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 First edition | |
| Author | Iain Banks |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Publisher | Little, Brown |
Publication date | 1995 |
| Publication place | Scotland |
| Media type | Print (Hardback &Paperback) |
| Pages | 455 |
| ISBN | 0-349-10768-8 |
| OCLC | 35666889 |
Whit, or, Isis amongst the unsaved is anovel by the Scottish writerIain Banks, published in 1995. Isis Whit, a young but important member of a small, quirkycult in Scotland, narrates. The community suspects that Isis' cousin Morag is in danger, and sends Isis out to help.
Isis, otherwise The Blessed Very Reverend Gaia-Marie Isis Saraswati Minerva Mirza Whit of Luskentyre, Beloved Elect of God III, is the 19-year-old granddaughter and designated spiritual heir of Salvador Whit, patriarch of the Luskentyrians. They are areligious cult who live in acommune inStirlingshire and reject mosttechnology. They run their lives according to a collection of beliefs and rituals "revealed" to Salvador after he washed ashore onHarris in theWestern Isles and "married" two youngAsian ladies (Aasni and Zhobelia Asis). (Haggis pakora becomes a staple of the cult'scuisine.)
The novel opens shortly before the Luskentyrian Festival of Love, held every four years, about nine months before everyleap year day (29 February). The Luskentyrians believe that those born on that day have special power. This includes Isis herself, Elect of God, and expected to take over leadership of the cult.
The bulk of the novel tells of Isis' voyages in the world of "the Unsaved" (also known as "the Obtuse", "the Wretched", "the Bland" and "the Asleep"), through Scotland and southern England in search of Morag, who is feared to haverejected the cult.
While searching for her cousin, Isis meetsRastas, policemen,white power skinheads, and other characters of a sort she has never encountered before, and tells the story of the cult and the rationale behind its rules. Isis' maternal grandmother, Yolanda, a feistyTexan woman, appears and lends her support to Isis' quest. Isis' friend Sophi, although not part of the cult, is very close to her. Isis meets her whenever she goes to her house to use the Luskentyrian method of free (if laborious) telephone communication, using coded rings.
Returning with enhanced maturity and a lot more information, Isis must decide what to tell the other members of the cult.
Like many of Banks' characters, from Frank Cauldhame inThe Wasp Factory to Prentice McHoan inThe Crow Road, Isis engages in a half-unconscious search forknowledge which will inevitably turn her world upside down. The novel thus becomes a type ofBildungsroman.
Banks portrays the cult largely sympathetically, especially given its publication shortly after theWaco Siege in 1993 (which Yolanda discusses within the novel). Banks ensures that the Luskentyriantheology (in which Isis fervently believes at the start of the book) has coherence and consistency, even as events cause her to start to doubt.
Banks has called it:
a book about religion and culture written by a dedicated evangelicalatheist – I thought I was very kind to them... Essentially, Isis makes the recognition that the value of the Luskentyrian cult is in their community values rather than their religious ones. She recognises that efficiency isn't everything, that people not profit are what matters.