One part Nietzsche, one part Humbert Humbert, and a soupcon of Milton’s Lucifer, Axel Vander, the dizzyingly unreliable narrator of John Banville’s masterful new novel, is very old, recently widowed, and the bearer of a fearsome reputation as a literary dandy and bully. A product of the Old World, he is also an escapee from its conflagrations, with the wounds to prove it. And everything about him is a lie.
Now those lies have been unraveled by a mysterious young woman whom Vander calls “Miss Nemesis.” They are to meet in Turin, a city best known for its enigmatic shroud. Is her purpose to destroy Vander or to save him—or simply to show him what lies beneath the shroud in which he has wrapped his life? A splendidly moving exploration of identity, duplicity, and desire, Shroud is Banville’s most rapturous performance to date.
The New York Times
Shroud is the latest of several Banville novels that take the form of urgent confessional monologues by men who have done great wrongs and lived a lie. Vander isn't the first of these men to be based on a historical figure. The Untouchable drew on the life story of the art critic and Soviet agent Anthony Blunt -- like de Man, a respected scholar who turned out to have served totalitarianism. As that novel opens, its narrator has just been unmasked as a spy; similarly, at the beginning of ''Shroud,'' Vander is convinced that a young Irish researcher, Catherine (Cass) Cleave, is about to expose him. — Bruce Bawer
Categories:
- Mystery, Thriller & Suspense
- Thrillers & Suspense
- Psychological Thrillers
- Thrillers & Suspense
Publisher : Vintage
Author : Banville, John
Language : English
Edition : Reprint
Published :2004-06-08
Number Of Pages : 272
Binding : Paperback
ISBN-10 : 037572530X
ISBN-13 : 9780375725302
Item weight : 0.45 lb
Dimensions : 0.7 in x 5.2 in x 7.9 in
Returns Policy
You may return most new, unopened items within 30 days of delivery for a full refund. We'll also pay the return shipping costs if the return is a result of our error (you received an incorrect or defective item, etc.).
You should expect to receive your refund within four weeks of giving your package to the return shipper, however, in many cases you will receive a refund more quickly. This time period includes the transit time for us to receive your return from the shipper (5 to 10 business days), the time it takes us to process your return once we receive it (3 to 5 business days), and the time it takes your bank to process our refund request (5 to 10 business days).
If you need to return an item, simply login to your account, view the order using the 'Complete Orders' link under the My Account menu and click the Return Item(s) button. We'll notify you via e-mail of your refund once we've received and processed the returned item.
Shipping
We can ship to virtually any address in the world. Note that there are restrictions on some products, and some products cannot be shipped to international destinations.
When you place an order, we will estimate shipping and delivery dates for you based on the availability of your items and the shipping options you choose. Depending on the shipping provider you choose, shipping date estimates may appear on the shipping quotes page.
Please also note that the shipping rates for many items we sell are weight-based. The weight of any such item can be found on its detail page. To reflect the policies of the shipping companies we use, all weights will be rounded up to the next full pound.