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Ian Rankin


DuncanEwart

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Has anyone read the new Rebus book "Rather Be The Devil"? I've just spent the last year reading all the Rebus books. I used to dismiss Rankin's Rebus as a rip off of McIlvanney's Laidlaw- but boy, was I wrong. Some of Rankin's "state of the nation" stuff is really on point I think- especially the obsession with gambling that has become prevalent in Scottish society. William McIlvanney was apparently told that if he wrote one Laidlaw book a year he would make a fortune: McIlvanney, being McIlvanney, wrote three in total. Rankin is certainly following this advice a bit more closely: I am looking forward to this year's already.

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Just finished the new one. Really enjoyable. Maybe some of the early novels are a wee bit derivative and certainly show his influences, but that's to be expected in a young (at the time) writer. When he hits his stride, though, the Rebus novels are excellent. The short stories are worth reading too. I've never seen any of the tv adaptations and I'm kinda glad about that.

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It's something i've talked about with other friends who have read the early rebus books. you can definitely see him progress and mature as a writer. As for TV? John Hannah was atrocious as a rebus and i never even got through half of the first one. Ken Stott is far more like my rebus.

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Always enjoy the Rebus books although they are instantly forgettable. TV has never done him justice , Hannah was a joke and Stott little better. If you have ever lived in Edinburgh it's fun to tick off the landmarks. I agree his books have generally got a bit better although the earlier sense of danger and tension seems to have evaporated. 

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I think there is more to the Rebus books than the label "crime fiction" would suggest. I am not entirely convinced that "Tartan Noir" covers them adequately either. Personally,I can take or leave the gangster stuff- although big Ger is an interesting enough character- but I find Rankin's dissection of Scottish society and his fascination with political corruption in post-devolution Scotland very interesting. He has an obvious distrust of politicians regardless of party.

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