually found myself sitting in the passenger seat, at the bar, walking the street in search of a bite to eat, standing at a lochside. Capturing my imagination is the honour which befalls the author.
All I can say for the critics: if you start reading anything with an expectation, you will always be disappointed. And no, Banks won't get a Pulitzer for this, but who cares? It gave me a few hours of joy.
Richard Turpin
On a positive note, the book introduced me to Penfold's Grange, Aussie red, which redeems it. (A bottle then was under a hundred quid, but is now north of £400) a memorable once-in-a-lifetime glass...sigh.
It was a hard slog and the section where he mentions, too much, the physical attractions of the teenage daughter of his travelling companion, simply odd. The book was a present at the time of its publication and was a bit eye-raising even then.