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Why the Culture Wins: An Appreciation of Iain M. Banks

josephheath.substack.com · 6,229 words · saved by 1 readers

A few too many people have been looking to read this article, to the point where they’re crashing the website of Sci-Phi Journal, where it was originally published. Since that journal stopped publishing immediately after my article appeared, I don’t think anyone will mind my reproducing it here: Many years ago, a friend of mine who knows about these sorts of things handed me a book and said “Here, you have to read this.” It was a copy of Iain M. Banks’s Use of Weapons. I glanced over the jacket copy. “What’s the Culture?” I asked. “Well,” she said, “it’s kind of hard to explain.” She settled in for what looked to be a long conversation. “In Thailand, they have this thing called the Dog. You see the Dog wherever you go, hanging around by the side of the road, skulking around markets. The thing is, it’s not a breed, it’s more like the universal dog. You could take any dog, of any breed, release it into the streets, and within a couple of ge

Why the Culture Wins: An Appreciation of Iain M. Banks (reprinted) Joseph Heath Oct 15, 2023 116 22 Share A few too many people have been looking to read this article, to the point where they’re crashing the website of Sci-Phi Journal , where it was originally published. Since that journal stopped publishing immediately after my article appeared, I don’t think anyone will mind my reproducing it here: Many years ago, a friend of mine who knows about these sorts of things handed me a book and said “Here, you have to read this.” It was a copy of Iain M. Banks’s Use of Weapons . I glanced over the

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