Regarding the Pain of Others, Susan Sontag

I loved this, it was fascinating and very applicable to so much we see in art and media. 

Regarding the Pain of Others is centred on the representation of suffering in photography primarily, but also painting and cinema. Sontag questions why these images exist, what they try to achieve, what they do achieve and the act of creating and looking at them. It is really readable and understandable and verbalises a lot of the discomfort and questions I think we have all sensed when presented with images of the pain of others, whatever the cause.

The Wasp Factory, Iain Banks

I bought this because I'd seen the book around so much I was curious as to what it was like, it has a mysterious sort of title and blurb, not horror but certainly not cheerful. 

Frank is a dangerous sixteen year old who lives on a small island off Scotland, linked to the mainland by a bridge, he lives with his father, has one friend in the town and a collection of relatives with strange stories. He is our narrator, showing us his world and describing his history.  

It draws you in and the breadcrumbing and reveal of backstories is really successful. As is the way Banks describes and shows Frank's way of seeing the world and the macarbre rituals and totems he creates to control and predict it. Banks has created a complex inner world and creates atmosphere effortlessly. My only complaint is the ending, which I wasn't a fan of, and even less of the page or so of rationalising from Frank. Well worth reading, but better without the last chapter.