Walking On Glass

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short plot description: we follow three seemingly unrelated stories. Graham Park is head-over-heels in love but the object of his affections keeps him at arms length. Steven Grout is suffering from paranoid delusions and thinks he is an alien participant of a galactic war exiled to and kept on Earth by "Them". Quiss and Ajayi were on opposing sides in the "Therapeutic Wars" but are exiled to a castle for doing something wrong. They can only escape when they find the correct answer to a riddle but to actually get to answer the riddle they are forced to play unknown games with unknown rules. Walk on glass is a specialist glass that is specifically manufactured to be strong enough for people to walk over it.

A magician or street performer walking barefooted across broken glass is a dramatic spectacle. If you have a close-up view, you can see the person's feet pressing against the jagged edges. Sometimes, you can even hear glass breaking underfoot. It's clearly dangerous, and some performers claim that it requires the utmost concentration or even mystical intervention. Por otra parte, nos encontramos con las tribulaciones de Grout, un irascible y paranoico sujeto, que nos cuenta mucho de sí mismo a través de su relación (o falta de ) con las personas que lo rodean. Notese que los capítulos de sus andanzas todos llevan por título el nombre de personas. Quiss->Grout->Graham<-Grout<-Quiss döngülerin, örümcek ağlarının yaşanan herşeyin atılan bir adımın, edilen bir kelimenin, saliselik bir bakışın değiştireceği dokunacağı bir çok hayatın yanı sıra duyguların temelinde yatan ilkelliğin meydana getirdiği birlikteliğin aslında modern toplumda ki anlamsızlığına dair mükemmel bir düz yazıydı. His latest book was a science fiction (SF) novel in the Culture series, called The Hydrogen Sonata, published in 2012. Podemos observar, entonces, que si bien en el caso de Graham su historia es bastante situacional, es decir, basada en acciones y situaciones concretas; la de Grout se vuelve extremadamente personal, basada en sus percepciones, sensaciones, y en una interacción limitada con distintos entes sociales.Cabe señalar, que mientras la historia de Graham y Grout se desarrollan en el Londres “actual”, la de Quiss y Ajayi no tiene una locación identificada hasta el final de la novela, así que, se llega a pensar que bien podrían vivir en otro planeta, estrella, asteroide o galaxia. Pasos sobre el Cristal fue el segundo libro de Banks en ser publicado, y por lo que estuve investigando, pasó sin pena ni gloria.

my thoughts: not his best work, neither in the fiction nor the SciFi field. The characters feel only half-formed, as do the ideas expressed in the plot. Some plot turns are almost painfully obvious from the start, some parts didn't make sense do me though this was my second reading of the book. Iain Banks commented that the book "didn't do exactly what it set out to do and I think you have failed to an extent if the reader can't understand what you're saying. I worry sometimes that people will read Walking on Glass and think in some way I was trying to fool them, which I wasn't." [1] Release details [ edit ] Hope is worse than futile; it actually works against actions that are necessary to overcome obstacles. Those with hope are far less likely to improve their lot; they’re far more likely to be content hoping that things will get better. Those with hope are less likely take action for change; they’re more likely to be apathetic, hoping that change will just happen. Those with hope are less likely to see to the cause of a disease; they’re far more likely to be diverted by symptoms. And so on.In 1980s, UK, art student Graham is introduced to the enigmatic Sara ffitch by his eccentric best friend, Slater. He instantly falls for her, hard, and moons after her with such a mad crush that the reader can just tell that it's probably unrequited and not all will turn out well.... especially since Sara's rumored to be seeing a tough biker dude... O al aficionado al cine. Ahora me vienen unos ejemplos, el de las películas '21 gramos' y 'Babel', de González Iñarritu, que no me gustan nada; sin embargo, Nolan, con 'Origen' y 'Memento', ha logrado obras maestras.) This is a story about a creepy fuccboi, Dostoevsky's underground man if he were into new age conspiracies, and Mervyn Peake's big castle. For starters, Graham is too much of a wimp to be likeable. Should we have sympathy for his situation, that inability to talk to the attractive stranger? Sure, lots of us have been there. But does he do anything about it? No. Sara kisses him and he walks home with his head in the clouds. In the five hours(!) it takes him to walk home in the cold from Islington to Leyton, a fleet of number 38 buses (or N38 night buses) would have passed him, for a fare that was less than the price of a pint at the Baker’s Arms. Later, this distance doesn’t seem to be a problem and Graham comes and goes as if he lives around the corner.

Banks' 'Walking on Glass' is the telling of three stories, the main theme of which seems to be with how the easiest of circumstances can make you... well, mad.People often fear the glass over our other events, yet this is done with children as well as adults, and is Kirsty’s favourite thing to do most weeks alongside her mindfulness. From the outset, the novel draws you in with three distinct narrative threads, each meticulously woven with Banks' signature attention to detail. Characterization is, as always, a strong suit for Banks. Each character pulsates with life, sporting an intricate mix of flaws, redeeming qualities, and clear motivations, lending further credence to the engrossing world he's built. The Quiss and Ajayi sections work quite well for me, however. The description of a minion’s “taking apart” by Quiss is particularly memorable, and I get the feeling sci-fi is where Banks’s preferences and ability truly lie.