Shroud
by Banville, John
John Banville was born in Wexford, Ireland, in 1945. His first book, Long Lankin, was published in 1970. His other books are Nightspawn, Birchwood, Doctor Copernicus, Kepler, The Newton Letter, Mefisto, The Book of Evidence (which was shortlisted for the 1989 Booker Prize), Ghosts, Athena, The Untouchable, and Eclipse. He lives in Dublin.
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On Jan 24, 2011, serendipity said
Another fine example of John Banville's eloquent prose being used to tell a twisted, deceitful story concerning notions of the Self and reality. Axel Vander, the snobbish, literate, ageing narrator, has fled the sunny coast of California (where he is a celebrated academic modelled in part after Paul De Man) and returned to the Old World; specifically Turin to meet and confront a young research student who has unwittingly uncovered a great lie at the heart of Vander's life: that as a youth in Antwerp he wrote anti-semitic articles in a right-wing journal. (Something similar was revealed of De Man after he died). But there are deeper secrets than that, and the novel unfolds them at a langorous pace. Now old and dying, Vander begins an impossible love-affair with his young unmasker. As usual with Banville, the prose is exquisite to the point where excessive praise seems superfluous. The plot is of less interest than the delicious descriptive language, and the setting allows Banville to explore the meaning of "meaning" and fakery (the setting of Turin is not coincidental: the Shroud of Turin is both a forgery and an object of adoration, and Turin is also where Nietzsche lived when he was going insane, and Banville even has Vander and his young companion, Cassandra, visit the philosopher's home). As seems usual with Banville, there is a requisite dose of miserable sex, unhappy ghosts, haunting memories, lies, tenderness and torture. His unreliable narrator, Vander, is both despicable and pitiable, never an easy character for an author to create. This novel will appeal to readers who like their literature to be intelligent and challenging and who like words for the sheer joy of them more than the necessary but dull trappings of plot. An important work by an important writer.
On Mar 31, 2010, serendipity said
Warning: here be SPOILERS....Another fine example of Banville's eloquent prose being used to tell a twisted, deceitful story concerning notions of the Self and reality. Axel Vander, the snobbish, literate, ageing narrator, has fled the sunny coast of California (where he is a celebrated academic modelled in part after Paul De Man) and returned to the Old World; specifically Turin, to meet and confront a young research student who has unwittingly uncovered a great lie at the heart of Vander's life: that as a youth in Holland he wrote anti-semitic articles in a right-wing journal. But there are deeper secrets than that, not the least of which is that he isn't Axel Vander at all, but a Jewish friend of Vander's who appropriated his name after hearing that Vander had been killed in the early part of the war. Now old and dying, Vander begins an impossible love-affair with his young un-masker. The setting, of course, is significant as the Shroud of Turin is both an object of worship and a fake. As usual with Banville, the prose is exquisite to the point where excessive praise seems superfluous. The plot is of less interest than the delicious descriptive language, and the setting allows Banville to explore the meaning of "meaning", fakery, etc, along with his requisite dose of sex, unhappy ghosts, haunting memories, lies, tenderness and torture. Brilliant. I waited a long time to get around to reading this novel, and I wasn't disappointed.
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SHROUD
by Banville, John
- Condition
- Used - Fine
- Jacket Condition
- Not Issued
- Edition
- First Edition
- Published
- 2002
- Binding
- Hardcover
- ISBN
- 9780330483155
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Seller
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Fernandina Beach, Florida, USA
- Item Price
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$200.00
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London: Picador/Joe McCann, 2002. First edition, first prnt. This is one of a limted edition of 65 numbered copies published by Joe McCann of a total issue of eighty copies. This is copy #18. Bound in full cloth with a printed label on the front board and spine and signed by Banville on the limitation page. Issued without dustjacket. Unread… Read more about this item Item Price
$200.00
Shroud
by Banville, John
- Condition
- As New
- Jacket Condition
- Fair
- Published
- 2002
- Binding
- Paperback
- ISBN
- 9780330483131
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Seller
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ORMOND, Victoria, AUS
- Item Price
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$22.81
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London: Picador, 2002. Uncorrected Proof. . Paperback. As New/Fair. 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall. Item Price
$22.81
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SHROUD (2003) (SIGNED to Full Title Page)
by John Banville
- Condition
- Used - Near Fine
- Jacket Condition
- Fine
- Edition
- FIRST EDITION, FIRST PRINTING
- Published
- Jun 1, 2003
- Binding
- HARDCOVER w/ Dust Jacket Cover
- ISBN
- 9780375411304
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Seller
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Monkton, Maryland, USA
- Item Price
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$49.46
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HARDCOVER. Very Rare Signed First Edition, First Printing copy. SIGNED in Person at the Book Signing Event. SHROUD by John Banville (2003). SIGNED to the Full Title page by John Banville, the author. Excellent condition copy with sight edge bumps/wear only. Brand New looking, spotless original Dust jacket makes this a Very Attractive and Rare copy signed! This is a… Read more about this item Item Price
$49.46
Shroud :
by John Banville
- Condition
- Used - Very Good
- Published
- 2002-09-20
- Binding
- Hardcover
- ISBN
- 9780330483155
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Seller
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London, London, GBR
- Item Price
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$8.09
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Picador, 2002-09-20. Hardcover. Very Good. 3.6041 in x 21.3959 in x 13.9848 in. Item Price
$8.09
Shroud
by John Banville
- Condition
- Used - Good
- Published
- 2002
- Binding
- Hardcover
- ISBN
- 9780330483155
- Quantity Available
- 1
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Seattle, Washington, USA
- Item Price
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$10.71
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Picador, 2002. Hardcover. Good. Disclaimer:A copy that has been read, but remains in clean condition. All pages are intact, and the cover is intact. The spine may show signs of wear. Pages can include limited notes and highlighting, and the copy can include previous owner inscriptions. At ThriftBooks, our motto is: Read More, Spend Less.Dust jacket quality… Read more about this item Item Price
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Shroud :
by Banville, John
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- Used - Very Good
- Binding
- Hardback
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- 9780330483155
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GORING BY SEA, West Sussex, GBR
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$2.66
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Hardback. Very Good. Item Price
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Shroud :
by Banville, John
- Condition
- Used - Good
- Binding
- Hardback
- ISBN
- 9780330483155
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GORING BY SEA, West Sussex, GBR
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Hardback. Good. Item Price
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Shroud
by BANVILLE, John
- Condition
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- Published
- 2003
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Wadsworth, Illinois, USA
- Item Price
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$20.00
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New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2003. First edition. Softcover. 257 pages. Uncorrected proof. A novel from this acclaimed Irish writer who won the Booker Prize in 2005 for his novel "The Sea." A very near fine copy in printed wrappers. Item Price
$20.00
SHROUD
by BANVILLE, John:
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- Used
- Edition
- Uncorrected proof copy of the first edition, first printing
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York, North Yorkshire, GBR
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$49.89
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London: Picador. 2002. Uncorrected proof copy of the first edition, first printing. Uncorrected proof copy of the first edition, first printing. Publisher's printed card covers. A fine copy, the binding square and firm, the contents clean throughout and without previous owner's inscriptions or stamps. Scarce in proof state. The second book in the Alexander and Cass Cleave… Read more about this item Item Price
$49.89
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Shroud [Limited Edition, Signed]
by John Banville
- Condition
- Used - Fine
- Published
- 2002
- ISBN
- 9780330483155
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Seller
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Washington, District of Columbia, USA
- Item Price
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$175.00
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London: Picador / Joe McCann, 2002. Fine. London: Picador, 2002. First Edition, Limited to 80 copies signed by the author of which this is no. 54 of sixty bound in cloth. Octavo; publisher's black cloth, printed paper spine and upper cover labels; [6],407pp. Fine condition. Signed by the author on colophon.
The second volume in Irish… Read more about this item Item Price
$175.00
SHROUD
by Banville, John
- Condition
- Used - Near Fine
- Jacket Condition
- Near Fine
- Edition
- 1st Edition
- Published
- 2002
- Binding
- Hardcover
- ISBN
- 9780330483155
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Seller
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Naas, Kildare, IRL
- Item Price
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$53.84
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London, United Kingdom: Picador, 2002. Book. Near Fine. Hardcover. Signed by Author(s). 1st Edition. First UK Edition, First Printing. This is a true first edition, first printing (first impression) with the number "1" and a full numberline to the copyright page to indicate a true first print in a near fine Dust Jacket. SIGNED by John Banville to… Read more about this item Item Price
$53.84
Shroud
by Banville, John
- Condition
- Used - Very good
- Jacket Condition
- Good
- Edition
- Second impression
- Published
- 2002
- Binding
- Hardback
- ISBN
- 9780330483155
- Quantity Available
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- Seller
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Eynsham, Oxfordshire, GBR
- Item Price
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$4.37
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London: Picador, 2002. Second impression. Hardback. Very good/Good. Picador, London, 2002. Second impression. Book condition: Very good. Very slight wear only, upper front corner slightly bumped and with an unread feeling. Dust jacket: Good. Unclipped. Light edge wear, some creasing to lower edge of rear and a small closed tear to rear at fold. Written in Banville's almost… Read more about this item Item Price
$4.37
Shroud
by Banville, John
- Condition
- Used - Good
- ISBN
- 9780330483155
- Quantity Available
- 1
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Dunfermline, Fife, GBR
- Item Price
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$6.01
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Used - Good. Ships from the UK. Former library book; may include library markings. Used book that is in clean, average condition without any missing pages. Item Price
$6.01
Shroud
by John Banville
- Condition
- Used - Acceptable
- Published
- 2004
- Binding
- Paperback
- ISBN
- 9780375725302
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Seller
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Seattle, Washington, USA
- Item Price
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$6.16
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Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, 2004. Paperback. Acceptable. Former library book; Readable copy. Pages may have considerable notes/highlighting. ~ ThriftBooks: Read More, Spend Less.Dust jacket quality is not guaranteed. Item Price
$6.16
Shroud
by BANVILLE, JOHN
- Condition
- Used - Fine
- Edition
- Limited Edition
- Published
- 2002
- Binding
- Cloth
- Quantity Available
- 1
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Toronto, Ontario, CAN
- Item Price
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$184.45
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London: Picador, 2002. Limited Edition. Cloth. Fine. 8vo. Black cloth with paper title label to spine and front panel. Edition limited to 65 numbered copies signed by the author. This is number 12. Fine copy without dust jacket as issued. Item Price
$184.45
Shroud
by Banville, John
- Condition
- Used - Very Good
- ISBN
- 9780330483155
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Seller
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Dunfermline, Fife, GBR
- Item Price
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$6.01
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Description:
Used - Very Good. Ships from the UK. Former library book; may include library markings. Used book that is in excellent condition. May show signs of wear or have minor defects. Item Price
$6.01
Shroud
by John Banville
- Condition
- Used - Acceptable
- Published
- 2004
- Binding
- Paperback
- ISBN
- 9780375725302
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Seller
-
Seattle, Washington, USA
- Item Price
-
$6.16
Show Details
Description:
Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, 2004. Paperback. Acceptable. Readable copy. Pages may have considerable notes/highlighting. ~ ThriftBooks: Read More, Spend Less.Dust jacket quality is not guaranteed. Item Price
$6.16
Shroud
by Banville, John
- Condition
- Used - Near Fine in Near Fine dust jacket
- Edition
- First Edition
- Published
- 2003
- Binding
- Hardcover
- ISBN
- 9780375411304
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Seller
-
The Woodlands, Texas, USA
- Item Price
-
$25.00
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Description:
New York, New York: Alfred A. Knopf. Near Fine in Near Fine dust jacket. 2003. First Edition. Hardcover. 0375411305 . First American Edition. "Axel Vander is an old man, in ill health, recently widowed, a scholar renowned for both his unquestionable authority and the ferocity and violence that often mark his conduct. He is known to be… Read more about this item Item Price
$25.00
Shroud
by Banville, John
- Condition
- Used - Good
- ISBN
- 9780375725302
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Seller
-
Reno, Nevada, USA
- Item Price
-
$7.09
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Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. Used - Good. Used book that is in clean, average condition without any missing pages. Item Price
$7.09
Shroud
by Banville, John
- Condition
- Used - Very Good
- Edition
- First printing of this edition
- Published
- 2004
- Binding
- Paperback
- ISBN
- 9780375725302
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Seller
-
Montmorillon, FRA
- Item Price
-
$11.22
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Description:
New York: Vintage, 2004. First printing of this edition. Paperback. Very Good. First printing of this trade paperback edition. A clean unmarked copy in printed wrappers.
Item Price
$11.22