Birchwood
A Novel

CRITIQUE: "Poring Over My Memories" "Birchwood" is John Banville's second novel. It has received less popular and critical attention than the three novels that followed it and constituted "The Revolutions Trilogy". However, it clearly signals Banville's stylishness and the subject matter (such as memo......more

Antes que nada, quisiera agradecerte a la editorial Penguin Random House por el ejemplar. - Fuera de mis recuerdos, este silencio y esta armonía, este brillo que encuentro de nuevo en ese segundo mundo silencioso existe, de manera independiente, regido por leyes desconocidas, en las profundidades de l......more

Is it possible to appreciate someone's writing and not care at all for their novel? That's the case here, with Banville and Birchwood and me. Banville is clearly talented and his prose is striking, but I just could not get into this novel. It is purposefully cloudy and obtuse and the first half of i......more

"Listen, listen, if I know my world, which is doubtful, but if I do, I know it is chaotic, mean and vicious, with laws cast in the wrong moulds, a fair conception gone awry, in short an awful place, and yet, and yet a place capable of glory in those rare moments when a little light breaks forth, and......more