A few weeks back, I posted about the new John Banville which Waterstones had sent me a copy to review. Anyway, though my review's up on their website, I thought I'd post it here too.
“Billie
Gray was my best friend and I fell in love with my mother”. This is the
third novel that Banville has written about Alexander Cleave, now an
aging actor reflecting on his coming of age. I haven’t read the previous
novels but this book stands on its own and has enough references to
previous events to give context.
The
novel focuses on an affair that Alexander had with a married woman,
Mrs. Gray, when he was 15 and she 20 years his senior. Recollections of
this affair are interspersed with a contemporary story of a role he is
asked to play.
The
stronger elements of the book are the descriptions of this
relationship, his boyish reaction (often sulky and petulant) and Mrs.
Gray’s response (sometimes lover/sometimes mother). The relationship is
described as wholly positive, and is in fact the benchmark against which
his subsequent relationships are measured. This, despite the negative
impact on his friendship with Billie, the potential response from his
community (unspecified but clearly a small town where scandal would be
both welcomed and ruinous) and the impact on his academic achievement. I
couldn’t help but wonder if a similar story could be told with the
genders reversed, though to be fair, Banville, through Alexander, raises
this question himself.
The
characters are strongly drawn, not just the main players but also
peripheral characters. My favourite was Trevor the Trinity man, a drunk
who’s on and off the wagon, an “aristocrat of the species”. This is
perhaps an idealised version of a street drunk but it’s written with
tremendous warmth. This does, however, highlight one of my criticisms of
the book, namely that parts of it are idealised and unrealistic. For
example, the impact of the relationship with Gray would surely have had
negative aspects, while the description of Trevor is more that of an
eccentric than the alcoholic he clearly is.
The
physical descriptions of people are very visual which really brings
them to life – Billie Stryker “might have been assembled from a
collection of cardboard boxes of varying sizes that were first left out
in the rain and then piled soggily any old way one on top of the other”.
The
language throughout the book is elaborate but can be diverting. I found
myself occasionally losing track whilst being taken down a rather
lengthy descriptive passage. That said, this forces you to re-read
certain passages and to understand the atmosphere that the author is no
doubt seeking to create. Once you get used to the style, there are some
absolutely beautiful turns of phrase - it’s definitely a book where you
occasionally stop to re-read a section just for the pleasure of the
language.
There
are clear references to loss, both people and places – a daughters
suicide, Mrs. Gray a mere memory, the past a place where things were
simpler.
Overall, a beautifully written book for old friends of Alexander Cleave and fans of characters – both flawed and quirky.
