book data
63 ratings, 3.78 average rating, 6 reviews
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published
May 28th 1996
by Vintage
binding
Paperback, 240 pages
isbn
0679736859
(isbn13: 9780679736851)
description
From the internationally acclaimed author of The Book of Evidence and Ghosts comes a mesmerizing novel that is both a literary thriller and a love sto...more
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other reviews (showing 1-20 of 83)
Read in May, 2008
I have abot 20 pages to go and I'm looking forward to moving on to something more authentic, even if it's not as exquisitely well written as Athena, I don't care. There are so many echoes of Nabokov in Athena I can barely hear Banville at times, though Nabokov rarely if ever got as explicit in his nastiness as sir Banville. I don't mind nasty explicitness, but when coupled with an academic-type grace it can strike me as inauthentic, as a sort of slumming exercise. I have no idea what Banville's ...more
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I read this after reading The Sea, which I thought was one of the most beautifully written books I've come across. Banville is an extraordinarily poetic author; he employs unexpected, uncommon, but perfectly chosen words as one would apply just the right amount of paint to a canvas. This is true of Athena as well, apt given the plot. However, I had been expecting a thriller, having seen the novel described that way somehwere, and as a result was disappointed generically. To clarify, I had been e...more
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Read in August, 2007
recommends it for:
Nabakov & Joyce Fans; If you like obsession as a subject
It’s not quite “The Sea,” but Banville really is a writer closer to Nabakov and Joyce than most of his contemporaries. It’s easy to see in this novel of obsession, which follows a former felon turned art historian asked to verify the authenticity of a stack of suspicious paintings. Things get complicated, and the narrator falls deep under the spell of a mysterious woman. The language is erotic and sensual even outside of the sex scenes. Various interludes, in the form of brief reviews of...more
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Read in May, 2008
Can't wait to start this one!
I am hooked by the very first lines:
"My love. If words can reach whatever world you may be suffering in, then listen. I have things to tell you."
. . .
Now finished, and oh the story he told her! Wonderful reading. Enjoyed every page.
I am hooked by the very first lines:
"My love. If words can reach whatever world you may be suffering in, then listen. I have things to tell you."
. . .
Now finished, and oh the story he told her! Wonderful reading. Enjoyed every page.
My 5 star rating still goes, although I would have liked a bit more resolution to Freddie's story after this, the third Freddie installment, but that's ok, the echoes of Humbert were enough for me.
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I love this book. I love this book so much. John Banville is a much under appreciated author, i think. read him. its delicious!
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