β Scribed by Banville, John
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
Alex Vander is a fraud, big-time. An elderly professor of literature and a scholarly writer with an international reputation, he has neither the education nor the petit bourgeois family in Antwerp that he has claimed. As the splenetic narrator of this searching novel by Banville (Eclipse), he admits early on that he has lied about everything in his life, including his identity, which he stole from a friend of his youth whose mysterious death will resonate as the narrator reflects on his past. Having fled Belgium during WWII, he established himself in Arcady, Calif., with his long-suffering wife, whose recent death has unleashed new waves of guilt in the curmudgeonly old man. Guilt and fear have long since turned Vander into a monster of rudeness, violent temper, ugly excess, alcoholism and self-destructiveness. His web of falsehoods has become an anguishing burden, and his sense of displacement (''I am myself and also someone else'') threatens to unhinge him altogether. Then comes a letter from a young woman, Cass Cleave, who claims to know all the secrets of his past. Determined to destroy her, an infuriated Vander meets Cass in Turin and discovers she is slightly mad. Even so, he begins to hope that Cass, his nemesis, could be the instrument of his redemption. Banville's lyrical prose, taut with intelligence, explores the issues of identity and morality with which the novel reverberates. At the end, Vander understands that some people in his life had noble motives for keeping secrets, and their sacrifices make the enormity of his deception even more shameful. This bravura performance will stand as one of Banville's best works.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.
A scholar and born liar, the elderly but still contentious Axel Vander is about to have his cover blown when an equally contentious young woman enters his life. Banville's lucky 13th novel.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.
π SIMILAR VOLUMES
Jake Preston is on borrowed time. If he doesnΠ²Πβ’t stumble upon a miracle and soon, heΠ²Πβ’ll endup dead. And even if he does, he still might end up dead with a clever killer hounding his heels. He believes that the one miracle and antidote to save him is in Margot DavenportΠ²Πβ’s house, across the count
Jake Preston is on borrowed time. If he doesnΠ²Πβ’t stumble upon a miracle and soon, heΠ²Πβ’ll endup dead. And even if he does, he still might end up dead with a clever killer hounding his heels. He believes that the one miracle and antidote to save him is in Margot DavenportΠ²Πβ’s house, across the count
A necrophilic romance set in Scotland. The protagonist is Douglas, an undertaker. He is a reserved man and he likes women who don't talk, the kind he deals with daily at the mortuary. One day Douglas falls in love with Marjorie, a prostitute, but she talks a lot. If only he could have her silent lik