Ancient Light

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.