
Random book from our personal library.

Random book from our personal library.

"...seeming to know him, or at least to recognise his face, from where or from when they would surely recall if only they could concentrate hard enough. But they couldn't. No one can, in this world that Godley wrought. Something keeps getting in the way, keeps turning their thoughts aside, keeps blunting them, or absorbing them altogether, and soon something else comes along to engage their ever-waning attention."

I read this too late for the book club meeting for which it was selected, and although I can't claim to understand it, I did enjoy it. I think Banville is saying something about the nature of truth, creation of reality, the author/story relationship, and perhaps the short attention spans and anti-intellectualism of our times. A lot of it is over my head, but I like how he portrays the characters.

Some of the language rubbed me the wrong way but overall there was something about this book.

3⭐️ An autobio, this presents a balance between life and death. The title caught my interest, and I selected this for my bookclub. As usual, I wouldn‘t know about this author if not for NYRB Classics collection. This publisher really pushes me to explore more ✌🏻

I should have liked this because it was compared to Cormac McCarthy. Tom Rourke is nothing like Billy Parham or John Cole. It doesn't have that lovely poetic description of the wilderness, the earnest respect for animals, the yearning for the girls they love.
The book is described as being funny. Where?
It may have been the narrator. He sounded like a killer from a horror film, but I am just not in a hurry to get the print version to see.