The Sea

Intriguing and interesting; these are the most perfect words I can think of to describe The Sea by John Banville.  A national bestseller and winner of the Man Booker prize, this book was rich with amazing imagery, which was my favorite part about it.  I have always loved the ocean and the word pictures painted by Banville allowed me to travel to the sea without leaving my room. And honestly, while the story itself is quite interesting, it was the imagery and description in the book that made me unable to put it down.  I also really enjoyed the stream-of-consciousness writing of the story.  I have always loved this style but the way Banville utilized it in a way that truly illustrated how memory works and jumps around from past to present back to the even more distant past made the story more poignant in my mind.  Banville is able to perfectly capture the way a typical person thinks about things, jumping from topic to topic as memories begin to play in their mind; I have yet to find another book that does this the way he does.

The Sea is written as the reflective journal of a retired art historian, Max Morden, who just lost his wife and is coping with it through writing a sort-of memoir that illustrates his various memories of life at a summer home by the sea.  It was a tragic story but beautifully told. It jumps between his childhood, the months leading up to the death of his wife, Anna, and his present life in the seaside retreat. While the story is not heavy with an actual plot, the reader is still able to see his life mapped out in imagery.

  Also, I was realizing as I read the book, just how much stories like this make me want to write. There is something unbelievably enticing about reading about writing and the effect that writing has on the writer itself.  After reading stories like this, it is all I can do not to take an entire day to just sit and work on my novel or other stories I am in the midst of.  Maybe I will have the luxury to do that someday, but, as you may have gathered, my life is far too chaotic right now.  

Overall, I absolutely agree this book should be on the list to read before you die. While the plot itself is not incredibly inventive or unique, the way it is presented and how things are described make this a book you shouldn’t miss. It was one of those books that often made me just sit and reflect on my own life and left me wanting more afterwards. I wish I could find more ways to describe how beautiful this book was but you will just have to read it for yourself. And if you do read it, I would love to know what you think. Do you agree that it should be included on the list?