On my bookshelf Banville’s writings are standing right next to the ones of Georges Bataille, and this is not because they both start with a B. It’s a little bit like Bach reincarnating as Glenn Gould to perform his own compositions with a better tool. Banville puts in mesmerizing prose a concept Bataille conceived in theory but wasn’t able to express with the splendor. And of all his books I would put Athena at the center right next to Bataille’s Erotism. The discontinuous self in constant longing to bridge the surrounding abyss of death to the other, to life. The photos of the death by a thousand cuts torture are a central aspect to both books. Yet Banville shrinks the isolated self even further, drifting unmoored from its own memories and perceptions.

But I’m still a little puzzled by Aunt Corky. Was it that she just knew better how to deal with all of this?

I don't know what I think of this book. I had trouble concentrating & don't know if that's my fault or the books,

Ha! John Banville. Vacuous, spurious blatherskite.
Christian Dior: "My dream is to save women from nature."

I love this book. I love this book so much. John Banville is a much under appreciated author, i think. read him. its delicious!

Upon rereading this, I'm thankful that the review I wrote after my first reading was mercifully less embarrassing than those I wrote for Ghosts and the Book of Evidence. My takeaway from rereading the three Freddie Montgomery novels in general and Athena in particular is that, as much as I love Banville, I don't think I totally get his work. Too much of what's happening here feels slightly outside my reach. Perhaps he's too smart for me. I'm okay with that.

Previous review [for anti-posterity]:

Unorganized thoughts:

- I really enjoyed this. I almost want to give it five stars, but I feel like I should save those for the best of the best, and this lacked that little something to push it over the top. It's fantastic, though, and I'm really in awe of John Banville (I recently said the same thing about Alain Robbe-Grillet. In their own weird way they have a lot in common). His prose is basically perfect. I don't know how else I can put it. His careful word choices, his careful details, his tone, it's all perfect.

- There are events and there's a plot, but it's interesting how little emphasis Banville puts on them (at least until almost the end) as he buries them in layers of prose, like objects covered by a large blanket. You know they're there, but their shape has been reduced to a simple lump. I realize this sounds like a criticism, but I don't mean it to be. The prose itself also feels...thick somehow. It creates an interesting effect, like you're slowly wading through the novel. You can feel currents moving around you, but they're too weak to really impact your progress, slow as it is.

- There are also parts, especially towards the end (this was true for a lot of The Book of Evidence as well), where it almost becomes difficult to separate your own mental state from Freddie's. Of course the prose is always evocative and gives you a wonderful window into his world, but during the more event-oriented parts it becomes so intense and so real that it was almost like I became Freddie. That's a pretty incredible achievement on Banville's part.

- I was also completely wrong about Ghosts. He introduced a plot at the beginning of that novel and almost immediately let it recede to the background and then never resolved it. I assumed it was going to continue here, but instead we find Freddie Montgomery in a completely different situation. I guess it's possible he meant to, because it seems so odd that he would introduce those plot thread in Ghosts just to ignore them. But Banville is such a careful writer that I refuse to believe he just got bored of the plot, but decided to keep its introduction anyway. Was he playing with our expectations? I didn't mind, because Freddie's musings on post-jail life were far more interesting to me anyway. In Athena, however, he does actually resolve his plot threads and in a very satisfactory way. The plot and Freddie's musings also merge very well. There's something about his character that I find fascinating and I never got tired of his meditations on life.

- I'm starting to regret having compared Banville to Nabokov so much in the past. Their styles superficially have a lot in common, but I think I'm finally starting to get past that and appreciate Banville for what he is, rather than as a replacement for Nabokov. B's prose is less playful, less self-satisfied, but maybe more...human I want so say? It's hard to put into words, but it has its own distinct flavor.

- I'm glad John Banville exists. I feel like too often when a writer is this good, it never lasts. They either die or fall off or retire or something, and you're left with only one or two really good works. But Banville just keeps going, and everything I've read by him has been worthwhile and I've still got plenty more to go.

I have absolutely loved everything else I've read by John Banville, and was really excited about this going in. About halfway through in a haze I realized I had picked up the third book in a trilogy (definitely not clearly marked) but even still, found this book tough to get through. Beautiful writing as I would expect from Banville, but tough to follow the plot, the relationships between the characters, and what is real versus what the narrator believes is real. Reminded me of the more opaque of Ishiguro's writing.

Brilliant, elegant prose. Up there with 'Body of Evidence'.

Mid 3. Having left such a vivid portrait of a charming and brutal murderer in the first book of this trilogy, the author returns to recount the travails of the same character as he attempts to forge a new life for himself upon release. Though the author has recaptured some of the narrative resonance of the first novel, Freddie Montgomery, under the guise of a new identity, Morrow, appears more of a pitiable tragic character than the self-obsessed and remorseless figure presented in 'The Book of Evidence', and thus, less memorable a character. Provided with an opportunity to utilise his in-depth knowledge of art, Morrow is drawn into a sexual obsession with A, a mysterious, emotionally scarred woman, and through her into a web of deceit which return him to the dark deeds of his past. Banville has undoubted cratsmanship in his prose, and here manages to strike a better balance with storytelling, though as malevolent as Freddie was, this reader yearned for him to emerge from behind the shadow of the more guilless Morrow.

John Banville is one of my favorite authors. I especially liked The Sea and I've also enjoyed his Benjamin Black books. Athena, while containing beautifully written passages, was just too enigmatic for me. I can't give this a truly fair review because I didn't finish the book but it just didn't have enough going for it to keep my interest.

The first Banville book I read and an unforgettable experience. I only learned after reading it that it was part of a triology, which explains some of the plot's obscurity to me. Still, I was riveted by the writing. So far my favorite Banville, followed by "The Book of Evidence."

"Did I ever describe to you Aunt Corky's smile? She opened her eyes wide and peeled her lips back from a set of dentures that would have fitted a small horse . . "

I'm on a Banville kick, and will probzbly read or listen to all of them. This one wasn't my favorite but, as usual, I'm enthralled with the voice.