The Crow Road, as mentioned above, is a
Scottish way of saying someone's dead.
While
SharQ glances over the meme, I thought it necessary to improve upon his explanation. The
crow road indicates the path of death itself, so when one travels down the crow road ('away the crow road', in the
Scottish parlance), one has died.
The theme of death is
rife in this novel. It begins at a
funeral of his
grandmother, and visits many more throughout the
book. It paints an interesting view of
death however, and the reader does not feel the usual sadness that accompanies descriptions of funerals of
loved ones in books. Rather, it treats them in an almost humorous fashion.
To illustrate the point, the first line in the book reads
It was the day my grandmother exploded.
Banks narrates the story through the eyes of
Prentice McHoan, although it tends to jump around a great deal through time (and not always during
Prentice's lifetime), illustrating the various happenings and bonds that the members of the three families portrayed in the book share.
Altogether it is wonderfully written book, which takes you on a voyage exploring
life,
death,
family,
lies and ultimately
betrayal. It should also be noted that is also very funny in places, and the dialogue, in true
Banks style, is
witty and
entertaining.
For anyone who has not read it, I would highly recommend it. It is also a superb (if gentle) introduction to
Iain Banks, who happens to be my favourite author.
It should be noted that this is my first attempt at a book review ever. Any comments on this would be kindly received :-) Thank you for your time.