Comments (24)

What did you think about this title?
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Jun 07, 2023lukasevansherman rated this title 3 out of 5 stars
"The past beats inside me like a second heart." Nostalgic, Booker-winning Irish novel.
Apr 15, 2023CareyMacaulay rated this title 3 out of 5 stars
"The tea-bag is a vile invention, suggestive to my perhaps overly squeamish eye of something a careless person might leave behind unflushed in the lavatory." I have no idea how to rate this book. It is beautifully written but I never got…
Oct 29, 2022
At first I had difficulty with this novel but I enjoyed it later on. It was not an easy read! After I finished reading it I went back and reread the beginning of the novel again, for completion! Do not read this book if you have a close…
Sep 19, 2022lindarainaldi rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
This is on my list of the top 10 books in the English language. I first read it when it was on the Booker short list and decided I didn't need to read any other contenders. His writing is like poetry. I return to this book every year. It's…
Feb 25, 2022eusebius rated this title 2.5 out of 5 stars
Been there, done that. That more or less sums up the significance of the novel. Banville has written better ones--Snow, The Book of Evidence--where his preoccupation with museum words and imitating Proust were not so much in evidence. The…
Oct 20, 2021BARosen1112 rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
This Booker Prize winner is for those who, like me, enjoy reading an author who employs the English language so beautifully, this time in a tragic setting. The Sea is comprised entirely of the rambling ruminations of an elderly man whose…
Jun 15, 2021RKimmer rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
I loved this book. Interesting characters & the writing was so beautiful. I didn't want it to end. I will definitely read more of this author.
Jun 23, 2020
Recommended by Richard Ford in The Week
Mar 06, 2019Crpalace68 rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
Beautifully written account of nostalgia, and memories.
Jul 29, 2018srd10 rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
An interesting author who is able to weave the memories of child and adult seamlessly,incorporating beautiful sentences with stunning descriptions. The "story" is alright and not original...it is the method of constructing the book that…
Jun 28, 2018bktm2586 rated this title 4.5 out of 5 stars
Not an easy read. I almost gave up when I found myself disagreeing with something one of the characters did. Weird. But, I persisted, and it was worth it. Not that it has a great ending, per se, but I finally got into it. This is…
Jan 26, 2018
Self-conscious & pretentious. Maybe I will finish it another time when I am feeling more generous.
Feb 28, 2017wyenotgo rated this title 3.5 out of 5 stars
This man Banville is damn good at what he does, even though the result is not always pleasing. He has what I perceive as the Irish sickness -- indulgence in gloom and an obsession with death. It has almost caused me to give up on Irish…
Feb 22, 2017njon38 rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
Winner of the Man Booker prize in 2005 this is an elegiac beautifully written piece of prose that lack even the pretence of a plot and very thinly drawn characters. Banville, who prides himself on his exquisitely written sentences, on the…
Dec 11, 2015harrissusanc rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
Wintry. It's not just the beautiful language that redeems the gloom, but this character, in his wonderful sublime stream of consciousness, sometimes becomes humanly trivial.
Jun 18, 2015
interesting
Oct 24, 2014joliebergman rated this title 1.5 out of 5 stars
I lost total interest in this this one. Although beautifully written, I kept gravitating away from it until I simply dropped it back into the library return box - not even halfway through.
Nov 24, 2013toby65 rated this title 2 out of 5 stars
It may have won the Booker, but I gave up 1/2 way through. Way too precious for my taste, although there are some wonderful bits.
Jeremy410
Feb 12, 2013Jeremy410 rated this title 2.5 out of 5 stars
Not my idea of a good read. Although a short book, it feels much longer.
Aug 06, 2012pammiedawn rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
I really enjoyed this novel. It is a complex and extremely well-written book. I plan to read more of Banville's work.
Jul 16, 2012pomeroycamille rated this title 3.5 out of 5 stars
Banville's lyrical waltz through the dark corridors of grief put to words introspections and feelings that bereaved may feel but be unable to express. The way in which Banvilles brings his main character into reflective moments then…
scorpio21
Feb 09, 2011scorpio21 rated this title 0.5 out of 5 stars
BOOK GROUP 2011 Although I completed this book,I can't say I enjoyed it. Amongst all the words, there is a story, if you can be bothered sorting through them.
Dec 05, 2009macierules rated this title 4.5 out of 5 stars
This book is wonderful. Highly recommended to anyone who loves language. It made me think about life and death a little differently.
Aug 25, 2008jbeckber rated this title 2.5 out of 5 stars
A meandering story looking back on a life.