The Sea, John Banville.

Esmereldina

To read or not to read
I've had this sitting on my bookshelf since I bought last year in a fit of literary enthusiasm...
I read the first paragraph shortly after I bought it and it didn't really entice me to keep reading. I have heard that it's a really good book though so I wonder if I am being fair or not. My question is.... is it worth reading or not? And what do the good people of boards think of it? I got the impression that it might be a beautifully written book but there wasn't much to hang on to in the way of story, that it was more about Banville's command of language. That all sounds very nice, but like it might be hard work to read. Can anyone convince me to read it? The challenge is on

mags16

The Sea is well worth reading. It's not a hard read and will bring you back to all your childhood seaside holidays. Then it becomes quite dark. Lovely quirky characters.

Esmereldina

mags16 wrote:

The Sea is well worth reading. It's not a hard read and will bring you back to all your childhood seaside holidays. Then it becomes quite dark. Lovely quirky characters.

Hmmm. Well that does make it sound like an interesting book to read. Maybe I'll give it a go! I'll let you know what I think of it

luckat

Bored me. I like lots of his other books, but not this one.

maidofthemist

This was a book club choice for us recently, otherwise I probably wouldn't have selected it for myself. I enjoyed it very much and it would encourage me to try some more Banville. It is an easy read. I had to rush to finish it before our club meeting and I may actually re-read it. It is not too many books I could say I've been tempted to start again so soon.

Oobie

I read the first couple of chapters and haven't gone back to it. I found it extremely boring and all I can remember is that it was about a whingy old man with an ugly daughter.

cailinoBAC

Was thinking it would probably be good for a book club - it´s sitting at home on my shelf too!

Esmereldina

cailinoBAC wrote:

Was thinking it would probably be good for a book club - it´s sitting at home on my shelf too!

There's our suggestion for the next one so

luckat

A neighbour was telling me that Charlotte Falls - Banville's whodunnit, written under the pseudonym Benjamin Black - is really, really good, but it's gone under and the neighbour's waiting for St Anthony to do his stuff so he can lend it to me.

BaZmO*

Just finished reading this and really enjoyed it. It's a beautifully written piece and it's more about the descriptive prose he uses rather than the actual story. However, the end really does tie it into an overall story.

It's an easy enough read but because of the clever way he juxtaposes words to describe people and situations you often find yourself having to read back over parts to really appreciate the writing. As a result I found it took me quite a while to get through it. I think it's worth the effort though.

buck65

I loved it , it reminded me alot of William Trevor's The Story of Lucy Gault.

stolenwine

Make sure you have a dictionary to hand if you are going to read it. What frustrated me about "the sea" was the lack of sound in the book if that makes sense everything was done almost silently. The doors are closed quietly the piano is played softly etc... I just wanted there to be a momentous crash.

buck65

Just throw the book into the kitchen so.

John

It's next in my To Read pile...

Hedgepig

BaZmO* wrote: »

Just finished reading this and really enjoyed it. It's a beautifully written piece and it's more about the descriptive prose he uses rather than the actual story. However, the end really does tie it into an overall story.

Agreed - a nice easy read with sometimes very poetic writing, some stunning descriptions.

Esmereldina

stolenwine wrote: »

Make sure you have a dictionary to hand if you are going to read it. What frustrated me about "the sea" was the lack of sound in the book if that makes sense everything was done almost silently. The doors are closed quietly the piano is played softly etc... I just wanted there to be a momentous crash.

I did finally get around to reading this and really liked it. Have to agree with the dictionary suggestion though! that was one thing that really annoyed me about Banville's style... he liked to use really obscure words for the sake of it, when a much simpler word would have sounded much better. If I was his editor, I would burn his thesaurus

John

I started this last night. I was very tired so only managed 13 pages but so far I'm enjoying it.

BaZmO*

Have you got your dictionary at the ready?

John

Pah, reference books are for lesser mortals!

BaZmO*

Haha, I'll look forward to your review so!

skybluejay

I'm reading it at the moment! I started off expecting not to enjoy it all that much (my friend had tried to read it and abandoned it in disgust). But it's actually the best contemporary book I've read in ages. The poetry is gorgeous; it sort of feels like it's flowing into you and you're assimilating the book rather than reading it. I've never read anything quite like it before... does anyone know what I mean or is it just me?

I find there's ample plot to keep me interested - I've read and enjoyed far more plotless books before. The sense of foreboding is nicely done too. I admit that Banville does have a bit of a tendency to show with his word choice, though. It can be pretty irritating!

Read it anyway, yup, definitely.

John

BaZmO* wrote: »

Haha, I'll look forward to your review so!

How the mighty have fallen! I had no dictionary handy and there have been a few words that have gone right over my head. Luckily he likes his anatomy and at least I know that area well enough.

TequilaMockingBird

I loved Charlotte Falls, but not The Sea. Its like two different authors (I know he's writing a Benjamin Black but..).

John

I finished this the other day and I have to admit, I found it highly enjoyable if somewhat depressing. I liked Banville's use of language (and subsequently learned about a dozen new words ), in a longer book it would have been heavy going but considering the brevity of The Sea it wasn't a problem.