In Inversions,
Iain M Banks explores the ambiguity of history through two parallel
storylines taking place on a distant planet. The mysterious Dr Vosill
tends to a king's health while struggling against the prejudice of
his court. On the other side of the world, a bodyguard named DeWar
also tries to keep his master safe from assassins and traitors.
The
most fascinating thing about this story is its exploration of form.
Like A Song of Stone,
Banks tells a story through an unreliable narrator, causing the
reader to question what they're being presented with. The narrator
here is Vosill's assistant, Oelph, who's been sent to spy on her and
becomes infatuated with her. His duplicitousness, his feelings for
Vosill and his classism all compromise Oelph's account. One question
that kept occurring to me was “Why would Oelph divulge his
attraction to Vosill to his master?” Another confusing aspect of
this narrative is that Oelph alternates between the second and third
person when referring to his master, which makes the account seem
contradictory and at times nonsensical.
While
this at first came across as bad writing, I soon came to appreciate
that that was what Banks was trying to convey: the narrative is being
written by a person, not a dettached omniscient being. Therefore it's
riddled with faults, as real historiographies often are. Oelph's
prejudice and hypocrisies are so stark and make him seem so
unpleasant at times, that it felt like Banks was actively trying to
discourage the reader from taking Oelph at his word and instead try
to imagine alternative scenarios. What makes this part of the novel
feel so vivid is that its flaws and ambiguities reflect real human
nature. This part of the novel thus feels almost alive and not static
like a more conventional novel.
As
well as Oelph, Vosill is also an intriguing character. Because we
only see her through Oelph's eyes, it's left up to the reader to
imagine her motivations and background. She gives Oelph a vague
account of her life, and the story all but tells us who or what she
really is by the end, but the reader is still ultimately left in the
dark. Despite this vagueness, Banks still gives us a good estimate of
her character, showing her to be more compassionate, perceptive and
ultimately devious than those around her. Through Vosill, Banks shows
that there can be an alternative to the violent, bigoted society on
display here. I felt this was certainly needed given how intense the
novel becomes.
Curiously,
DeWar's segment is written in a conventional style. We have a
third-person structure, no hints of the supernatural and DeWar
himself is surprisingly transparent given the duplicitousness of
everyone around him. It's probably for this reason that I didn't find
this part of the book as gripping. DeWar spends a lot of time bonding
with his Lord Protector's son and with Perrund, one of his harem. I
found these parts of the novel a bit too sentimental for my liking.
DeWar also spends a lot of time telling fables of two cousins, which
suggests a link between the two narratives. However, I felt these
segments dragged on for too long and that we really only needed one
of them, whereas Banks has three.
This
plotline does however end with an interesting twist which ties in
with the theme of deceit. Characters' motivations are revealed and
our perceptions of them are shown to have been wildly innaccurate,
which corresponds well with the novel's ambiguity; the history (or
backstory) we've been led to believe up until this point is shown to
be false. The novel thus ends on a suitably unclear note and I was
left wondering not only how certain characters ended up, but even if
there were more skeletons in closets that had not been revealed.
Banks however keeps his mouth shut on this issue, and I feel the
novel was much stronger for it.
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