217:
series of events culminating in
Freddie's killing of a maid while stealing a painting. On the run, he hides out in the house of Charlie, an old family friend and a man of some influence, before being arrested and interrogated. The novel ends as Freddie sits in jail and has the first feelings of remorse for the girl's death while casting doubt on the truth of what he has recounted.
216:
scientist who has been living abroad for many years, Freddie returns to his ancestral home seeking money after falling foul of a gangster in the
Mediterranean. Shocked to discover that his mother has sold the family's collection of paintings, Freddie attempts to recover them. This leads to a tragic
195:
The book is narrated by
Freddie Montgomery, a 38-year-old scientist who murders a servant girl during an attempt to steal a painting from a neighbour. Freddie is an aimless drifter, and though he is a perceptive observer of himself and his surroundings, he is largely amoral.
29:
220:
Throughout his loquacious account, the narrator sporadically inserts complex and obscure words before admitting in one of the later chapters to having a dictionary beside him in his cell from which he is extracting these gems that embellish his prose.
312:. Because he feared that the novel would be judged "hackneyed", he said he tried to make Freddie as original as possible "through style". "I mean, it is a hackneyed old story, but there is Freddie's voice and Freddie's style".
338:
was part of the jury, though the award organisers did not notice that he had included a clause in his contract that allowed him to overrule the decision of the other jury members. Consequently, when the jury chose
351:, a compromise was reached whereby Banville was awarded the £50,000 main prize while Guinness Peat Aviation provided an additional sum of £25,000 to be awarded to Vincent McDonnell, as a specially created
248:
described the incidents and MacArthur's taking shelter at
Connolly's as "a bizarre happening, an unprecedented situation, a grotesque situation, an almost unbelievable mischance". The acronym
461:
233:, who killed a young nurse in Dublin during the course of stealing her car. MacArthur, a well-known eccentric in the city's social circles, took refuge (as a guest) at the home of
271:. MacArthur, recently released from prison, was in the audience. Banville left as soon as the interview was done; MacArthur attended the drinks reception.
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241:, where he was ultimately arrested. A serious effort was made to prevent the relationship between Connolly and MacArthur from becoming public.
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and later applied to reflect the entirety of
Haughey's March–December 1982 government, a government marred by constant turmoil.
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who tells his life story and recounts the events leading up to his arrest for the murder of a servant girl in one of
Ireland's "
355:. Banville later described the incident as "grubby" and said that Greene had behaved quite badly in the awarding of the prize.
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291:. The writing style continues Banville's attempt to give his prose "the kind of denseness and thickness that poetry has".
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The central events of the murder and subsequent flight are based on the 1982 case of
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by
Vincent McDonnell as the winner. Eventually, through the intervention of
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252:(grotesque, unbelievable, bizarre and unprecedented) was coined by
452:"Once More Admired Than Bought, A Writer Finally Basks in Success"
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410:"As Banville spoke, he spotted a familiar face in the crowd..."
437:". Publishers Weekly, July 1995. Retrieved on 21 January 2007.
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has stated that the book ought to have won
Banville the
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The awarding of the GPA Award was mired by controversy.
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as the winner, Greene chose to ignore this and picked
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In
December 2012, Banville was being interviewed by
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Charlie: The
Political Biography of Charles Haughey
327:Literary Award in 1989 and was shortlisted for the
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509:"Fellow writers delight in Banville's Booker win"
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263:at an evening dedicated to the essayist
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283:compared Banville's writing to that of
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464:from the original on 4 December 2023
294:Banville confirmed the influence of
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408:Spain, John (15 December 2012).
486:Arts Lives: Being John Banville
415:. Independent News & Media
1:
182:. Many of the characters in
16:1989 novel by John Banville
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789:Secker & Warburg books
204:Freddie Montgomery is the
186:appear in the 1993 sequel
33:Cover of the first edition
483:Charlie McCarthy (2007).
212:". A cultured but louche
26:
231:Malcolm Edward MacArthur
784:Picador (imprint) books
774:Novels by John Banville
353:GPA First Fiction Award
279:In reviewing the book,
345:The Broken Commandment
325:Guinness Peat Aviation
303:Notes From Underground
269:Trinity College Dublin
779:Novels set in Ireland
435:Who Is John Banville?
22:The Book of Evidence
596:The Book of Evidence
341:The Book of Evidence
321:The Book of Evidence
254:Conor Cruise O'Brien
184:The Book of Evidence
175:The Book of Evidence
61:Secker & Warburg
489:(Film). Dublin: RTÉ
206:unreliable narrator
178:is a 1989 novel by
154:PR6052.A57 B36 2001
23:
769:Irish crime novels
725:The Last September
517:. 15 October 2005.
457:The New York Times
448:Bernstein, Richard
433:Steinberg, Sybil "
104:224 pp (hardcover)
764:1989 Irish novels
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588:The Newton Letter
572:Doctor Copernicus
413:Irish Independent
289:Fyodor Dostoevsky
281:Publishers Weekly
237:, then the Irish
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717:Reflections
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679:Long Lankin
493:15 December
419:15 December
359:Colm Tóibín
214:Anglo-Irish
142:823/.914 21
758:Categories
369:References
225:Background
210:big houses
555:Works by
349:Tony Ryan
275:Reception
243:Taoiseach
94:Paperback
90:Hardcover
57:Publisher
462:Archived
323:won the
129:45363983
49:Language
741:The Sea
644:The Sea
628:Eclipse
468:1 March
88:Print (
80:Ireland
52:English
744:(2013)
736:(2011)
728:(1999)
720:(1984)
701:(2006)
682:(1970)
663:(2012)
655:(2009)
647:(2005)
639:(2002)
636:Shroud
631:(2000)
623:(1997)
615:(1995)
612:Athena
607:(1993)
604:Ghosts
599:(1989)
591:(1982)
583:(1981)
580:Kepler
575:(1976)
564:Novels
316:Awards
309:Lolita
189:Ghosts
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164:Ghosts
92:&
39:Author
690:Plays
300:, of
101:Pages
495:2013
470:2024
421:2012
287:and
250:GUBU
200:Plot
123:OCLC
110:ISBN
72:1989
267:in
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