That seems to be a pretty average hit rate for the theoretical subject of the book, although the travelling to whisky ration is normally higher than that, at least after you get past chapter one where Banks does stick more closely to his brief. The joys and tribulations of following Morton Football Club – 4 and a bit pages.Memories of blowing things up (fireworks with mates) – 4½ pages.Memories of Monty Python (he was an extra in one of the films) – 1 page.Six distilleries visited and their whiskies – 7 pages.Porridge, why he doesn’t like it and other Scottish institutions such as kilts – 2½ pages.Let’s take a random chapter and breakdown the coverage of each subject, “12: Porridge and Scottishness, Football and Fireworks” has a total of 20 and a bit pages: If you want a book about whisky then you are really better off with Michael Jackson’s definitive tome, but if you want a book about the joy of travelling around Scotland looking for whiskies and the friendships and fellowships that it can engender then this is for you. The book is really as close as we ever got to an autobiography by Banks who sadly died in 2013 from cancer aged just 59. There is also a considerable amount of reminiscences of past holidays, fun times in out of the way properties and time spent with old friends. There is a lot more said about getting to the distilleries (both the roads and vehicle chosen to make the journey) than there is covering them or their production. Rereading the book was a surprise, my 14 year old memory of what was covered is clearly faulty, yes there is whisky aplenty and distilleries also get pretty good coverage but a large part of the book is really about Banks’ love affair with Scotland and its “Great Wee Roads” or GWRs as they are referred to throughout.
As a fan of both Banks and whisky, purchasing this book when it came out did not take much consideration and I recently pulled it back off the shelves as later this year I’m doing my own trip round some distilleries and like Banks I’m starting with Islay.
So begins Iain Banks’ Raw Spirit: In Search of a Perfect Dram and those people familiar only with Iain M Banks the gritty science fiction writer or his even grittier ‘normal’ fiction written as Iain Banks are in for a surprise as this is a genuinely funny book interspersed with rants about the Second Iraq war which had just started as he set of in search of the “R” word. Goin to have to drive round Scotland, take trains, ferries, planes and such, go to distilleries, taste whiskies, that sort of -‘
‘The “R” word? Oh! Research? Yeah basically. ‘This mean you’re going to have to do the “R” word?’ ‘Not if you believe certain critics, but I’m going to be writing one about whisky.’ ‘Hiya Banksie! Written any good books lately?’
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