La chitarra blu

The main character is a relatively famous and well-off artist but he has stopped painting. Apparently so he can have another affair and become even more self-absorbed than he already is. He’s 50-ish, older than both his wife and current lady friend. His woman friend tells him: ““You didn’t see the c Leggi tutto

The Old Guitarist by Pablo Picasso. “Are you still doing your stories?” Olive asked.“Stories?” I said. “What do you mean, stories? It’s pictures I do – did. I’m a painter. Was.”“Oh. I thought it was stories.”“Well, it isn’t. Wasn’t.” Or is it… was it? The triviality of this short exchange between Olive Leggi tutto

Well, Banville has done it again. Yet another of his books that has enraptured me. Of course there is his brilliant writing, but I will not attempt to discuss this too much. I can only put myself to shame babbling away in decrepit prose trying to paint his godly ability – his full control of every w Leggi tutto

Call me Autolycus. Well, no, don't. Although I am, like that unfunny clown, a picker-up of unconsidered trifles. Which is a fancy way of saying I steal things. As opening lines go, this one is quite promising with its multitude of possible interpretations and even with the playful plagiarism (thiev

My first by this author and I will be looking out for more especially as many of the reviews tell me this is not his best book! It was still a very good book! I think what I appreciated the most was the author's talent with words, many of which I have never come across before. I doubt that I will eve Leggi tutto

“Almeno sii onesto e ammetti di essere un bugiardo” Inizialmente indecisa tra le tre e le quattro stelle, mi sono decisa per le quattro perché è un libro su cui mi sono fermata spesso a sottolineare e trascrivere, e questo direi che è un inequivocabile segno di gradimento. Dico subito però che ho avut Leggi tutto

guizzi descrittivi e felici, sparse, intuizioni. sulla superficie placida di un bacino d’acqua. troppo placida. yawn. aggiungo che il lungo sfogo in prima persona da cui affiorano il dramma della morte dell’unica figlioletta, e il post-traumatico congelamento umano della moglie, e l’insistita ammissi Leggi tutto

At first glance this book's starting point is not promising - a mid-life crisis novel told by an unsympathetic, unreliable and self-pitying narrator, but Banville is too good a writer to be limited by cliche. The narrator is Oliver Orme, a painter who has stopped painting and a petty thief, looking

Ποτέ δεν θα πάψω να εκπλήσσομαι με το πόσα συμβαίνουν μέσα μου εν άγνοια μου, η θυελλώδη μου φυγή προς την ελευθερία. Ο πρώτος στόχος όταν η καρδιά σπαράζει απο ανείπωτο και ανελέητο πόνο απώλειας είναι μια αξιοθρήνητη αυταπάτη. Μια ψευδαίσθηση πως τίποτα δεν άλλαξε, ένα ελαφρύ ανοιξιάτικο αεράκι απ Leggi tutto

Absolutely fantastic. This is a book you read for its lines and what these lines conjure in your head. So what will you think about as you read this? Love relationships – the good ones and those on the rocks. What makes them sparkle and what makes them go flat. Childhood memories. No, not just ones o Leggi tutto