John Banville's Reading List

“I read very little new fiction these days, to my shame and regret,” says the author John Banville, whose latest novel is “April in Spain.” “So much of it seems to me mere prattle. Isn’t that awful?”

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By the Book: John Banville (2021)

NYT By the Book column (2021-11-04).

Source: www.nytimes.com

The Magic Mountain

Thomas Mann · Buy on Amazon

"I'm rereading the Everyman's Library edition of Thomas Mann's The Magic Mountain in the magnificent translation by John E. Woods."

The Empress of Ireland

Christopher Robbins · Buy on Amazon

"The book is extremely engaging, sad and funny, and a sort of masterpiece in its way."

Herself Surprised

Joyce Cary · Buy on Amazon

"I'd say Herself Surprised, by Joyce Cary. It's part of the trilogy that includes the better-known The Horse's Mouth, but it's every bit as good."

The Long Goodbye

Raymond Chandler · 1953 · Buy on Amazon

"Raymond Chandler's The Long Goodbye, Richard Stark's The Outfit, Simenon's Dirty Snow. And dozens of others."

The Outfit

Richard Stark · Buy on Amazon

"Raymond Chandler's The Long Goodbye, Richard Stark's The Outfit, Simenon's Dirty Snow. And dozens of others."

Dirty Snow

Georges Simenon · Buy on Amazon

"Raymond Chandler's The Long Goodbye, Richard Stark's The Outfit, Simenon's Dirty Snow. And dozens of others."

The Hidden Life of Trees

Peter Wohlleben · Buy on Amazon

"The existence of the Wood-Wide Web, that I heard of first in Peter Wohlleben's The Hidden Life of Trees. A truly marvelous book, literally so, for it's full of wonder, and wonders."

Treasure Island

Robert Louis Stevenson · Buy on Amazon

"Lately I revisited Treasure Island and was as thrilled and charmed as when I first read it as a boy. Stevenson is one of the great, unobtrusive stylists."

Dubliners

James Joyce · 1914 · Buy on Amazon

"Dubliners, by James Joyce. I was, I think, 12, when I was given it for my birthday."

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