John Banville's The Sea is a novel that reads like poetry. Every word is carefully chosen to create powerful images and feelings. It's not hard to see why this was chosen for the most recent Booker Prize.
In this book, the narrator weaves together the memories of his recently deceased wife with the more distant recollections of a childhood summer by the sea. As the book progresses we gradually learn more about why upon his wife's passing he has chosen to return to the seaside village of his childhood.
This is a powerful story of love, loss and memories. This is the first Banville novel I have read, and I was very impressed with his flowing, evocative writing style.
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Comments: 8
"I was nervous of this moment, the moment when I would have to take on the house, to put it on, as it were, like something I had worn in another, prelapsarian life, a once fashionable hat, say, an outmoded pair of shoes, or a wedding suit, smelling of mothballs and no longer fitting around the waist and too tight under the arms but bulging with memories in every pocket."
This book is lovely in many ways. Even just pulling a sentence out of context, like above, becomes a mini-reading delight.
I'm off to read the Booker short list and see if this really deserved the top honors, as compared to the other novels. Thanks for the review, David.
I have this book on my desk to read next! I happened upon it at the library and was taken by the cover photo and the Booker Prize status. Thanks for reviewing it.