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The Business Iain Banks
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Kate Telman is a senior executive officer in The Business, a powerful and massively discreet transglobal organisation whose origins predate the Christian Church if not the Roman Empire (which The Business actually owned for 66 days). Financially transparent, internally democratic and disavowing Conventional familial inheritance, the character of The Business seems, even to Kate, to be vague to the point of invisibility. It possesses, allegedly, a book of Leonardo cartoons, dozens of Michelangelo's pornographic paintings and several sets of Crown Jewels. It has a permanent base in Antarctica, and wants to buy its own State in order to acquire a seat at the United Nations. Kate's job is to keep abreast of current technological developments and her global reach encompasses both Silicon Valley and Silicon Glen, a ranch in Nebraska, the firm's secretive Swiss headquarters, and a remote Himalayan principality. In the course of her journey Kate must peel away layers of emotional insulation and the assumptions of a lifetime. She must learn to keep her world at arm's length. To take control, she has to do The Business. |
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| Reader Reviews | |
Review by Nigel (250600) Rating (8/10) Quiz Review
by Nigel I quite enjoyed this book. It was a departure for a Bank's in that it's a straightforward, humorous, normal story about the events of a pragmatic, intelligent, independent 30 something female executive, albeit in a strange company - The Business. Kate is a fairly highly placed Level 3 in the Business. She enjoys various perks and is currently spending a year on sabbatical. The story concerns various double dealing by those above, using Kate as a tool to achieve their own ends while we see the story from her prespective. It
is a nice book and a really good read. One for lazy summer afternoons.
Recommended.  |
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8/10