The Blue Guitar - Softcover

Banville, John

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0241004330 ISBN 13: 9780241004333

Publisher: Viking, 2015

Synopsis

From John Banville, one of the world's greatest writers, comes The Blue Guitar, a story of theft and the betrayal of friendship.

Adultery is always put in terms of thieving. But we were happy together, simply happy.

Oliver Orme used to be a painter, well known and well rewarded, but the muse has deserted him. He is also, as he confesses, a petty thief; he does not steal for gain, but for the thrill of it. HIs worst theft is Polly, the wife of his friend Marcus, with whom he has had an affair. When the affair is discovered, Oliver hides himself away in his childhood home. From here he tells the story of a year, from one autumn to the next. Many surprises and shocks await him, and by the end of his story, he will be forced to face himself and seek a road towards redemption.

Praise for Ancient Light:

'Everything I want from a love story: sexy, convincing, baffling, funny, sad and unforgettable' Evening Standard, Books of the Year

'Illuminating, funny, devastating. A meditation of breathtaking beauty and profundity on love and loss and death' Financial Times

John Banville was born in Wexford, Ireland, in 1945. He is the author of fifteen previous novels including The Sea, which won the 2005 Man Booker Prize. In 2011 he was awarded the Franz Kafka Prize, in 2013 he was awarded the Irish PEN Award for Outstanding Achievement in Irish Literature, and in 2014 he won the Prince of Asturias Award, Spain's most important literary prize. He lives in Dublin.

About this title

Review:

This engrossing and often beautiful novel is a true work of art that rewards careful reading (Daily Telegraph)

Banville is a gorgeous writer who can nail an emotion (The Times)

He shows himself, once again, as one of contemporary literature's finest and most expert witnesses... compelling and matchless prose (The Observer)

The book is cherishable as a meditation on life's transience, the mysteries and fleetingness of love, the waning of sexual desire, and the lost domain of childhood (The Irish Independent)

An elegant novel of tangled infidelity (The Scotsman)

A brilliant study of memory, regret and inescapable alienation in relationships (...) a portrait of human frailty, it is surprisingly uplifting (The Lady)

Banville's prose sparkles as Orme ponders the nature of art, his life, happiness, memory and love (The Daily Express)

Banville is an expert in masculine interiority... achieving this by a luminous prose style (The Independent)

Banville, the Nabokov of contemporary literature, can turn even a straightforward comeuppance tale into breath-taking literary art (Press Association)

Banville is one of the writers I admire the most - few people can create an image as beautifully or precisely (Hanya Yanagihara, author of the Booker-shortlisted 'A Little Life')

From the Back Cover:

Oliver Orme used to be a painter, well known and well rewarded, but the muse has deserted him. He is also, as he confesses, a petty thief; he does not steal for gain, but for the thrill of it. HIs worst theft is Polly, the wife of his friend Marcus, with whom he has had an affair. When the affair is discovered, Oliver hides himself away in his childhood home. From here he tells the story of a year, from one autumn to the next. Many surprises and shocks await him, and by the end of his story, he will be forced to face himself and seek a road towards redemption.

About this edition

• Publisher: Viking
• Publication date: 2015
• ISBN 10: 0241004330
• ISBN 13: 9780241004333
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 256