The Quarry
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Get 3 months for £0.99/mo
The Quarry
Buy Now for £12.99
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Narrated by:
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Peter Kenny
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By:
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Iain Banks
About this listen
Kit doesn't know who his mother is. What he does know, however, is that his father, Guy, is dying of cancer. Feeling his death is imminent, Guy gathers around him his oldest friends - or at least the friends with the most to lose by his death. Paul - the rising star in the Labour party who dreads the day a tape they all made at university might come to light; Alison and Robbie, corporate bunnies whose relationship is daily more fractious; Pris and Haze, once an item, now estranged, and finally Hol - friend, mentor, former lover and the only one who seemed to care.
But what will happen to Kit when Guy is gone? And why isn't Kit's mother in the picture? As the friends reunite for Guy's last days, old jealousies, affairs and lies come to light as Kit watches on.
©2013 Iain Banks (P)2013 Hachette AudioListeners also enjoyed...
Critic reviews
"Eerily compelling." (William Leith)
If you could sum up The Quarry in three words, what would they be?
Understanding of illnesses.Who was your favorite character and why?
Kit. Thinking about what was going on in the story and Kit being such a young boy who was the main carer of Guy, his father, made me feel that as a young man he was able to pass on a lot.Have you listened to any of Peter Kenny’s other performances? How does this one compare?
Not sure I've listened to any before but my memory is terrible so maybe I have. It was very expressive and I got a lot out of his voice.Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?
Would have liked to do that but because of family commitments I wasn't able to.Any additional comments?
I'm very glad that I heard about the book which was obviously hyped a lot in Scotland with Iain Banks being Scots and then dying, so I'm glad that I got a hold of it and listened to it. I knew Iain Banks was a top author and this book was another top story.Gives understanding of disability.
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What made the experience of listening to The Quarry the most enjoyable?
the narration and the steely response to cancer with a touch of rage into the night with humour and understandingWho was your favorite character and why?
the sonWhat does Peter Kenny bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you had only read the book?
brings out the individual characters of the protagonist and the friends and especially his fatherWas this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?
yesAny additional comments?
just thanks to all involved especially Iain Banks and Peter KennyExcellent narration of Iain's last book
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What did you like best about The Quarry? What did you like least?
This was my first Banks encounter and I was expecting a lot and had no knowledge of any of this previous work. It reminded me of one of those 1950s American plays of great intensity by Tennessee Williams, Arthur Miller or Eugene O'Neill - a family gathers in one room and over the space of two hours they haul out the dark secrets and through tears, cursing, accusations and several litres of alcohol they leave relationships in tatters and the mother in tears. Banks does the modern version - something like "Peter's Friends" but instead of Aids being the elephant in the room the father of the central character is dying of cancer. Through the familiar haze of alcohol, drugs and sharp tongues the groups of his university friends who have gathered to say goodbye tear through each other's reputations. Told by his son who suffers from Aspergers, the book builds up to a climax that never materialises and then fades into nothingness. I suspect that the dying man's rant echoes Banks's own cry of anger and frustration at his unfortunate disease. He does not manage to recreate the dramatic intensity of the American playwrights and his plot is shallow and rather pointless.Would you ever listen to anything by Iain Banks again?
Not sureA climax that never happens
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compeling
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Would you listen to The Quarry again? Why?
Iain Bank wrote this book then announced he too had cancer and died shortly before this book was rushed through and published.This will not be the first or last. He is a great storyteller and writer. One of the 20th century greats.
What did you like best about this story?
He has a great way of bringing together his characters.Which character – as performed by Peter Kenny – was your favourite?
Kit - he is intelligent so insightful.Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?
all of itIain Banks last novel
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