You know you're reading a good book, when you start to slow down as you're reaching the end, to make it last longer, and when you're kinda sad when it's over. That's how I felt with
The Bridge (1986) by Scotsman Ian Banks.
It's retty elaborately constructed, it starts of with a man getting in a car accident on a bridge, and subsequently going in a coma. The rest of the book is then his imaginations and dreams, divided in different realities. The main dream is about a life on The Bridge, which is similiar in that he has also been in an accident which has given him amnesia. The Bridge in this dream is a huge structure, and infinitely long, full of buildings clinging to the top or side. It's sort of a steam-punk world: gentlemen with hats and canes, string quartets in the elevators, and lot's steampowered machines. It's a very cool universe and excellently described.
The second dream (or reality) is this man's dreams, of which the most common is of a brute barbarian (who talks in a very difficult Scottish accent), who enjoys rapping and killing, and who has a very intelligent familiar on his shoulder guiding him. These scenes are very funny, especially when he descends into Dante's hell, and ruins all the punishments by helping the tormented (and turning Charon to stone in the process). The third, is actually the 'real' man's (the one in a coma) memories, of youth and adulthood, and especially about the love story between him and his girlfriend - very touching and engaging.
It's not actually as hard to keep track of, as I might have made, and the different settings works great with one another. Besides the clever plot, it is also very well written. I think this is one of those rare books that I might actually read again.
