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Iain M. Banks Cancer: Author Announces He Has Only Months To Live
![[image loading]](http://i.huffpost.com/gen/1068174/thumbs/r-IAIN-M-BANKS-CANCER-large570.jpg?10)
LONDON — Scottish writer Iain Banks said Wednesday he has been diagnosed with late-stage gall bladder cancer and has just months to live.
Banks says it is "extremely unlikely" he will live more than a year and that his latest novel, "The Quarry," will likely be his last.
The 59-year-old said he is "officially very poorly" and is weighing the pros and cons of chemotherapy to extend his life.
"As a result, I've withdrawn from all planned public engagements and I've asked my partner Adele if she will do me the honor of becoming my widow," Banks said in a statement posted on his publisher's website. "Sorry – but we find ghoulish humor helps."
Banks writes general fiction and science fiction, the latter under the name Iain M. Banks.
Banks published his first novel "The Wasp Factory" in 1984. His first science fiction novel, "Consider Phlebas," was published in 1987.
In 2008, he was named one of the 50 greatest British writers since 1945 in a list compiled by The Times of London.
Wow what terrible news. He's so young as well (59). Poor bastard. He's humour in all this is pretty good though. Poor Iain M Banks. I can think of so many celebrities I'm fans of who'd I'd rather see die ahead of him.
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If you're wondering who Banks is, he's the author of several fiction and sci-fi novels (that you should check out), lives in the UK and is just generally a great author.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/03/writer-iain-banks-i-have-_n_3005456.html?utm_hp_ref=fb&src=sp&comm_ref=false
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wonder why it took him so long to find out he had cancer
if its in its late stage shouldnt his body have acted up on its own long ago? unless he just refused to go to the doctor despite the signs until it was too late
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On April 05 2013 21:51 evilfatsh1t wrote:
wonder why it took him so long to find out he had cancer
if its in its late stage shouldnt his body have acted up on its own long ago? unless he just refused to go to the doctor despite the signs until it was too late
Concer is a very unpredictable thing, you can never be sure. Appreciate life the time you have it
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"I can think of so many celebrities I'm fans of who'd I'd rather see die ahead of him."
Wow, lol.
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Gall bladder cancers tend to not do anything until super late, generally found early by random chance (i.e. lucky enough to get gall stones). It's a shitty way to go.
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On April 05 2013 21:51 evilfatsh1t wrote:
wonder why it took him so long to find out he had cancer
if its in its late stage shouldnt his body have acted up on its own long ago? unless he just refused to go to the doctor despite the signs until it was too late
The guardian reports him as saying he had a back problem since January that he ascribed to crouching over his keyboard writing. Then when he went to his doctor they noticed he had jaundice. Blood test, ultrasound and CT scan later showed that it was cancer and that it had already spread from his gallbladder to his liver, probably his pancreas and some lymph nodes.
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On April 05 2013 21:51 evilfatsh1t wrote:
wonder why it took him so long to find out he had cancer
if its in its late stage shouldnt his body have acted up on its own long ago? unless he just refused to go to the doctor despite the signs until it was too late
Gall bladder cancer is one of the worst cancers to have precisely because it usually remains asymptomatic until it's very late stage when it already involves part of your liver and other close organs such as the duodenum or the pancreas. At that point it's almost always inoperable. And even when you can remove the tumor surgically, survival at 5 years doesn't exceed 5%...
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I read the wasp factory when i was sixteen, with no idea what i was getting into, (Slight spoiler)+ Show Spoiler +the description of the baby at the end still haunts me, as it did the main character's brother.
Sad to hear him go though.
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T_T one of my favorite authors, so sad to hear this.
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Terrible news, he's an excellent sci fi author. It's a huge loss
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On April 05 2013 21:53 Animzor wrote:
"I can think of so many celebrities I'm fans of who'd I'd rather see die ahead of him."
Wow, lol.
lol that was kind of brutal. In any case, it's always sad to see someone go before their time  . Fuck off cancer.
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NO! fuck this. I'm hoping this actually just a late April fools joke, but people don't joke about cancer.
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On April 06 2013 01:54 Just_a_Moth wrote:
NO! fuck this. I'm hoping this actually just a late April fools joke, but people don't joke about cancer.
Nah it's not. Multiple news agencies reported it, and he put a message up on his page. I hoped that too when I first read it .
On April 06 2013 01:53 AnomalySC2 wrote:Show nested quote +On April 05 2013 21:53 Animzor wrote:
"I can think of so many celebrities I'm fans of who'd I'd rather see die ahead of him."
Wow, lol. lol that was kind of brutal. In any case, it's always sad to see someone go before their time . Fuck off cancer.
Yeah I've been thinking about that since I wrote it and wondering why I feel that way. Why would I care less if one of my favourite actors died? Is it because books are so much more involving and call for so much more participation from their audience? Perhaps, but that alone can't be it. I was greatly saddened when David Gemmell died, but I never wished it was someone else.
It's possible Banks is just such a treasure of a human being that it makes me feel that way.
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On April 06 2013 02:03 Subversive wrote:Show nested quote +On April 06 2013 01:54 Just_a_Moth wrote:
NO! fuck this. I'm hoping this actually just a late April fools joke, but people don't joke about cancer. Nah it's not. Multiple news agencies reported it, and he put a message up on his page. I hoped that too when I first read it . Show nested quote +On April 06 2013 01:53 AnomalySC2 wrote:On April 05 2013 21:53 Animzor wrote:
"I can think of so many celebrities I'm fans of who'd I'd rather see die ahead of him."
Wow, lol. lol that was kind of brutal. In any case, it's always sad to see someone go before their time . Fuck off cancer. Yeah I've been thinking about that since I wrote it and wondering why I feel that way. Why would I care less if one of my favourite actors died? Is it because books are so much more involving and call for so much more participation from their audience? Perhaps, but that alone can't be it. I was greatly saddened when David Gemmell died, but I never wished it was someone else. It's possible Banks is just such a treasure of a human being that it makes me feel that way.
Definitely this. Banks is so awesome. He's the king of space opera.
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I've had an on-again, off-again relationship with his stories. I read the Wasp Factory when I was young, and frankly I didn't get it. Just didn't finish it, and wondered what the fuss was all about. It was years before I picked up the first Culture novel, and promised myself I would get through it. It's weird, I struggled again, for the first part of it, but at some point, something just clicked and I saw how amazing his writing, how fantastic the mind that had created it was. They say sci-fi holds up a mirror to our hopes and desires for the future. I think Iain Banks understands us better than most.
Truly saddening, and it's humbling to see how he is facing this. An inspiring man and a fantastic author.
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On April 06 2013 01:54 Just_a_Moth wrote:
NO! fuck this. I'm hoping this actually just a late April fools joke, but people don't joke about cancer.
Offtopic: I decided to pull a "prank" on my best friends (a chick I've known for quite a long time, she says I'm like a brother to her), told her I only had about a year to live due to a carcinoma (thankfully she's not too good at medicine, yet)... Man, her face and voice when I told her it was a lie cracks me up, but she got so mad I'm never pulling that one on her again.
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Omfg noo!! I was hoping he would keep writing for a few more years. He's one of my favorite authors. This is really terrible news, I hope he gets better but from the diagnosis it looks shitty. Gl Mr Banks, too bad the virtual heavens he envisioned don't exist yet.
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This is sad, definitely one of the greatest sci fi writers
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On April 06 2013 07:59 Sanctimonius wrote:
I've had an on-again, off-again relationship with his stories. I read the Wasp Factory when I was young, and frankly I didn't get it. Just didn't finish it, and wondered what the fuss was all about. It was years before I picked up the first Culture novel, and promised myself I would get through it. It's weird, I struggled again, for the first part of it, but at some point, something just clicked and I saw how amazing his writing, how fantastic the mind that had created it was. They say sci-fi holds up a mirror to our hopes and desires for the future. I think Iain Banks understands us better than most.
Truly saddening, and it's humbling to see how he is facing this. An inspiring man and a fantastic author.
Someone gave me The Wasp Factory when I was 16 and I found it way too dark to read at the time. I know how you feel about his stories, some I've loved, others have just been ok. But Bank's normal is so far above average that I still find all of his books a pleasure to read.
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Doesn't it say he is 59 in the article you linked and quoted? Or is the "(57)" not referring to his age?
Anyway, always a shame to see one go, but at least the guy hasn't died yet! Poor Roger
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On April 06 2013 13:07 Blargh wrote:Doesn't it say he is 59 in the article you linked and quoted? Or is the "(57)" not referring to his age? Anyway, always a shame to see one go, but at least the guy hasn't died yet! Poor Roger
Correct. For some reason I read 1954 as 1956. He's 59.
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"I've asked my partner Adele if she will do me the honor of becoming my widow"
DANG that is sad. :[
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http://friends.banksophilia.com/
Leave Iain your condolences here. His fiancee says he reads them all, so get your word in while you can. He'll also post status updates there.
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Aw man, how terrible. I've read almost all of his science fiction works and quite enjoyed them. Will be so sad to see him go.
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Wow, he really seems to be taking it well.
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Love his work, read every Ian M Banks novel... sci-fi games genre actually owes him a huge debt, even though they don't talk about it you can tell Mass Effect is heavily influenced by his work.
Really sad
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Iain Banks dies of cancer aged 59
Iain Banks Iain Banks was best known for his novels The Wasp Factory, The Crow Road and Complicity
Continue reading the main story
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Iain Banks statement in full
Author Banks has terminal cancer
Author Iain Banks has died aged 59, two months after announcing he had terminal cancer, his family has said.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-22835047
He died today, RIP.
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Rest in peace. I liked The Algebraist.
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Cancer is terrible,Now I won't smoke any more., scared to lung cancer
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Damn... literally two months after being diagnosed.
I'm sure he'll be missed.
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I will always remember him as one of the greatest sci-fi writers, his Culture series is amazing, I have just ordered The Hydrogen Sonata not even knowing this will be the last one
RIP.
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So sad. Banksi was the best, one of the few authors I considered "must read". Rest in peace!
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TLADT24920 Posts
Can't say I read any of his novels but a human life is valuable imo. RIP!
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A great loss.
Douglas Adams, Iain Banks, Terry Pratchett fighting Alzheimers...
So many of my favorite authors pass away too early.
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Hadn't seen this thread before.
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I just saw this thread, and I was reading through it and thought it was really sad, and then I saw that he just died.
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So sad, my condolences to his friends and family.
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RIP
His Culture Novels are one of the first sci-fi books i read - I have to read them again after I finished Simmons Hyperion...
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r.i.p. read a few of his books and really liked them
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On April 05 2013 21:53 Copymizer wrote:Show nested quote +On April 05 2013 21:51 evilfatsh1t wrote:
wonder why it took him so long to find out he had cancer
if its in its late stage shouldnt his body have acted up on its own long ago? unless he just refused to go to the doctor despite the signs until it was too late Concer is a very unpredictable thing, you can never be sure. Appreciate life the time you have it
There are a lot of people who say live everday as if it were your last. But now the way I see it just pretend if you were to die tomorrow would you be satisfied with how you lived your life until now? If not then work your ass off to make those precious memories and make yourself say "I've lived a great life."
RIP
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On June 10 2013 04:21 Sephy90 wrote:Show nested quote +On April 05 2013 21:53 Copymizer wrote:On April 05 2013 21:51 evilfatsh1t wrote:
wonder why it took him so long to find out he had cancer
if its in its late stage shouldnt his body have acted up on its own long ago? unless he just refused to go to the doctor despite the signs until it was too late Concer is a very unpredictable thing, you can never be sure. Appreciate life the time you have it There are a lot of people who say live everday as if it were your last. But now the way I see it just pretend if you were to die tomorrow would you be satisfied with how you lived your life until now? If not then work your ass off to make those precious memories and make yourself say "I've lived a great life." RIP
Yeah, the idea of saying "live every day as if it were your last" goes pretty much along the same path your idea of "if you were to die tomorrow, would you be happy with your life?" in the first place.
RIP, wow. It was just so out of the blue.
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May his written legacy last for long.
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Damn it, I didn't think it would be that fast. Rest in peace Iain.
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