The Wasp Factory

By: Iain Banks

Narrated by: Peter Kenny

Length: 6 hrs and 12 mins

Publisher's summary

The Wasp Factory is a bizarre, imaginative, disturbing, and darkly comic look into the mind of a child psychopath - one of the most infamous of contemporary Scottish novels.

"Two years after I killed Blyth, I murdered my young brother Paul, for quite different and more fundamental reasons than I'd disposed of Blyth, and then a year after that I did for my young cousin Esmerelda, more or less on a whim. That's my score to date. Three. I haven't killed anybody for years, and don't intend to ever again. It was just a stage that I was going through."

Enter - if you can bear it - the extraordinary private world of Frank, just 16, and unconventional, to say the least.

©2007 Hachette Audio (P)2007 Hachette Audio

Critic reviews

"One of the most brilliant first novels I have come across." (The Telegraph)

"One of the top 100 novels of the century." (The Independent)

"Brilliant...irresistible...compelling." (New York Times)

very curious story

Held my attention until the end but finally unsatisfying The last chapter lacked conviction excellent narrator

Interesting story

Loved the narrator, story is localised in a small area and I found it very well done, stunned now that it’s over

The art of audio books comes to life

Beyond the fact that it’s a wonderful book, the narrator makes the experience special. Highly recommended.

Mesmerizing

This is a brilliantly written first-person account of a delusional psycho, expertly narrated by Peter Kenny.
Suited for anyone appreciative of originality.

Nutty. Nihilistic. Flatulent...

I loved this book as a kid. At a semi-innocent 13 years of age, it was totally insane. As an adult it's just... good. This book is best for teens/young adults.

I really didn't care for the narrator. He gave a fine performance, but didn't embody the main character to me at all. Then again, I was remembering Frank as he was in my mind as a tween... Maybe you'll dig the guy-Listen to a sample.

The baby scene and the kite scene have haunted me for years. Especially the kite scene. It's so surreal and sad.

Maybe the biggest twist ending I can recall reading.

Violent, but without much reason?

Firstly, I must admit, I liked the narrative. Story was interesting and it was told in a provocative, funny way.
There is A LOT of animal torture and dying kids in it, so definitely not the book for the ones with a squeamish stomach.
Me, I don't mind if there is a lot of violence in books, as long it makes sense and explains the character developement. However, with Wasp Factory, I am not sure that I understand, why such amount of blood and gore was neccessary. Hence, three stars. Performance wise, scottish accent was a bit too strong for me at some points. I am not a native speaker though, so I might be a bit over sensitive regarding the accents.

A history of a young psychopath

First of all, this book is about the development of a psychopath. There's violence, sadism and a total lack of empathy. You might feel distressed about it. Personally, I don't have a problem with the underlying subject but caveat emptor and all that.

What I like about the book is the setting and the narration style, both of which are fitting. What I have aproblem with is with the "shallowness" of the writing. I believe it does not develop the characters enough, the story is feeble and flashbacks don't really help. The book reads as characters basically act and react upon "random" events of violence, explained with greater detail than the story itself, and it's difficult to follow a backstory or evolution of the characters.

It's an interesting book if you're interested in the subject and explains how somebody develops that kind of personality disorder, but don't expect an engaging story or psychopaths of the "character quality" of Hannibal Lecter.

I arrived here from Iain's SciFi background, which is incredibly complex, with layers upon layers of interconnected stories, interesting and well developed characters (esp. AIs) and a whole alternate reality to explore. I probably set my own expectations too high based on previous experience but alas, I was disappointed.

Disturbing and compelling

The story is compelling and made all the more disturbing by the excellent narration. You will come away unsettled...delightfully so!

Thought provoking.

The author took me into the mind of the narrator with clarity and insight. But just when you think you know him well......
The conclusion has made me feel guilty for knowing and discovering something that I maybe shouldn't.
A great story.
Ah, the mind of Iain Banks.

How much I couldn’t stand the narration

I absolutely couldn’t stand the narrator, I wish I would have sampled it before I bought it. My fault.