(Drivebycuriosity) - John Banville belongs to the most interesting contemporary authors (wikipedia ). The Irish writer also publishes under his pen name Benjamin Black. I enjoyed his historic novel "Wolf on a String" (published as Black my review ) and "Kepler", a mix between biography and fiction (Banville review). I also liked "Christine Falls", the start of a series of crime novels around the Dublin coroner Quirke (review ).
I just finished the newest Banville novel: "Snow" (amazon). The plot is set in the Republic of Ireland in the 1950s - under the ban of a severe winter. A Catholic priest, who was guest in a remote country house, has been murdered and castrated. Detective Inspector Strafford arrives there from Dublin and starts his investigation (this is spoiler free blog).
Even though the ending wasn`t really surprising (regarding the reputation of Catholic priests ) I love this book. As the title suggests, very winterly conditions play an important role and the reader gets immersed into an arctic setting - streets like glass, forests & houses covered with ice - which give the book a kind of fairy tale touch.
Detective Strafford is smart, analytical and likable and I enjoyed his slow & methodical investigation and how he fights with the arctic conditions. The other characters are often weird & dubious. Banville certainly dislikes priests and the Irish Catholic Church and he shows again his talent for describing places & scenes and constructing entertaining innuendos and kinky sex scenes. He also touches Ireland`s troubled history and fragile political situation in the 1950. The novel belongs to the best I have read in the recent years.
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