Iain Banks Dies of Cancer At 59 141
An anonymous reader writes "BBC News is reporting that Iain Banks, best known for his Culture series novels and The Wasp Factory, has died of cancer aged 59. It had been announced several months ago that he was suffering from bladder cancer, and he had stated his intentions to spend his remaining time visiting places which meant a lot to him after marrying his partner."
First post (Score:4, Informative)
Cancer sucks...
Re:First post (Score:5, Funny)
"Life sucks, but death doesn't put out at all...." -- Thomas J. Kopp
Jay Lake, too... (Score:2)
Re:First post (Score:4, Insightful)
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Actually, yes I would.
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Of course we would. I just don't think there are things you should see as so perverse that you shouldn't be allowed to make a joke about it. otherwise you end up with a whole lot of censorship.
Nonsense (Score:5, Insightful)
If you ever had cancer yourself you would not make unfunny, insensitive comments..
Why is it insensitive? Because it makes YOU uncomfortable or because you think that's what you're supposed to say? Get a grip. EVERYONE gets sick and dies so grow up and accept it.
And that is one of the WORST attitude to have around folks who are terminal.
Here's a complaint I hear all too often from the folks who are actually suffering from cancer: when someone is dieing, folks are solemn, sad, and afraid to "offend" - which brings down the mood of the cancer sufferer. Regardless if there's any truth to having a "positive" attitude helping one's recovery, joking about it DOES at least make life a little more bearable for the cancer patient.
I have a father striken and he needs a laugh every Goddamn time he can get it! And when folks are so serious around him; it makes HIM feel bad - the LAST thing he needs.
There are of course limts [cancer.org] and depends on the person - obviously. I have also been around folks who joked about their prosthetic and sometimes had fun freaking kids out.
Cancer makes people very depressed. Actually the thought of dieing makes most people on our culture depressed and uneasy. We are a death phobic society and it's actually irrational. We WILL die - all of us.
tl;dr - Laughing at Death is the best revenge.
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tl;dr - Laughing at Death is the best revenge.
I don't know about you, but I was planning on asking if He fancied a curry before sending me on my way.
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We are a death phobic society and it's actually irrational.
Why? There's nothing irrational about being scared of something that is in fact bad and dangerous.
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There's nothing irrational about being scared of something that is in fact bad and dangerous.
Death is dangerous, certainly. Even fatal in most cases.
But why bad? That seems like a subjective and biased opinion, not "fact" as you claim. Certainly, many who choose to terminate their own life have a different opinion.
Also, those who willfully engage in high risk endeavors because they want to go out with a bang, not a whimper.
Or those of us who just don't see death as bad, because we know we won't be around to experience it.
As a good atheist, let me quote 1 Corinthians 15:55:
O death, where is thy s
Re:First post (Score:4, Funny)
If you ever had cancer yourself you would not make unfunny, insensitive comments.
True, he'd say something like
Yeah! And bladder cancer no less. If I had it, it'd really piss me off! Although, I understand it's not as much of a pain in the ass as rectal cancer.
Some people find joking helps them feel better about bad things.
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What's the harm? (Score:4, Insightful)
They either appreciate the joking and it may actually help, unlike being glum about them which will MOST CERTAINLY cause them harm.
Same goes with pissing them off. [youtube.com]
OR... They are so far gone psychologically that it doesn't matter if you are joking or crying while sitting on top of their head.
So, where's the harm? You either can't make things worse, or there's a chance or making things better.
Oh, right! Now I remember!
It's NOT about the person with cancer - it's about US being seen as someone who "grieves with them in this final moment" and not as an "insensitive jerk making fun of the poor, poor walking dead man".
Pretenses! Right! I keep forgetting that. Silly me.
What can I say... It must be cause it feels kinda selfish and hypocritical to impose the idea on someone that they are already dead, while they are still very much alive - just so I could fit in better with what I think society expects of me, and thus feel good about myself.
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P.S.: I think it is: Mit der Dummheit kÃmpfen selbst GÃtter vergebens
Blame Schiller. [wikipedia.org]
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Some people find joking helps them feel better about bad things.
I'd say that most do, although many won't admit that in public. In fact, isn't this an established result in human psychology, that hysterical laughter is an escape mechanism in stressful situations, or something like that?
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Some people find joking helps them feel better about bad things.
I'd say that most do, although many won't admit that in public. In fact, isn't this an established result in human psychology, that hysterical laughter is an escape mechanism in stressful situations, or something like that?
Laughter is the best form of medicine
Re:First post (Score:5, Insightful)
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If you ever had cancer yourself you would not make unfunny, insensitive comments.
A real loss --- Iain Banks was a terrific writer with a lot to say to us.
Spoken like someone that has never had cancer. There is a thing called "gallows humor", it can serve as a great relief to people that have hope of survival.
That being given, it is usually best to allow the person stricken to open up the humor avenue first, just in case.
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I had (three), and I did make them (unfunny, insensitive comments) all the time. Puts things in perspective.
Re:First post (Score:5, Informative)
Gall bladder cancer, not urinary bladder.
A sad form of cancer as it's almost never detected in time(due to no symptoms and few tests that finds it by incident), find it early, and it have a excellent prognosis, find it late, and it's game over.
Colorectal cancer is somewhat similar in that it grows slowly for a long time before turning lethal, but colonoscopies are much more frequently performed, and symptoms can show earlier.
Oh (Score:3)
Oh bugger.
Re:Oh (Score:5, Insightful)
They were my thoughts exactly.
I only discovered him about 5 years ago, and I was looking forward for many more years of Culture novels. I thought there was a lot more he could still explore in that universe.
One thing I would have like to have seen is something that was more focused on things happening inside the Culture and their society. Most of the times he spends some setup time in the Culture, then whips off to the edge of their space to deal with some other civilization. I wanted to learn more about the workings of the Culture.
I guess now I'll never know....
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I wanted to learn more about the workings of the Culture.
A world where everyone has everything they could ever want doesn't make for very interesting reading. You can't really have drama without conflict, which I suppose would make Turn to Windward the best choice if you want a book set mainly within the Culture.
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Everyone can have whatever they want, yes... but it doesn't mean that everything has to be harmonious. No large inter-group disagreement is possible? Maybe some significant section want to break away.....
Ok, I'm not a good writer, but Banks was, and I'm sure that he could have some up with something interesting that exposes more of the workings of the Culture.
It just makes me feel a little sad that there is no chance that there will be any more Culture novels.
Re:Oh (Score:4, Interesting)
No large inter-group disagreement is possible?
Yes, this was touched upon in the book I named earlier, specifically the groups that were for and against the pylons with the suspended boat-things.
Maybe some significant section want to break away.....
Happened with the Elench and others.
The point I was trying to make is that the sort of problems a person might face in a post-scarcity society are somewhat less interesting than so-called "First World problems"*; Banks would usually use the Culture to provide some contrast with another, less advanced society.
*For example, if we hadn't already had a peek into the reasons behind Quilan's visit then the composer's struggle to avoid meeting him might have been interminably dull.
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Well, Excession does touch on those subjects to a degree. The way I've understood the Culture it really lacks the cohesion to have what would be recognized as some sort of formal decision making process, so most likely SC ends up doing what SC does because a decent sized group of minds feel like it and nobody can stop them (or feels strongly enough about it to make any significant attempt).
In Excession you see the same thing happening on multiple levels. You have the Interesting Time Gang deciding on and ta
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I just started reading some of his stuff this year and I only learned of his cancer when I googled his name this past Friday. I don't want to get political, but every time I see something like this, I can't help but opine on how many times over we could probably have cured cancer by now if we just redirected a fraction of the money we so eagerly dish out to nation-building/oil-grabbing/whatever-the-fuck-we're-doing-in-half-the-fucking-planet-right-now, surveilling our own citizens, and bailing out banks and
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I just started reading some of his stuff this year and I only learned of his cancer when I googled his name this past Friday. I don't want to get political, but every time I see something like this, I can't help but opine on how many times over we could probably have cured cancer by now if we just redirected a fraction of the money we so eagerly dish out to nation-building/oil-grabbing/whatever-the-fuck-we're-doing-in-half-the-fucking-planet-right-now, surveilling our own citizens, and bailing out banks and car companies all to the tune of many trillions of dollars in only a few years.
We can cure many cancers including his cancer, now. The problem with many cancers is early detection. Ovarian cancer is another obvious target that falls into this category.
Re:Oh (Score:5, Interesting)
Just what I thought.
I was lucky enough to meet him a couple of times at readings in the UK. I still think Walking on Glass is my fave.
Take it easy wherever you are
Immortal now. (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Immortal now. (Score:4, Informative)
Apparently supportive comments, such as this one, on the blog someone set up for him, http://friends.banksophilia.com/28-2/ [banksophilia.com] (already 'slashdotted' even before this post came up on my RSS feed, so check google cache... but when I did it didn't have the latest post), were a great source of joy for him in his final months.
RIP indeed, it's times like this one might wish there was an afterlife. As it is right now my thoughts are mostly for his family and close friends.
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but when I did it didn't have the latest post), were a great source of joy for him in his final months.
And so was his (re)buying a BMW M5 and taking it for spins around Alba. And getting married. Glad it wasn't all doom and gloom.
Re:Immortal now. (Score:5, Interesting)
A great article where Iain talks about his thinking behind the Culture - A Few Notes on the Culture [vavatch.co.uk]
Farewell, good sir. (Score:5, Insightful)
I just bought a couple of his books last week, knowing he wouldn't be around much longer. I haven't had time to fully read them yet (I'm maybe a hundred and fifty pages into Consider Phlebas) but from what I've read so far, the world is now a poorer place for having lost Mr. Banks.
Re:Farewell, good sir. (Score:4, Interesting)
Consider Phlebas is a great book, but difficult to start the series on even if it was the first. Many of the culture series are down right depressing, but worth reading anyway. Excession is probably my favorite, followed by player of games. You do not have to read them in any particular order.
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I'm using pretty strict with myself always preferring to read in an optimal order. Obviously that's most important when it's all one continuous plot, but even something like the disconnected sets of Star Wars books I tend to read in order. I've wanted to get into the Culture series. How connected are they? Occasional callbacks I can deal with in whatever order, but any substantial references would probably have me running to release order. Any issues reading it with it not being "done"?
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While not having read the entire series yet, I generally read as you do. These books could be self-contained for all intents. There are no real plot carry overs, or over arcing characters that I can tell so far. The most pervasive reference seems to be the Idrian Culture war that is taking place during the first one, and that only extends to 'thems was the dark times"
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...or over arcing characters that I can tell so far.
There is one, but it's more of a shout out than anything significant to the plot.
Re:Farewell, good sir. (Score:5, Interesting)
You can basically start with whatever book you want, especially since Banks didn't write them in the order they were published anyway.
I would recommend either "Player of Games" or "Surface Detail". The first takes a while before it really takes off but gives you a good grounding into the Culture and has a pretty much single-track and fascinating plot. The latter is more complicated but is full of good stuff (like a murdered and revived slave girl on a revenge mission and some whistle-blower aliens exploring the AI after-live hells of their species).
But frankly, all are read-worthy. You won't stop before you have read them all anyway. His non-SF books are good too, especially since some of them veer quite a bit into the fantastic. "Transition" isn't actually SF, but anything involving things like travelling between parallel worlds is close enough for me...
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I agree that "Player of Games" is great. It'd be a good starting book to. The primary character is at somewhat political odds with the culture... think of him as an old school conservative in the midst of a bunch of hippies. So he routinely argues with different characters about the culture which gives you a really good idea of how their political system works.
Surface Detail is good to, but I rarely recommend that as a first book because... well... it's really depressing. "Use of Weapons" is the same way...
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RIP Iain (M) Banks. Top chap, passionate, principled, erudite, open and most of all entertaining and thought provoking.
Don't ignore 'raw spirit', either - a great book mostly about malt whisky...
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Basically the books are loosely in chronological order. Many of them are almost impossible to tell where in the timeline they are. "Against a Dark Background" is about a civilization in an orphaned solar system outside of our galaxy... so they have no contact with any of the other books at all. "Consider Phlebas" takes place during the Iridian War (sp?) which is hundreds of years in the past for the rest of the books. The other books may refer to the war, but none of the particular events or characters in t
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The Idiran War was in our 1200's, about, and the others, more like now, ("State of the Art" was of course 1970's, with them watching "ET"...) But it has to be noted that The Culture had discovered darn near all the tech there was to discover, settled into its mores and patterns millenia before. So 800 years for their society changed things probably no more than 8 years for us today. So if Phlebas was a 1945 war/spy caper, Surface Detail and it's cool tattoo technology is still only 1953.
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I started with Excession some years ago, and have been working my way through the others. They've all been well worth reading. Mr. Banks death is true loss.
Excession is still my favourite. Gulp indeed.
RIP Iain (Score:5, Interesting)
I encountered him a few times at Edinburgh Book Festival events and other signings. It was handy being able to say "Make it to Iain, spelled the same way".
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Visions of places like the Culture are part of what inspires me to work on post-scarcity machines:
http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Seed_Factories [wikibooks.org]
James P. Hogan's writings are also inspirational (Score:2)
His writings help inspire the OSCOMAK idea by me starting about twenty five years ago, but it hasn't gone much anywhere: http://www.kurtz-fernhout.com/oscomak/ [kurtz-fernhout.com]
So, I know what you mean by these sorts of inspirations. A good sci-fi author helps us make a leap of imagination.
I'd recommend Hogan's "The Two Faces of Tomorrow" and his "Voyage From Yesteryear" especially for post-scarcity themes. But he touches on them in his other works too. Also check out his "Code of the Lifemaker" if you like the idea of seed
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I don't find Hogan's prose particularly impressive. I read The Proteus Operation and found it only barely worth reading. I don't find any similarities between the two writers. Well, other than they are now both dead.
All of the great SciFi novelists seem to be dropping like flies and I don't think there is anyone to replace them. I don't think writing novels is something that the Facebook Generation really yearns to do. At least Neal Stephenson is still alive. And Joe Haldeman. But I wonder for how long. Sur
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The Proteus operation is not one of Hogan's better works. If you are willing to give him another try, try Voyage from Yesteryear, The Two Faces of Tomorrow, or Code of the Lifemaker, which are all about post-scarcity technologies in various ways as hard sci-fi. It is the post-scarcity aspects that are similar, even if Hogan's are much more near-term.
The thing about writers is, it may take decades for people to learn about the prose that stands the test of time. So, I guess most authors may be old by the tim
Inventor of the Lazy Gun (Score:5, Interesting)
When the Lazy Gun is fired at humans, many different things may occur. An anchor may appear above the person, giant electrodes may appear on either side of the target and electrocute them, or an animal may tear their throat out. Larger targets such as tanks or ships may suffer tidal waves, implosion, explosion, sudden lava flows or just disappear. When fired at cities and other such targets, thermonuclear explosions are the norm, although in one instance a comet crashed into the city.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Against_a_Dark_Background [wikipedia.org]
Another interesting fact about a Lazy Gun is that it weighs three times as much when turned upside down.
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And that weapon isn't even the most interesting part of that book. In fact, the entire story has nothing to do with the culture. It's in a solar system that's outside the galaxy. They're just adrift, no stars... hence the name.
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When the Lazy Gun is fired at humans, many different things may occur. An anchor may appear above the person, giant electrodes may appear on either side of the target and electrocute them, or an animal may tear their throat out.
What about when it is fired by a roadrunner at a pursuing coyote?
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Thanks, dude. Off to the bookstore!
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I strongly disagree. The real SF element in the book is what if we will not have access to stars? What if we improve our technology to magic like levels but fail to find new frontiers? It is probably the most insightful and most relevant SF book he has ever written. Banks puts the planetary system in isolation but having stars just 4 light years away is no guarantee that we will ever reach them. The premise is species-survival level important.
As for "magical" items, like lazy gun, they serve their purpose b
This kind of thing is why I went back to school (Score:5, Insightful)
I have been a programmer for about 10 years but I got tired of not really making any kind of a difference with programming. I decided to go back to school to do chemical and biological engineering so I could work on turning new nanotech/biotech treatments for various diseases like cancer into actual shipping products. There are been some lab bench cancer treatments that show 99%+ eradication of cancer within a few days of treatment but apparently it takes several people a year to make one dose. It is just not industrial scale stuff yet.
About a month after I decided to go back to school I found out that my business partner had pancreatic cancer and he died not too long after I started classes. I now have one year left and when I graduate I will hopefully get a job working on turning these cures into real shipping products. I know I may need to move to places like Canada or a western European country to work on real cures since the current profit motive in the USA does not really favor cures.
I just find it sad that this kind of thing continues to happen. We spend so much money and effort on killing people but if we spent even 5% of what we spent on the military we could cure a heck of a lot of these problems.
It is very sad that he died but it does provide yet another piece of incentive for what I will be doing next and I hope it will encourage other people to do the same.
Re:This kind of thing is why I went back to school (Score:4, Insightful)
Yeah, when I first read about his diagnosis and prognosis I thought "We're at that really awkward point in which we can find out what someone is suffering from and that and when he will die of it but still can't do anything about it". This is incredibly sad.
Some cancer prevetion & treatment options (Score:3)
Too late for Iain though, sadly (vitamin d, iodine, phytonutrients, etc.): http://news.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=3610805&cid=43349347 [slashdot.org]
Also google on cancer and a ketogenic diet (starves cancer cells of the sugar they need).
The sad thing is we could have a post-scarcity society right now, but our ideology gets in the way. Maybe it would not be "The Culture" level, but it would still be pretty neat. But we have not done that, and so many areas of our society, including medicine. remain backward for lack
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The sad thing is we could have a post-scarcity society right now, but our ideology gets in the way. Maybe it would not be "The Culture" level, but it would still be pretty neat.
Actually, we are on our way [youtube.com].
Re:This kind of thing is why I went back to school (Score:5, Informative)
http://www.medicaldaily.com/articles/14434/20130328/cancer-treatment-cd47-miracle-bullet-breast-colon-bladder-antibody-eat-macrophage-immune.htm [medicaldaily.com]
That is one of the examples at least. Last I read it was very hard to make but is showing amazing results. I have not found out yet if the phase 1 trials happened and how they have gone.
Productions problems seem to be a fairly common things for nanomedicines right now.
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For some reason I couldn't find the article again about the eradication rate. There is so much search pollution on this subject it is often hard to find things.
The production problems is just what I heard from a professor that has worked on making these kinds of drugs.
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My understanding is that cancer cells massively over express that surface protein, even if the marker binds equally it would be selective towards the cancer cells. The immune system will also trigger healing responses in nearbye cells so losing some non-cancer cells but having an immediate repair response in the area should not be a problem.
I definitely want to see human studies though. I am not really very happy with mouse models. Pigs would be a better model.
You will be missed (Score:2)
I wish you were fully backed up. I hope you Sublimed somehow.
I really like his novels, I see him in the lienage of Clarke and Herbert in his own Galaxy.
At least he did it (Score:5, Insightful)
Iain M. Banks not only managed to revive SF to a point of being relevant once again (to me at least), he also managed to make up a future and a culture that was worth it. He may be dead now but he left something really precious: A possible world that is both interesting and (mostly) peaceful and fun.
I'm really thankful for that.
Thank you Iain, you gave us hope (Score:5, Insightful)
On our primitive planet with its petty preoccupations over power and money, you showed us a vision of the future in which Mankind has managed to transcend the narrow blinkers of its youth, and reaches out to the stars without material greed nor lust for power.
The Culture gave millions of us hope for the future, at a time when government, business and fanaticism seem intent on moving us back towards the barbarism of earlier ages. Your vision will live on in our hearts, come what may.
Thank you.
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"Money is a sign of poverty" as the Culture says (it has no money). But it did transcend the lust for power in the most straight way: By being almost limitlessly powerful, to make that clear. The technology of the Culture is very much god-like.
He will be missed. (Score:2)
Fuck (Score:3)
Any news on his last book? (Score:1)
In the announcement he did abot the cancer there was something about one more book from the Culture, are there any news about it?
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It's called The Quarry ISBN 9781408703946
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The last Culture book was "The Hydrogen Sonata".
Ironically about the ending of a civilisation.
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Sublime Banks has sublimed (Score:2)
Beautiful work - Thank you. (Score:1)
RIP Iain M. Banks.
What I found so intriguing about his work is how he took the time to explain how certain significant scientific advancements result in their ultimate effect on economics, psychology, and the human view on the world/universe. A harmony of ideas surrounded by a solid mythology.
-Tim
One more voice (Score:2)
I'm just one more to say how saddened I am for the loss of Iain Banks. His novels have touched me as well, and I have not felt the loss of any author as painful since Isaac Asimov passed.
AlthoughI fear otherwise, I sincerely hope that some day our children's children will live in something like the culture.
crow road (Score:2)
Fuck (Score:1)
Goddamn uncaring universe >:-(
If only the credulous assholes were right.
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Seems to me there's still plenty of room left, even just in what we know we don't know about physics, for multiple possibilities that we could crudely stick an "afterlife" label on; no need to cave in to the limited imaginations of the logically impaired!
Vale, Iain, and if you can send us a postcard from Infinite Fun Space, please do. :)
Sleep among the stars (Score:1)
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Agreed, Consider Phlebas is an outrageously awesome read, it's one of those books that gets the neurons going on so many levels.
Iain M Banks will be sorely missed by those who took the time to read his works.
Ian to Sublime (Score:1)
Ignorant Tagging (Score:4, Insightful)
Scottish Writer (Score:1)
Are you trying to be funny? He was Scottish and died in Scotland. A prominent advocate for the independence of his Scotland! He was not American in any way.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2013/jun/09/iain-banks-dies-59-cancer [guardian.co.uk]
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How far slashdot has fallen
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You're obviously hopelessly USian. In most of the English-speaking world, "partner" in this context does not mean "homosexual partner" although it can. It just means that the two people are a couple but are not married. To my knowledge, Iain Banks partner was, in fact, a woman.
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You're obviously hopelessly USian. In most of the English-speaking world, "partner" in this context does not mean "homosexual partner" although it can. It just means that the two people are a couple but are not married. To my knowledge, Iain Banks partner was, in fact, a woman.
"Shortly after the announcement, Banks married his partner, Adele Hartley, and she survives him." (source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2013/jun/09/iain-banks-dies-59-cancer [guardian.co.uk] )
(And yes - those sort of comments reminded me of the folks who sprayed the word "paedo" on a house belonging to a paediatrician.)
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Ladyfriend is still too similar to girlfriend. It has this euphemistic feel to it, as if you might say it in a whisper with a wink and nudge. Sweetheart is a little too saccharine and is more of a term of endearment. Common law spouse has too precise a definition and, aside from probably being irrelevant in most circumstances, probably isn't accurate. Love could possibly work, but has a broader definition (at least, in the area of romance).
Partner is nicely descriptive. It's still not perfect, obviously. Ro
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Ladyfriend is still too similar to girlfriend. It has this euphemistic feel to it, as if you might say it in a whisper with a wink and nudge.
Euphemism is appropriate if he's having a "relationship with the maturity and completeness of a marriage without actually being a marriage".
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But the connotations of "ladyfriend" seem to belong to a time and place where such a relationship is at least a little beyond the pale. "Partner" seems to belong to a mature society that accepts that the relationship belongs to the people involved in it. Also, it doesn't require distinguishing between "ladyfriend" or "manfriend". Come to think of it, I'm not sure I've ever really heard "manfriend" used, so there's a bit of a balance problem with "ladyfriend" as well.
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that's one less faggot in the world. i hope his partner is denied any and all death benefits. bladder cancer my ass. he died from sucking one too many cocks.
Funny how you start your homophobic rant by quoting a rock song written and sung by a queer, then you assume that someone referring to Mr. Banks' spouse as his "partner" implies a same-sex relationship. In fact, his partner is a woman, you ignorant piece of maggot slime. Fuck you, hater. I know, I know... YHBT YHL etc.
Iain would laugh at you (Score:2)
I really like how in his Culture sex-changes are not only possible but common, with the usual course changing between the sexes one or more times and bearing a child being something even most men do at least once. But then, with at least 400 years at your disposal exploring how it is being a man/woman is something even the most extreme homophobes would try sooner or later... Ranting gets boring after one or two hundred years I guess.
Anyway, if you're a tight-minded human the Culture will induce rages for yo
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I'm just going to repeat myself as I've already written this in response to someone else:
You're obviously hopelessly USian. In most of the English-speaking world, "partner" in this context does not mean "homosexual partner" although it can. It just means that the two people are a couple but are not married. To my knowledge, Iain Banks partner was, in fact, a woman.