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The Business
Iain Banks Book Review

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Plot Summary of The Business
"The Business is a secretive private multinational organisation that predates Christianity. The Business wants to buy its own State so that it can have a seat on the United Nations. Kate Telman the protagonist of the book is a Level 3 executive in The Business who is on a years sabbactical. Whilst visiting a computer chip making plant in Scotland belonging to the Business she becomes suspicious of a secure room she is steered away from. Then she gets invited to visit various Level 1 executives (who are all billionaires) around the world. They are sizing her up for a position of researcher into the tiny Himalayan State of Thuhn which they are planning to buy. The good news is that the Crown Prince of Thuhn is in love with Kate. They meet again at Uncle Freddy's (another Level 1 executive) and the Prince makes a pass at her. So the Level 1's are hoping that Kate and the Prince will get married. Kate must unearth the mystery surrounding the secret room at the chip making plant and also decide whether to marry the Crown Prince. The book describes wonderfully the tiny Principality of Thuhn and the life styles of billionaire executives. A gripping read by this master story teller. "
John Marcel, Resident Scholar



Review Analysis of The Business
Our unique search engine provides a wealth of detail about books by breaking them down into many different literary elements, all of which are searchable (click here).
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot

Composition of Book
descript. of violence and chases - 10%
Planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 40%
Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 30%
How society works & physical descript. (people, objects, places) - 20%




Tone of story - very upbeat
Time/era of story: - 1980's-1999
Spying/Terrorism Thriller Yes
Cloak & Dagger Plotlets: - main char. spying/sabotage
Kid or adult book? - Adult or Young Adult Book
Who's the terrorist enemy here? - evil corporation/billionaire

Main Character
Gender - Female
Profession/status: - business executive
Age: - 20's-30's
Is this an ordinary person caught up in events? Yes
How much violence does he/she use? - a little
Ethnicity/Race - British
How sensitive is this character? - sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor - Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence - Smarter than most other characters
Physique - average physique

Main Adversary
Identity: - an organization
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in: - throughout most of the book.
Motive of antagonist - power
The antagonists are: - big business leader(s)

Setting
United States Yes
The US: - West - California
Europe Yes
European country: - England/UK
Asia/Pacific Yes
Asian country: - India
Mountains/Cliffs Yes
Mountains: - climbing on trails

Style
Person - mostly 1st
Accounts of torture and death? - no torture/death
How many deaths? - 0 (not a murder mystery)
Sex Yes
What kind of sex: - vague references - descript of kissing - touching of anatomy - actual description of sex - descript. of breasts - descript. of male nudity
A lot of techno jargon? Yes
Kind of jargon? - electrical engineering
Amount of dialog - significantly more descript than dialog
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