Iain Banks - Whit

Outside of Iain Bank's science fiction Whit is his novel that I've repeatedly enjoyed over the years (which explains why it's the first book to be reviewed twice on this blog). It displays Bank's abilities at his best - occasional slapstick humour mixed with the bizarre and unusual, while happily pointing to the hypocrisy of "normal" society. The latter is important in Whit because the story centres of Isis, the elect of God, who leaves the seclusion of her religious community and enters the normal world of 1990s England for find her "lost" sister.

Much of the entertainment comes from Isis' bizarre beliefs contrasted with the outside world. Eschewing comfort she must always sit on a wooden board on transport or sleep in a hammock, she shouldn't use a telephone or other electronic equipment and there are a myriad of other rules and beliefs that make her trip to London (initially) a bemusing experience for Isis and hilarious for the reader. There are some other poignant moments - Isis' encounter with some BNP paper sellers exposes their hypocrisy and her response is deeply satisfying for the reader.

But re-reading this in 2020 I was more intrigued by the nature of the religious group she is part of. Bank's weaves the story of its development into Isis' contemporary trip. But reading it now, rather than in the 2000s I was more aware of the cult-like behaviour of the founder, and Isis' horrible experience with him late in the book takes on new relevance and meaning in the #metoo era, as does the nature of the "festival" the group celebrates every leap year.

Whit is one of Bank's more satisfying endings even though it is ambiguous. I'd forgotten the extent to which Isis' journey opens up her understanding of the world and her own community. The last page leaves the reader open to the suggestion that Isis has realised that what is important is the community, not the religious belief - truth is what matters. But will she tell her followers the whole truth?

Related Reviews

Banks - Raw Spirit
Banks - Matter
Banks - Look to Windward
Banks - Dead Air
Banks - Whit (first review from 2005)
Banks - The Hydrogen Sonata
Banks - Surface Detail
Banks - Against A Dark Background
Banks - The Steep Approach to Garbadale
Banks - Look To Windward
Banks - The Algebraist