"The Sea"?!?!

[NotQuiteCockney]

Ok, just finished this. Not at all impressed. Well, I "liked" the narrator, I thought the whole being-a-shit thing was reasonably subtly done, but the whole "who is Miss Vavasour" thing was really overdone, and gah ... not impressed.

Anyone else see merits in this one that I'm missing?

Was next on my list..........

It is well-written.

Of all the Booker list I've done so far, I like The Accidental about a million times more than any of the others. Arthur and George was ok, too.

Will let you know, halfway through The Shadow of the Wind, which is not bad, but I fear was the opposite of one of our regulars.

Lost in translation, seems quite clunky at times.

Probably flowed in Spanish.

Oh, you're not doing the Booker short list?

We were given two copies of "The Sea" at Christmas and I haven't got around to reading either of them. I haven't read any John Banville before (dh has) and I think he may be a bit "highbrow" for me...

Have any of you read "A Long Long Way" by Sebastian Barry (also on the Booker shortlist)? Its the story of a young Irish man serving in the British Army in WW1 and pretty harrowing in parts.... but very interesting if you know a bit about Irish history (or want to know more). I saw a play by the author many moons ago and it was oneof the most powerful things I've ever seen.....

KteePee

Also on the bedside locker, my DM is here for the weekend, and has pinched it. EVEN

I haven't read A Long Long Way, I think it's the only Booker shortlist I haven't read yet. Will probably start it soon, but have been drawn into a Roth.

I particularly liked it because of the year that's in it, iyswim, think it's partially based on actual people in his family, you get a different perspective on what went on (especially if you only did history up to Inter Cert like me where you didn't learn about anything in great detail)

For NQC's benefit - I meant because it is the 90th anniversary of the Easter Rising in Ireland this year and this is covered in the book....

I know nearly nothing about Irish history - I did history in Canada, and oddly enough Ireland didn't feature that much. (Oh, there was a famine, wasn't here?)

What little I know about the Easter Uprising is via Yeats, and only faintly.

So that will be an educational book, anyway ...

I too have just finished The Sea and it felt very much like i was wading through it, waiting for something to happen and it just never delivered.
the prose was beautiful and evocative however

quite disappointing overall

so should i read The Accidental or A Long Long Way next?