More Banville...
The other Banville lover (former cynic who did not want The Sea to win the Booker...hmph) goes ga ga after reading what K had to say.
Also, forgot to quote K on her favourite Banville works and her recos for new readers:
The favorites are: The Book of Evidence, The Untouchable, Doctor Copernicus, Kepler, Athena.
The ones that are worthy of read, but probably won't "strike a chord" are: Mefisto, The Sea, The Newton Letter.
Can't possibly be called literature, still is pretty darn good - Christine Falls. (as Benjamin Black)
I disagree with K about The Newton Letter and The Sea because I thought they both struck a chord with me. But I guess that The Book of Evidence flavour needs to wear off completely for these two books to find some mind space.
Also, to quote from a blog (TEV) I admire immensely (the link leads to Mark Sarvas' interview of John Banville):
TEV: Well, I know that when people come to me and ask me which of your books they should read and why they should read them, I tell them that about this thwarted quest for authenticity.
JB: If they asked you what book to start with, what would you say?
(TEV Note: Herein follows a brief shocked silence followed by much unseemly stammering in which we desperately try – and fail – to avoid the wrong answer.)TEV: (fumbling) I'm usually useless in that I usually end up suggesting three or four …
JB: (vaguely disappointed) Oh.TEV: (continuing) … in that one of the things I'll do is point to the one that I read first, which is Eclipse. I came to it on the strength of a very positive review in the New York Review of Books, which you may recall. I also tend to recommend based on what I know about the reader, which can bring me to The Book of Evidence or The Untouchable … Oddly – and it's hard for me to say I have a favorite because it shifts –
JB: Oh no, I don't mean your favorite. I mean which would you say to someone, This would be a good place to start?
TEV: The Book of Evidence, I would say, because it's quite self-contained or –
JB: I would say The Newton Letter.
TEV: (of course, we knew that all along) The Newton Letter.
JB: It's pretty well all there. And it's short.
Just curious, folks - why is that Christine Falls 'can't possibly be called literature'? Is it because, for the first time since The Untouchable, Banville actually remembered to tell a story with believeable characters in it? Cheers, Declan
Posted by
Declan Burke |
3:23 AM, February 20, 2008
Hmmm. My bad. The reason I put Christine Falls in the non-lit section was because you wouldn't find Christine Falls in the literature aisle in a bookstore.
Truth be told, I enjoyed Christine Falls (a lot more than, say, The Sea) and am rooting for the Quirke series: It's very accessible Banville.
L, and Uber:
>>>former cynic
Really? Didn't know that story. I thought you both declared undying love for Banville ever since you first heard his name.
Posted by
K. |
8:44 PM, February 20, 2008
Errr, No. I thought The Sea was a greater art to be considered for da Booker; I supported On Beauty because the expanse of its reading experience conformed more with the Booker definition.
Posted by
Ubermensch |
5:39 AM, March 01, 2008