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The Quarry
- Narrated by: Peter Kenny
- Length: 9 hrs and 14 mins
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Summary
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.
Critic reviews
"Eerily compelling." (William Leith)
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What listeners say about The Quarry
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- J. A. Croucher
- 07-07-13
An excellent listen for a sunny day
I could listen to Peter Kenny read almost anything, I love his way. Combined with another great observation of the human condition from Iain Banks the experience is great.
I lay in the garden for two days in listening heaven with breaks for people, drinks and food, what more could you ask for.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Kieron
- 02-07-13
Goodbye Mr Banks.
Like many, I mourn the loss of one of our greatest writers; Iain Banks. So, I’m biased, I admit it. Despite my bias, this is a great novel. For the Banksians out there, the story is written from the perspective of a teenage boy; like Wasp Factory. The flow is quick with political undertones like Crow Road. It’s dark too, like Complicity and The Bridge. It also has that dark humour that’s hidden inside the modern dysfunctional family, Garbadale, Stonemouth and Business. In summary, a great finale – you need to listen to this.
One final note, Peter Kenny, he's a perfect choice to narrate Banks' work. He provides the icing on the cake.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Bammosan
- 15-07-13
Excellent narration of Iain's last book
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 understanding
Who was your favorite character and why?
the son
What 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 father
Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?
yes
Any additional comments?
just thanks to all involved especially Iain Banks and Peter Kenny
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3 people found this helpful
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- L Cron
- 11-10-19
A bit anticlimactic
I had high expectations for the last book by my beloved author and so was underwhelmed by the actual storyline, which didn’t seem to match the quality of many previous offerings. However, I suppose the useless feeling of loss and disappointment is poignant and somewhat reflects how I feel about the untimely loss of such a great writer and insightful human. It’s a nice book, more than a little melancholic with a pervasive tiredness about it.
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- Hugh Cameron
- 19-07-20
If you liked the book, you will love this.
A wonderfully narrated piece of work by Peter Kenny in bringing the characters in my favourite Banks novel to life. Brought so much deeper when you realise what the author was going through while writing it. It’s almost like a book-end in the sense that his first and last published novel’s focused so intently on the dynamics in the relationship between a father and son.
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- Mark
- 30-07-13
A must read the the devoted Banks fans like me
OK - so the book was not his best, but we need to cut this great guy some slack - he was after all dying before he even started the book. Banks is just a fabulous imagination and while this was a great listen and was pretty well read, I will so much more miss him for his 'Feersum' SciFi. I am so glad he also loved his SciFi so much.
If either of us were religious - I would be saying - Bless you Banks!
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- R Bligh
- 26-11-16
compeling
first book of Ian'# I've read. laughed and cried. disappointed when it was over. now looking for more of his stuff
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- steven
- 22-07-13
A climax that never happens
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 sure
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- Dr Zube
- 24-04-15
Ok but characters you grow to hate
Started well but the let down is the story I am afraid to say, charterers I eventually either hated or didn't care about. Disappointing but good narration and some redeeming features, I.e. kit in particular
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- A. Cairns
- 08-07-13
Gives understanding of disability.
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.
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