The Wasp Factory
- Author Iain Banks
- Narrator Peter Kenny
- Publisher Little, Brown Book Group
- Run Time 6 hours and 12 minutes
- Format Audio
- Genre Horror and supernatural fiction, Modern and contemporary fiction, Psychological thriller.
Titles Purchased
- 1-5
- 6-10
- 11-15
- 16-20
- Over 20
Price p/Title
- £7.99
- £6.99
- £5.99
- £4.99
- £3.99
Listen to a sample
What to expect
'One of the top 100 novels of the century' Independent
'Brilliant...irresistible...compelling' New York Times
'Macabre, bizarre, and impossible to put down' Financial Times
'Read it if you dare' Daily Express
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 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 I was going through.'
Enter - if you can bear it - the extraordinary private world of Frank, just sixteen, and unconventional, to say the least.
Critics Review
-
A gothic horror story of quite exceptional quality… macabre, bizarre and… quite impossible to put down. There is a control and assurance in the book, an originality rare in established writers twice the author’s age. This is an outstandingly good read
Financial Times -
Iain Banks has written one of the most brilliant first novels I have come across for some time. His study of an obsessive personality is extraordinary, written with a clarity and attention to detail that is most impressive. One can only admire a truly remarkable novel
Daily Telegraph -
If you are squeamish or easily frightened, then leave The Wasp Factory severely alone. The novel is saved from sheer beastliness by its black humour and its message. Read it if you dare
Daily Express -
If a nastier, more vicious or distasteful novel appears this spring, I shall be surprised. But there is unlikely to be a better one either. You can hardly breathe for fear of missing a symbol, or a fine phrase, or a horror so chilling that your hair stands on end. Infinitely painful to read, grotesque but human, these pages have a total reality rare in fiction. A mighty imagination has arrived on the scene
Mail on Sunday -
One of the top 100 novels of the century
Independent -
A brilliant book, barmy and barnacled with the grotesque
New Statesman
Subscribe to our newsletter
Sign up to get tailored content recommendations, product updates and info on new releases. Your data is your own: we commit to protect your data and respect your privacy.