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  • The Wasp Factory

  • By: Iain Banks
  • Narrated by: Peter Kenny
  • Length: 6 hrs and 12 mins
  • 4.2 out of 5 stars (1,188 ratings)

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The Wasp Factory

By: Iain Banks
Narrated by: Peter Kenny
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Summary

The Wasp Factory is a bizarre, imaginative, disturbing, and darkly comic look into the mind of a child psychopath - one of the most infamous of contemporary Scottish novels.

"Two years after I killed Blyth, I murdered my young brother Paul, for quite different and more fundamental reasons than I'd disposed of Blyth, and then a year after that I did for my young cousin Esmerelda, more or less on a whim. That's my score to date. Three. I haven't killed anybody for years, and don't intend to ever again. It was just a stage that I was going through."

Enter - if you can bear it - the extraordinary private world of Frank, just 16, and unconventional, to say the least.

©2007 Hachette Audio (P)2007 Hachette Audio
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Critic reviews

"One of the most brilliant first novels I have come across." (The Telegraph)

"One of the top 100 novels of the century." (The Independent)

"Brilliant...irresistible...compelling." (New York Times)

What listeners say about The Wasp Factory

Average customer ratings
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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Both mesmerising and aweful

A remarkable book that both mesmerises and horrifies the listener.

Working on multiple levels it is both a physical and philosophical tale of deceit, destruction and rebirth.

And wasps.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Shaking

It's not a novel I'll easily forget. The violence in it is very real and balanced by the voice of the narrator. I'm not sure I would've persevered if Peter Kelly's voice hadn't taken some of the edge off, and seemingly embodied the protagonist.
The rituals and the setting of the island remain riveting throughout.

If you've heard about it, give it a try. But don't expect to be bowled over by the ending and I think you'll have a better experience of it than I have.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Just wow

Gripped from start to finish, beautifully written,beautifully performed, the nonchalant way the violence is described is horrifying and funny at the same time, this book will not be easily forgotten, Brilliant stuff

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Dark, disturbing but compelling

Deserves its modern classic status. Uncomfortable to read but thought provoking as all the best art should be.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

thourally enjoyable!

loved it!
great story, not predictable. fantastically read I just couldn't stop listening. Highly recommend

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Disturbing

A highly disturbing book, however although I enjoyed the book and the performance I feel it would have enjoyed it more as a physical book than audiobook

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Fantastic

I read this book many years ago and loved it. The audiobook is brilliant. The narrator’s tone is just right for this twisted tale. Highly recommend.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

very descriptive, weird, but not my thing

found the whole book a bit of a struggle to keep me interested. it's very descriptive, but it's an odd story, a delinquent young adult forms the centre of the story... but apart from describing his exceptional oddities and a plot twist, I wondered what the point of the whole story was for.

Excluding the long descriptional passages, I could summarise the whole book within a minute.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

an interesting read

A very unusual and interesting story. Well written and engaging if a little disturbing and definitely unusual.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Well adapted for audio.

A supurb story, have heard it before, and always worth another go.
Iain Banks at his best.

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2 people found this helpful