Rating: 
Summary: Edward Gorey meets Richmal Crompton
Review: Frank Cauldhame, is a weird teenager who lives on a tiny island connected to mainland Scotland by a bridge. He maintains grisly Sacrifice Poles to serve as his early warning system and deterrent against anyone who might invade his territory.Few novelists have ever burst onto the literary scene with as much controversy as Iain Banks in 1984. The Wasp Factory was reviled by many reviewers on account of its violence and sadism, but applauded by others as a new and Scottish voice - that is, a departure from the English literary tradition. The controversy is a bit puzzling in retrospect, because there is little to object to in this novel, if you're familiar with genre horror. The Wasp Factory is distinguished by an authentically felt and deftly written first-person narrative, delicious dark humour (that pokes a big stick in that hornets' nest of organised religion), a sense of the surreal, and a serious examination of the psyche of a childhood psychopath. Most readers will find that they sympathize with and even like Frank, despite his three murders (each of which is hilarious in Edward Gorey fashion). It remains a classic of contemporary horror fiction and Bank's best.
Rating: 
Summary: Cool, calm and collected.
Review: That's the only way i can describe the "hero" of this novel. He's a sadistic, hopless youth, with no possible future. However, he lives in a dream world of his own creation, where he is in control. No matter what happens to him in his little world, he can handle it. The book is interesting because it challenges mainstream perceptions of things. A disability that few could imagine living with becomes the hero's source of strength. Every event, every piece of dialogue is interpreted completely diffently by the hero and the reader. It is a strange book, but quite rewarding, with a suitably different ending to what you would expect. I can think of no novel similar, and i like that. It's well worth a read.
Rating: 
Summary: Disturbing and disturbing
Review: I like Banks, but I don't see this as deserving of all the acclaim. It was interesting but not riveting, and I found the ending to be a little silly - unpredictable and odd yes, but a little contrived. The book has descriptive cruelty to animals, which I found utterly disturbing. I realize that the cruelty was fitting with the characters, but I don't want to read it. That aside, the book was engaging enough to want to finish. Banks does a great job of being creepy.
Rating: 
Summary: Rubbish? No, but not brilliant, either.
Review: This book was recommended to me by a friend, who said he loved its wicked sense of humor. Named one of the best 100 novels of the last century by The Independent, "The Wasp Factory" certainly seems to have a strong cult following, as most of the highly favorable reviews here attest, but I find all this rather baffling. While not by any means a terrible book, Iain Banks's first novel is simply too messy and amateurish to qualify as a great novel. First of all, enjoying this book requires that one have a high tolerance for detailed descriptions of cruelty to animals, including the mutilation and immolation of many rabbits and dogs. Some of the violence in the book is actually quite funny, and can be enjoyed on a certain macabre level -- such as the narrator's description of an uncle's suicide gone terribly wrong -- but most of it is simply too dark and literally described to be laughable. It often seems that Banks is trying to shock without really thinking of the larger implications of any of the book's violence. While I read "The Wasp Factory," I kept hoping for a denouement that would tie everything together and create a resonance that the bulk of the novel lacked. Unfortunately, all I got was a transparent twist that lent nothing to the events that had preceded it, and seemed designed only to shock. In truth, the novel's twist is no more profound than the climax of the slasher film "Sleepaway Camp." I got the feeling that Banks really felt he was creating something on the level of an O. Henry story, but what he ended up with is a book that reads like a juvenile poison pen letter to all of humanity, and little more.
Rating:
Summary: wow
Review: All my friends are reading banks' science fiction and aren't aware of this, his first book. You'd never guess from this strange and violent book that this is the same guy that would later create The Culture. Read it and see how Banks shocked his way into literature.
Rating:
Summary: Never to be beaten.
Review: Most people say that this is the best first novel by any author. That's true and it's also probably the best novel ever written in this genre bar none. It beats any of Stephen Kings books and puts all Clive Barker's books on the mediocre shelf. If you've read 'American Psycho' and cringed at the descriptions of torture and insanity, then read 'The Wasp Factory' to see how it should have been written. Perfect.
Rating:
Summary: an excellent introduction
Review: this was the first book i ever read from Iain Banks and i still think it's his best. it's probably better to start off with one of his later books cause, while he's written many great books, he'll probably never top this one. It slows down in the middle a bit, but by the end it picks up to the point where you can't put it down until you're done. The blurb on the back where our main character mentions that he's killed three people and how it was a phase he was going through when he was young, is the best example of how demented this book is. In the end, the book tends to be about twisting your faith in your beliefs. That's all I'll give away. You should read this.
Rating:
Summary: Clog
Review: This is one of those books that confuses me. How someone could ever write a character that kills animals and people alike, as a sympathetic character is something not easily done. It does make you cringe and there's a bit that actually made me put it down and scream muffledly into my pillow, where i was reading. i won't elaborate, except to say it involves maggots and exposed brain tissue. And that's the Wasp Factory. You have to read it, just for the experience. And don't read the reviews too far down this page. There's one (written by me, unfortunately) that gives a major twist away. If there's a webmaster, could he or she please remove it? Cheers.
Rating:
Summary: Entertaining? - yes Brilliant? - no
Review: I found this to be entertaining but not as unusual or outstanding as the hype lead me to expect. The story line was bizarre, though the ending was just a slight twist on a film I saw on TV that was made at least 15 years ago. It is grisly enough for most gore lovers. The reviews on the book went from "brilliant" to "rubbish." I rate it in between.
Rating:
Summary: Creepy, yet interesting!
Review: This is a very well written book with some very interesting moral issues cropping up when you go through it. It is sick and perverted but strangely interesting. The twist at the end will leave you confused for days! Read It!
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