Read Beggars Banquet (2015)

Online Book

Author

Ian Rankin

Genre

Fiction

Series

inspector rebus

Rating

3.86 of 5 Votes: 3

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ISBN

075284959X (ISBN13: 9780752849591)

Language

English

Publisher

orion

Shops

Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble

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Beggars Banquet (2015) - Plot & Excerpts

Beggars Banquet is a collection of short stories written by Ian Rankin and published in various magazines from 1991 to 2000. To me it was a bit disappointing because I loved A Good Hanging and Other Short Stories so much but this one felt like something was missing. The 21 short stories lacked a little bit of suspense as crime stories. However, I love the diversity of topics and writing styles Rankin has offered in this one. Rankin has an interesting way of describing things and that is probably why I find his stories very interesting. It felt like reading a series of good writing exercises because each story is uniquely written. Some are from the point of view of the killer and some from the third person point of view. Some of them involves the character Inspector John Rebus.There are some particular ones which I was really interested in, which were Principles of Accounts, Herbert in Motion, Video, Nasty, The Confession, The Hanged Man, and No Sanity Clause. I just thought that these stories were pure genius and maybe are the true definition of creative writing.The book ended with Death is Not the End which is a novella. It involved some emotional elements through Rebus's character. I didn't find it very interesting but I like the way how two different stories intertwined in it. Overall I think it was a good book because all of the stories required some level of attention and thinking in order to understand what's going on. I also think that Rankin has triggered an interest in me about creative writing and to find out more crime short stories out there in the future.

Didn't enjoy this one. It's okay and compared with some other anthologies by other writers it is fairly good. But it isn't as much fun to read as A Good Hanging the other short story collection from Ian Rankin. However as a 'completist' I needed to have this book to put in my collection and I don't regret the purchase. I wouldn't recommend this as a starting point to get into Rankin's writing. There's nothing wrong with it but it doesn't fizz and sparkle like his other works. There are of course moments where it almost does. But this one didn't grab me.

What do You think about Beggars Banquet (2015)?

The first Ian Rankin book that I have read. Very strong short stories, except for the one about the Rolling Stones, which I　didn't particularly care for.
—Fiona

I enjoyed this book, even though I'm not a fan of crime fiction. Because I'm not used to the genre, I found some of the content to be confronting. But this is more than balanced out, even with a good humoured "Christmas" story to leave the reader with a sweet taste at the end. The author is a powerful writer and delivers a strong message. He shows the tough side to his home town. In every story, its the psychology that's the most important aspect. As a coincidence, the day that I picked up the book I heard the author on the radio doing an interview as he was visiting my home town. Quite a way to set the scene for the first time reader.
—Richard