BookClub Meeting No. 7: The Silver Swan

Hi Everyone,

Just a bit about our last BookClub meeting where we discussed The Silver Swan by Benjamin Black. First off, I'd like to welcome our newest members; Kate and Frances.

I think that the overall feeling towards this novel was that it wasn't very good at all. It was overly descriptive of scenes and settings. The characters were not very likable and also, it wasn't much of a "mystery." From the beginning of the novel, it was quite obvious who the killer was (not to me though because I didn't manage to finish it on time. Tut tut!). It was suggested that John Banville tried to adapt his tried and tested manner of writning to a different genre of novel, and the end result was that it just didn't work. Perhaps highly descriptive passsages are more at home in his other books such as The Sea etc. for which he was nominated (or won?) the Booker Prize. Personally, I think that he was trying to break the mould in terms of the formula that runs through crime thrillers in the main...even if it didn't work very well. The hero of the story, Quirke, in the end didn't even solve the crime, It was a lesser involved character, Hackett! This is one of the reasons why I believe that Banville was trying alter traditional story-telling formulas. Also, I believe that he was trying to avoid the "easy-read" style associated with this genre by being highly descriptive and historically accurate. The Swastika Laundry did exist in Dublin during the period in which the novel is set for example.

Some of the scenarios in the story were very very unlikely, especially his daughter Phoebe falling in love with one of the villainous characters, Leslie White, who was Quirke's nemesis I suppose.

Ok, I admit, I still haven't finished it yet either. It is a tough read. I find it very easy to loose concentration. The pace is slow and there is no real need for the copiously descriptive passages or the flashbacks (Phoebe and the leverets when she was a child...). However, I'm still enjoying the book. I do like the historical aspects of it and it does paint a vivid picture of Dublin City, even if it is hard to differentiate the period of the story's setting from the present or any other time within the last 100 years.

To surmise, the majority of the members who read the book didn't enjoy it at all apart from myself and Tristan C. But I want to give John Banville the benifit of the doubt. I do think that he was trying something new, not just in terms of the kind of books he generally writes himself, but of the style of writing associated with the mystery/thriller genre overall. That can't be a bad thing altogether in my opinion at least. So, as I won the BookClub lotto this week, I get to choose the next book. I really want to see how The Silver Swan compares to John Banville's other works so therefore, I am choosing another of his books, The Sea. It could be a quiet week in Galway BookClub :)

By the way, those who attended the meeting were as follows:
Tristan C
Hugh
Anne Marie
Paul P
Sandra
Kate
karl
Hazel
Frances and
TristanPeter

Looking forward to our next meetin and hope to see you all there

p.s. I don't know how to do a spell check on this so please forgive my terrible spelling.

100 Must Read Books

Art of Manliness has listed it's 100 essential books

There's a few interesting ones on the list which might serve as inspiration for book choices.

Upcoming Books 6-5-2008

Hi All,

Here's the upcoming booklist:

13th May
To Discuss: The Silver Swan by Benjamin Black

27th May
To Discuss: The Doors of Perception by Aldous Huxley

10th June
To Discuss: The Siege of Krishnapur by J.G. Farrell

See you on the 13th,
Happy Reading!