Espedair Street
Encyclopedia
Plot introduction
The book tells the (fictional) story of the rise to fame of Dan Weir ('Weird'), a bass guitarBass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
player in a rock and roll
Rock and roll
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...
band called Frozen Gold, and of his struggles to be happy now that he is rich and famous.
Plot summary
"Two days ago I decided to kill myself. I would walk and hitch and sail away from this dark city to the bright spaces of the wet west coast, and there throw myself into the tall, glittering seas beyond Iona (with its cargo of mouldering kings) to let the gulls and seals and tides have their way with my remains, and in my dying moments look forward to an encounter with Staffa’s six-sided columns and Fingal’s cave; or I might head south to CorryvreckenGulf of CorryvreckanThe Gulf of Corryvreckan , also called the Strait of Corryvreckan, is a narrow strait between the islands of Jura and Scarba, in Argyll and Bute, off the west coast of Scotland.It is possible for tourists to visit the site by way of boats trips from local harbours.- Topography...
, to be spun inside the whirlpool and listen with my waterlogged deaf ears to its mile-wide voice ringing over the wave-race; or be borne north, to where the white sands sing and coral hides, pink-fingered and hard-soft, beneath the ocean swell, and the rampart cliffs climb thousand-foot above the seething acres of milky foam, rainbow-buttressed.
Last night I changed my mind and decided to stay alive. Everything that follows is . . . just to try and explain."
Weir starts out in the Ferguslie Park area of Paisley in a very underprivileged Catholic
Catholic
The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...
family. He is impressed by a group named Frozen Gold when he sees them live, in the Union of Paisley College of Technology
University of Paisley
The University of the West of Scotland is a university operating from four campuses in south-western Scotland, in the towns of Paisley, Hamilton, Ayr and Dumfries. The present institution dates from August 2007, following the merger of the University of Paisley with Bell College, Hamilton...
, and auditions with them. Christine Brice likes his songs, and he joins the band. He ends up writing all their material and playing bass guitar, (after trying unsuccessfully to get them to change their name) as the band rises in the drug
Psychoactive drug
A psychoactive drug, psychopharmaceutical, or psychotropic is a chemical substance that crosses the blood–brain barrier and acts primarily upon the central nervous system where it affects brain function, resulting in changes in perception, mood, consciousness, cognition, and behavior...
- and booze
Alcoholic beverage
An alcoholic beverage is a drink containing ethanol, commonly known as alcohol. Alcoholic beverages are divided into three general classes: beers, wines, and spirits. They are legally consumed in most countries, and over 100 countries have laws regulating their production, sale, and consumption...
-fuelled rock and roll of the 1970s, assisted by A&R
A&R
Artists and repertoire is the division of a record label that is responsible for talent scouting and overseeing the artistic development of recording artists. It also acts as a liaison between artists and the record label.- Finding talent :...
man Rick Tumber of ARC Records. In the Three Chimneys tour, singer Davey Balfour takes Dan along on an attempt to break an unofficial (and illegal) speed record for flying around three power station chimneys in Kent
Kent
Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...
in his private plane
Fixed-wing aircraft
A fixed-wing aircraft is an aircraft capable of flight using wings that generate lift due to the vehicle's forward airspeed. Fixed-wing aircraft are distinct from rotary-wing aircraft in which wings rotate about a fixed mast and ornithopters in which lift is generated by flapping wings.A powered...
.
He reminisces about this from 1980s Glasgow
Glasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
, where he lives as a recluse in a Victorian folly
Folly
In architecture, a folly is a building constructed primarily for decoration, but either suggesting by its appearance some other purpose, or merely so extravagant that it transcends the normal range of garden ornaments or other class of building to which it belongs...
(St Jutes), ever since the tragic events which led to the demise of the band. He is posing as his own caretaker, and his friends McCann and Wee Tommy know him as Jimmy Hay. After a memorable fight in a nightclub called 'Monty's', his real identity is revealed. He has grown uncomfortable with fame and wealth, and eventually visits his first girlfriend, Jean Webb, now living in Arisaig
Arisaig
Arisaig is a village in Lochaber, Invernessshire, on the west coast of the Scottish Highlands.-History:On 20 September 1746 Bonnie Prince Charlie left Scotland for France from a place near the village following the failure of the Jacobite Rising. The site of his departure is marked by the Prince's...
.
Literary significance & criticism
The band is loosely modelled on Pink FloydPink Floyd
Pink Floyd were an English rock band that achieved worldwide success with their progressive and psychedelic rock music. Their work is marked by the use of philosophical lyrics, sonic experimentation, innovative album art, and elaborate live shows. Pink Floyd are one of the most commercially...
or Fleetwood Mac
Fleetwood Mac
Fleetwood Mac are a British–American rock band formed in 1967 in London.The only original member present in the band is its eponymous drummer, Mick Fleetwood...
although Banks has said, in a newspaper piece, that the character Weird was in part modeled on Fish
Fish (singer)
Derek William Dick, better known as Fish, is a Scottish progressive rock singer, lyricist and occasional actor, best known as the former lead singer of Marillion.-Biography:...
, the ex-Marillion
Marillion
Marillion are a British rock band, formed in Aylesbury, England in 1979. Their recorded studio output comprises sixteen albums generally regarded in two distinct eras, delineated by the departure of original vocalist & frontman Fish in late 1988, and the subsequent arrival of replacement Steve...
singer and lyricist. The music stories are very authentic, and are told with great verve. Sex
Sex
In biology, sex is a process of combining and mixing genetic traits, often resulting in the specialization of organisms into a male or female variety . Sexual reproduction involves combining specialized cells to form offspring that inherit traits from both parents...
, drugs and rock and roll
Rock and roll
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...
are present on almost every page, sometimes all three at once. There is a tone of rock journalism in the parts of the book about Frozen Gold.
As Banks' first novel to eschew 'special effects', not being Gothic horror like The Wasp Factory
The Wasp Factory
The Wasp Factory was the first novel by Scottish writer Iain Banks. It was published in 1984.-Overview:It is written from a first person perspective, told by sixteen-year-old eunuch Frank Cauldhame, describing his childhood and all that remains of it...
, a literary mystery (Walking on Glass
Walking on Glass
Walking on Glass was the second novel by Scottish writer Iain Banks. It was published in 1985.-Plot introduction:It has three storylines that do not appear to be linked, but eventually come together, to an extent that depends upon how much the reader wishes to read into the book.-Plot summary:Each...
), or science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
, most critics regard it as one of his most accessible works. The device of having an apparently successful and famous person being deeply unhappy (he mentions in the opening sentence that he was considering suicide
Suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
) is lightly and effectively done. The happy ending is usually seen as either touching or trite, depending on the reader's taste.
Espedair Street is also a real street in Charleston, Paisley
Charleston, Paisley
Charleston is a district in the burgh of Paisley in Renfrewshire, Scotland. Once a village distinct from Paisley, Charleston has become absorbed as Paisley has expanded, in particular by housing developments in Lochfield and Glenburn....
, where some of the significant events in the book take place.
Adaptation
A four part BBC radio adaptationEspedair Street (radio)
Espedair Street was a four part BBC radio adaptation of the Iain Banks novel Espedair Street broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in January 1998. The dramatisation was by Joe Dunlop and it was produced by Dave Batchelor...
of the novel was broadcast on BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, operated and owned by the BBC, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is currently Gwyneth Williams, and the...
in January 1998.