Canal Dreams

Book Review

«Canal Dreams» by Ian Banks is a novel where the tense silence of Panama’s waters becomes the stage for inner drama and external threat. The author masterfully weaves the psychological portrait of the main character, Japanese cellist Hisako Onoda, with an atmosphere of mounting anxiety: the ship stranded in the canal turns into a closed space where past and present collide with harsh reality. Banks works virtuously with the rhythm of the narrative, alternating meditative reflection with flashes of violence, creating a sense of uncertainty and the inevitability of fate. Critics note that the novel stands out among the author’s works for its intimacy and psychological depth, though some feel the shift from contemplative lyricism to hard-edged thriller is too abrupt. Nevertheless, «Canal Dreams» is a subtle and unsettling story about the fragility of the human soul, about music that becomes both salvation and curse, and about how the past relentlessly pursues us even in the most remote corners of the world.