I first read John Banville several years ago when I picked up a mystery, Christine Falls, written under a pseudonym. By now, I remember little of that story, but I still remember that the writing was of close to literary quality rather than the somewhat less quality that is usual in the genre. I wasn't disappointed here in The Untouchable.

Several GR members have this shelved as spy/thriller, and, with the GR description, I was sort of expecting something in that vein. Well, it isn't. This is written in the first person as a sort of memoir, and it is true that Victor Maskell was a spy during WWII. Some 35 years later, he has been outed and disgraced.

My early thoughts were that this was an unreliable narrator, and then I changed my mind. Who would tell all of the worst sides of himself and still be called unreliable? And then I changed my mind again, and then yet again. Frankly, I'm still not sure, but I admit to being more than a little gullible, so perhaps you should not rely on me on this point.

Sometime during the early pages of reading, I asked my husband if you can like someone and not like what he does. I asked because - at least in the early pages - I liked Victor Maskell, but I could pretty much hate spying for the Russians. It turns out also that Victor discovers (in his 30s - even wonders what took him so long!) that he is queer - his terminology. I seem to have stumbled on several books with male homosexual protagonists. In this, the sex is often and promiscuous, and, while the reader is never in doubt, it isn't graphic.

This is well-written, interesting prose, and a compelling read. Not quite 5-star material, but a good, solid 4 stars. Now that I have finally revisited him, I fully intend to read more of John Banville. Some days I wonder why it takes me so long to get back to the really good stuff.

Banville's story about the life and career of Victor Maskell, an English academic who, out of boredom and misplaced idealism, becomes a Russian spy in the 30s. He operates successfully until late in life. Eventually exposed and charged with treason when old, sick and dying, he recounts his life in a series of flashbacks. Banville is brilliant in conveying Maskell's vulnerability, self-deceptions, and pretensions. We watch as his life falls apart, and his smug assumptions prove irretrievably false.
Espionage books are often needlessly opaque, and despite the fact that Banville writes beautifully, I found that to be the case here. I was also put off by the seemingly endless debauchery and drinking; maybe they really lived that way but they must have had strong constitutions. Banville does capture detail, though, and paints a convincing picture of the ordinary, sordid life of the insignificant spy at the bottom of the food chain.

Read because Yanagihara praised it in a recent Guardian interview; a fictionalized account from the 1st person of one of the Cambridge spies — in this case a Protestant Irish immigrant who became a comfortable member of the upper class in London, a curator of the royal art collection and a major art historian, specialist in Poussin (one of whose pictures, The Death of Seneca, he keeps at home, though it seems to be fake). This a long story of his movement in various circles, the glimpses of the Spanish war, their sudden evacuation from France when the Germans invade, his one and only bizarre trip to Russia; his homosexuality ('queerness', he would have said) and so on. I wouldn't say that it reads compulsively, but it's not bad at all.

Дълбоко равнодушна ме остави другарят роялист Маскел. Взех си романа на Джон Банвил малко след като излезе на български, не поради трепет към тематиката, а заради превода на Иглика Василева. Доста неприятно се изненадах (не знам повече от себе си или от книгата), когато не успях да съзра онзи „литературен връх“, към който подмамва задната корица. За мен върхът си остана силно забулен в мъгли, до степен, в която напълно го пропуснах. Не съм човек, който ще тръгне да морализаторства, но непреднамерените сексуални похождения, които дебнеха от всяка ст��аница някъде след средата, ме изнервиха доста. Сториха ми се изключително самоцелни – ни го развиха тоя персонаж, ни разкриха нещо повече за характера му. Подобен проблем имах и с „Непосилната лекота на битието“. И там непосилно лековатият секс нямаше мяра и смисъл (казвам това с пълното съзнание, че вероятно съм един абсолютно заблуден лаик и нищо не разбирам от качествена литература).

Честият лайтмотив със споменаването на картината „Смъртта на Сенека“ на Пусен също ми се видя банално повтарян, но остана неразбран от мен. Може би всички имаме едновременно възвишена и низка природа? Сред мрака винаги проискрява светлината? Сянката и персоната на всеки са двете страни на една монета (е казал още Юнг не знам кога си)? За капак на всичко напълно се обърках измежду пристрастията на персонажите, кой беше двоен, троен, четворен агент и към кой отбор се числеше в крайна сметка. А, и всеки срещнат някак си беше хомосексуалист и протагонистът, също от тази страна на барикадата, непогрешимо ги надушваше всички (тук пък рискувам някой в хомофобия да ме заподозре – опасности надвисват отвсякъде). Над средностатистически вероятно ми се стори просто. Без повече излишности, за момента казвам на Банвил едно „довиждане“, хладно като майски следобед в Дъблин.

Ever heard of the Cambridge Spy Ring? (I assume that one's better known inside the borders of the UK)

The Untouchable is the memoirs of an ex-double agent, part of British upper class, and during university part of a raucous group of students. The focus of the novel is around that group - some of them are recruited to hand secrets to the Soviets during university since they're all young Marxists, and many of them stay spies (including the narrator), even after they're disenchanted with the Soviet Union. They're all British upper class so they all automatically have good careers - the narrator winds up being knighted, his biggest "interest" Nick becomes a minister.

A bit of Stoner (melancholic academia), a bit of The Spy Who Came In from the Cold (spying without the action), a bit of The Naked Civil Servant (homosexual life in London of the 30s-50s), and a bit of "guess who this is supposed to be" (may require knowledge of (post-)wartime UK politics - I only recognised the easy ones: Turing, Thatcher, and the obvious royalty).

Racing through this it is so so brilliant. Incredible writing, the story of an expose spies life which is largely based around Anthony Blunt. There are some fold-in elements taken from Louis MacNeice's life which are fine but sort of sit a little oddly - that's my only complaint. Otherwise this is a huge treat - intelligent, waspishly funny, the snobbishness is played to the hilt. As the novel moves into its second half Maskell's lies about himself slip out of the narrative; I'm thinking about the section dealing with the death of his father & when he commits his brother to a home - chilling and heartbreaking as you realise that Maskell is detached and heartless and giving you the airbrushed version of himself. And the death of a lover. What's so brilliant is not just that his narration is unreliable in parts but that you see the double-deception within his own mind.

Superb.

This novel is many things - it is a masterpiece of ventriloquism, a discourse on art history, a historical account of the debauchery of the upper classes in wartime London, a reflection on sexuality, trust and, ultimately, loyalty and betrayal. And bits of it are very funny. John Banville's perfect prose is ideally suited to his detached and self-regarding main character and the other unforgettable characters spring off the pages. A novel to treasure.

“Espionage has something of the quality of a dream. In the spy’s world, as in dreams, the terrain is always uncertain. You put your foot on what looks like solid ground and it gives way under you and you go into a kind of free fall, turning slowly tail over tip and clutching on to things that are themselves falling. This instability, this myriadness that the world takes on, is both the attraction and the terror of being a spy.” – John Banville, The Untouchable

Seventy-two-year-old protagonist Victor Markell has been exposed as a spy and publicly disgraced. He tells his story to a woman who wants to write his biography. Markell was born in Northern Ireland, son a bishop, but lived in England much of his adult life. Most of the story takes place in WWII in the UK, and describes Victor’s life, including marriage and children, lifestyle once he determines he is gay, interest in art, journey to the Soviet Union, and passing of information to Soviet agents. Victor tells his life story in first person in the style of a fictional memoir.

If you are looking for a spy thriller, this is not it. This is a slowly developing character study of a not very likeable person and his unpleasant friends. It is filled with lots of alcohol consumption and sexual liaisons. Victor is vain and self-absorbed. He ignores his family and provides only the flimsiest rationale for his involvement in espionage.

The prose is the highlight of this book. Banville writes beautifully. For example, “How cunningly the grieving heart seeks comfort for itself, conjuring up the softest of sorrows, the most sweetly piercing recollections, in which it is always summer, replete with birdsong and the impossible radiance of a transfigured past. I leaned on a rock and gently wept, and saw myself, leaning, weeping, and was at once gratified and ashamed.”

The story could have been more fully developed and the first half is more compelling than the second. The plotline revolves around figuring out who betrayed Victor to the authorities, but the plot is secondary to the characterization and the writing. This is the second of Banville’s books I have read. While this one is worth reading, I much prefer, and highly recommend, The Sea.

It’s a little bit heartbreaking and the prose is so beautiful.

I got this at a bookstore for a dollar and had no idea what it was. I opened to a random page and read the line “I feel I have been in remission all my life” and I was like yeah I’m reading this

My favorite part of this book was when he would describe the sky and the light

I enjoyed this book tremendously and it quickly became my favorite among Banville's many novels. John Banville has created in the character of Victor Maskell someone both complex and believable; the story is suspenseful, and his prose, as always, can only be described as both luminous and effortless. He describes his voyage to France early in the war: "The night was preternaturally calm, and our troopship, a converted steamer which before the outbreak of war had ferried day trippers between Wales and the Isle of Man, glided intently as a knife through the milky, unreally moonlit sea."(p. 184) The novel surveys the complications of leading multiple lives as husband, father, spy and closet homosexual. All this done with aplomb and wit, taste and style. Maskell has a love for the work of Nicolas Poussin that is evidenced by his devotion to his painting, The Death of Seneca. This plays an important role as Maskell's narration of his life as it winds onward through the book. Apparently the fictional character was loosely based on the real life of Anthony Blunt. John Banville has created another masterpiece of storytelling.

I'm afraid I'm on a John Banville bender and I will not stop until I've come a little bit closer to understanding how his prose is so relentlessly good.

جون بانڤل اكتشاف السنة و وجب علي الآن التهام جميع أعماله المترجمة!