Iain Banks - Canal Dreams

Somewhere in my head I had an idea that Iain Banks' novel Canal Dreams was written for a bet. Someone suggested an utterly implausible plot, and Banks proved he could get it published. For the life of me I cannot find evidence of this on the internet, though I do understand that Banks was never particularly happy with the work.

Perhaps Banks was too much of a perfectionist, because while the plot is implausible, it is certainly an exciting read. It centres on Hisako Onoda, a Japanese virtuoso cellist whose fear of flying means that she embarks on a world tour by boat. Travelling through the Panama Canal as the region slides into war, her and several other cargo boats and their passengers and crew are trapped on the Canal near Panama. As the wait drags on, those trapped entertain themselves with dinner parties, arguments and romantic liasions. Eventually, however, the ships become the target of terrorists who want to use them as a base to attack US interests.

The first part of the book sets up the concept through a series of flashbacks as Hisako remembers her life, and how she came to play the cello. It follows her through music school and a centre point is her first failure to fly. Meant to accompany her orchestra on a plane to tour the US, she's unable to go, and the turning point becomes an emblematic moment for her - both in her transition to adulthood and her image of herself as a loner. 

Trapped on the ship, she falls in love with a flamboant and cocky French officer, who teachers her scuba diving, in exchange for intimate lessons on the cello. In the midst of war and uncertainty this becomes Hisako's first real taste of stablity and love.

But then the terrroists hit, and the book becomes a classic adventure story as Hisako fights for her survival and tries to prevent a wider atrocity. Here I am being vague, because there is a major twist that deserves to be unknown in advance of reading. But it is the destruction of her cello that symbolises most Hisako's transition from to vengeful violence.

The last part of the book is essentially an action film on paper. It is an entertaining read, but perhaps is too much of a stylistic break from the first half to make for that satisfactory a novel. But whether written as a bet, or not, there's an entertaining and clever adventure here that will while away a couple of hours. 

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