The Steep Approach to Literary Acceptance

[devilgate]

A couple of articles (Times, Indy) on Banksie’s new novel refer to it being five years since his last one. Err, no: The Algebraist came out in 2004 (which is longer ago than I thought, but still less than three years).

Oh, wait, no, of course: that wasn’t a novel; that was just sci-fi.

Bah!

Technorati Tags: iain banks, books, science fiction, sf, literary snobbery

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This entry was automatically crossposted from my blog, A Labourer at the Bitface. You can comment here on LJ, but it might be nice if you commented over there.

Comments

[ang-grrr.livejournal.com]

From Private Eye...

This is Iain Bank's first "proper" novel (as opposed to the sci-fi stuff he turns out under the name of Iain M Banks) for five years.

And then, the last line...

Of old Banksy here didn't write novels for a living, you just know he'd have ended up working in a Dungeons and Dragons store.

*sigh*

Actually. I should send this to Ansible.

[ang-grrr.livejournal.com]

Of = If, obv.

[swisstone.livejournal.com]

The same thing turned up on Radio 4's Saturday Review (as reported to Ansible), and last night on Front Row Mark Lawson said the same to The Man Himself. Rather than rip his head off, Banksie said yes, it had been a long time, but did point out that there was a science fiction novel in ther.