Listen free for 30 days

Listen with offer

Preview
  • Canal Dreams

  • By: Iain Banks
  • Narrated by: Lisa Coleman
  • Length: 7 hrs and 49 mins
  • 3.8 out of 5 stars (34 ratings)

£0.00 for first 30 days

Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Canal Dreams

By: Iain Banks
Narrated by: Lisa Coleman
Try for £0.00

£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £12.99

Buy Now for £12.99

Pay using card ending in
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.

Summary

Hisako Onoda, world famous cellist, refuses to fly. And so she travels to Europe as a passenger on a tanker bound through the Panama Canal. But Panama is a country whose politics are as volatile as the local freedom fighters. When Hisako's ship is captured, it is not long before the atmostphere is as flammable as an oxy-acetylene torch, and the tension as sharp as the spike on the cello....

©1989 Iain Banks (P)2013 Hachette Audio
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

Listeners also enjoyed...

Espedair Street cover art
Walking On Glass cover art
The Bridge cover art
The Steep Approach to Garbadale cover art
Raw Spirit cover art
Across the Narrow Seas cover art
Circle of Bones cover art
On the Java Ridge cover art
Hatteras Blue: A Tiller Galloway Underwater Adventure cover art
The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch cover art
The Keys of Hell cover art
Mortal Engines cover art
The Night of the Triffids cover art
The Dark of The Sun cover art
Barricade cover art
The Eye of the Tiger cover art

Critic reviews

"Apocalyptic is the first word that springs to mind to describe this violent and powerful novel in which Banks once again demostrates his extraordinary dark powers of imagination...impressive." (The Times)

"This stunning, hallucinatory, semi-surreal fable pits an artistic, precariously balanced sensibility against a world of brutal political forces." (Publishers Weekly)

What listeners say about Canal Dreams

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    9
  • 4 Stars
    14
  • 3 Stars
    7
  • 2 Stars
    2
  • 1 Stars
    2
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    14
  • 4 Stars
    13
  • 3 Stars
    3
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    1
Story
  • 3.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    10
  • 4 Stars
    7
  • 3 Stars
    9
  • 2 Stars
    3
  • 1 Stars
    2

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

A life suspended

This is a good book in many ways, but it never defines it selfe. The main character is well developed and her motivations are understandable, she is real and likable. The rest of the world around her,is very well described and engaging; on the other hand the geopolitical conflict sound dated, poorly manufactured and pointless (given the real history of the region). Making the ending a bit of a mess, detracting from a really interesting character, that needed no pyrotechnics to enhance her.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Canal Nightmares!

Would you listen to Canal Dreams again? Why?

I listened twice, but mainly to sort out bits of the plot that I missed, or was confused about. For me, I would probably have got more out of this book, by reading it.

Any additional comments?

This was an interesting bookt. I don't know enough about this period to know how much was pure fiction. It was an interesting concept and quite well done. I have enjoyed some of his other work more, but that is a personal view.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

More thriller than anything else.

Definitely a slow burn through the first half with a characteristic Banksian twist.
The narrator is perfect for the material and holds the central character's view throughout.
My only complaint is that there are many nautical terms (forecastle, gunwales, etc.) none of which are pronounced correctly. This is the producer's job, which if missed should be caught by the editor. It wouldn't hurt if the narrator did a little research either.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Not for me I’m afraid

I tried hard to like and finish this book. I’ve done 75% of it, but I’ve given up as I find it pointlessly odd. I read a wide and varied collection of literature and whilst I was never an A* student at interpreting an author’s intent, this one just left me frustrated. The main story on the boat is quite engaging - but the constant dream stories I just find - well, odd and rather dull. I hate not finishing a book, so I shall read a synopsis to see how it all turned out, but I can’t summon the desire nor effort to listen to the end on this one.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!