The Sea

Critics

• Of Black and Banville

  Q. What will you be reading at Brown? A. I’ll be reading from a John Banville book that I’ve been working on for four years, not a Benjamin Black. It’s part of a novel about a retired stage actor who is recalling an affair he had when he was 15, with ... (read full critics)

  boston published on Fri, 4 Feb 2011

• High tidings

  The Sea by John Banville 200pp, Picador, £16.99 Max Morden, whose name points to death and, like the Northern line terminus, an end, is mourning the wife he has recently lost to cancer. He returns to the seaside of his childhood summers to stay in th ... (read full critics)

  guardian.co.uk published on Sat, 25 Sep 2010

6 Reviews

• 2 people find this helpful

  

  Reading The Sea

  I admire this book a lot more than I like it. John Banville's prose is magnificent to the point that it is sometimes distracting. True, there are sentences that are so well-constructed that one stops to re-read them and ponder their beauty. At the same time, though, it is this very attention to deta ... (continue)

  I admire this book a lot more than I like it. John Banville's prose is magnificent to the point that it is sometimes distracting. True, there are sentences that are so well-constructed that one stops to re-read them and ponder their beauty. At the same time, though, it is this very attention to detail and overly dense work that makes the book tiresome to read at times. I wanted Banville to get on with the story rather than spend so much time making me love his words.

  The other real problem that I had with The Sea is its constant fiddling with chronology. I completely understand the purpose behind it - stories from the distant past, near past and present all had their connections - but it was yet another interruption to the overall reading experience as far as I was concerned. Additionally, I knew almost from the beginning how the novel would end, which perhaps is just a factor of how well the character clues were placed, but I was disappointed nonetheless.

  As far as the book's themes, I believe that Banville does have something intriguing to say both about coming-of-age and aging. The narrator of the novel has been through much and has consistently been able to adapt himself to his situation (always a greater situation than he deserved, probably) but it is in the aftermath of death that he finds himself unable to move to a new phase of life.

  I'm frankly a little surprised that this novel won the Man Booker Prize for 2005 over two books that I feel are more deserving. Ali Smith's The Accidental covers very similar ground but does so in a much more engaging, intriguing fashion. Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro is also one that I would have preferred to see win the prize. Like The Sea, it's a story where the secrets become evident quickly, but there is a much greater reward in approaching the conclusion.

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  moogle said on Mar 28, 2007 about the Hardcover edition | Add your feedback

• 1 person find this helpful

  

  A man who suffere from cancer murmuring all the way when he goes back to his childhood place

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  fruit said on Apr 14, 2007 | Add your feedback

• 

  I felt this lost it's way in the middle and the characters weren't well developed enough. The story and writing also lacked emotion. Disappointing as I loved Dr. Copernicus.

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  Sugarbear said on Jun 28, 2010 about the Hardcover edition | Add your feedback

• 

  Like both the previous BC reviewers of this novel I had to motivate myself to keep reading. Glad I perservered though as the closing pages did an excellent job in helping me to finally understand the whole story! It is actually a beautifully written story about love, loss and the strange powers of g ... (continue)

  Like both the previous BC reviewers of this novel I had to motivate myself to keep reading. Glad I perservered though as the closing pages did an excellent job in helping me to finally understand the whole story! It is actually a beautifully written story about love, loss and the strange powers of grief. As already mentioned the language is almost poetic sometimes and I found myself reaching for a dictionary more than once.
  I now look forward to reading others reviews as the book continues on its travels. Waiting for an address at present.

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  Lindyloumac said on Dec 4, 2009 about the Hardcover edition | Add your feedback

• 

  Following a recommendation of a person who has a particular good taste for good literature. A very good surprise, intensely poetic.

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  Sbarbosa said on Aug 14, 2008 about the Hardcover edition | Add your feedback

• 

  A very eloquent prose although not my favourite booker prize winner.

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  Magdalene said on May 17, 2007 | Add your feedback

Book Details

• Rating:
  (40)
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• English Books
• Paperback 200 Pages
• ISBN-10: 0330436252
• ISBN-13: 9780330436250
• Publisher: Picador
• Pub date: Jun 03, 2005
• Also available as: Hardcover, Audio CD, Others and eBook
• In other languages: other languages Livres Français, Deutsche Bücher, Libros en Español, llibres en català, Libri Italiani, Latviešu grāmatas

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ISBN	Edition	List	Sale	Seller
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