Interview with IMB and Consider Phlebas

Evening all.

Just watched an interview by Mark Lawson featuring Iain Banks on UK
BBC4. Rather enjoyed it but I found myself frustrated by a question
that should have been asked.

The Culture is a society that IMB describes as something of a utopia.
It is clearly a society that he would jump at the chance to live in
and I would guess that most fans of The Culture stories would agree.
The thing I find interesting is that the main character in Consider
Phlebas demonises The Culture, and actively works against it. Bearing
in mind that CP was not the first Culture novel to be written, it is
still the reader's first introduction to The Culture. Thus the main
character, with whom the reader's sympathies lie, provides a strong
counterpoint to the reader's later attachment to The Culture itself
(via the novels published subsequently). We see The Culture first
through the eyes of the protagonist in CP, perhaps initially sharing
his distrust, and it is only later that we come (broadly-speaking) to
trust the motivations of The Culture .

My question - is the decision to publish CP first (presumably made
solely on the basis of saleability) significant in setting up the
reader's appreciation of The Culture series as a whole? By introducing
The Culture as something to be distrusted, only later to find out that
it is about as beneficient as a society could be, a reader is given
something a bit out of the ordinary. It's a bit different from the
author effectively telling the reader that "this is a utopian society,
of course you supposed to like it". If the answer is yes, then would
the series be as effective had CP been published after the majority of
other Culture novels to date?

Of course, the effect I am alluding to is somewhat diluted by each
Culture novel you read before you get to CP. I read The Player of
Games first, followed by Use of Weapons before I got to CP, but I
still get a sense the reverse psychology at work in CP. The effect
would have been even stronger had I started with CP.

Anyhoo, it's goodnight from me

Loz {>
PS I wonder what all the oldies from this ng are doing now?
PPS Is it too late to order a "Blue Moon" from the bar? )

"Loz" wrote in message

> Evening all.
>
> Just watched an interview by Mark Lawson featuring Iain
Banks on UK
> BBC4. Rather enjoyed it but I found myself frustrated by a
question
> that should have been asked.
>
> The Culture is a society that IMB describes as something
of a utopia.
> It is clearly a society that he would jump at the chance
to live in
> and I would guess that most fans of The Culture stories
would agree.
> The thing I find interesting is that the main character in
Consider
> Phlebas demonises The Culture, and actively works against
it. Bearing
> in mind that CP was not the first Culture novel to be
written, it is
> still the reader's first introduction to The Culture. Thus
the main
> character, with whom the reader's sympathies lie, provides
a strong
> counterpoint to the reader's later attachment to The
Culture itself
> (via the novels published subsequently). We see The
Culture first
> through the eyes of the protagonist in CP, perhaps
initially sharing
> his distrust, and it is only later that we come
(broadly-speaking) to
> trust the motivations of The Culture .
>
> My question - is the decision to publish CP first
(presumably made
> solely on the basis of saleability) significant in setting
up the
> reader's appreciation of The Culture series as a whole? By
introducing
> The Culture as something to be distrusted, only later to
find out that
> it is about as beneficient as a society could be, a reader
is given
> something a bit out of the ordinary. It's a bit different
from the
> author effectively telling the reader that "this is a
utopian society,
> of course you supposed to like it". If the answer is yes,
then would
> the series be as effective had CP been published after the
majority of
> other Culture novels to date?
>
> Of course, the effect I am alluding to is somewhat diluted
by each
> Culture novel you read before you get to CP. I read The
Player of
> Games first, followed by Use of Weapons before I got to
CP, but I
> still get a sense the reverse psychology at work in CP.
The effect
> would have been even stronger had I started with CP.
>
> Anyhoo, it's goodnight from me
>
> Loz {>
> PS I wonder what all the oldies from this ng are doing
now?
> PPS Is it too late to order a "Blue Moon" from the bar?
)

post-midnite musings......1st time back in quite a while due
to the spam...not sure I agree that CP sets up a poor view
of the Culture only to knock it down later...I first read
Use of Weapons and got a real tough intro to Culture--but
isn't there a real question as to whether everything they do
is beneficient--and right?!

UoW certainly makes one wonder just a bit too--there are
weighty philosophical/ethical questions that surface to mind
in all the books...late in the series it becomes clear that
it isn't the humanoids that are running the show but rather,
the AIs--they appear to be mostly "good," but again there
are those little nagging questions, like; "is it right to
control the Culture as they do, keeping the humanoids mostly
in the dark...?" Are there any other dark purposes we can't
even imagine in the AI regime? Is it all generosity and
luv???....hmmm.... ...tonyC