Reviewing The Sea

Last week we met up and had a really good discussion about this book which might not have had us all loving every minute of reading it, but certainly provided us with lots to talk about.

It is a poetically rich novel which describes three different periods of time in Max, the narrator's life - once as an eleven year old boy, once a year in the past at the death of his wife and in the present, re-visiting and learning some "truths" at the seaside resort where, as an eleven year old, he made friends with the Grace family.

Max (which may or may not be his real name) remembers some things in detail so vivid and intense as to be almost unbelievable, but his memory is proved fallible and his judgement weak - or perhaps just that of an eleven year old boy. It is not pacy, the characters are not appealing and the plot is thin at best. For me, there were many issues left unresolved and I still don't really feel I have a grip on what the story was. I suspect that that was the point.
This picture is by Pierre Bonnard and is described in minute detail in the book. I'm putting it here so I remember to sit down with in on the screen and the book in front of me. I won't be surprised if it is described in incredibly accurate detail...and I won't be surprised if the description is every so slightly, possibly deliberately, inaccurate. Or will that just be because my perspective is mine, not John Banville's and again...is that the point?

All that said - I've enjoyed thinking about it and talking about it a darn sight more than I enjoyed reading it!