Get our Best Book Club Books of 2025 eBook!

Beyond the Book: Background information when reading The Sea

Summary |  Excerpt |  Reading Guide |  Reviews |  Beyond the Book |  Read-Alikes |  Genres & Themes |  Author Bio

The Sea by John Banville

The Sea

by John Banville
  • Critics' Consensus (4):
  • Readers' Rating (1):
  • First Published:
  • Nov 1, 2005, 195 pages
  • Paperback:
  • Aug 2006, 208 pages
  • Rate this book

About This Book

Beyond the Book

This article relates to The Sea

Print Review

The Booker Prize was established by the Booker McConnell company in 1969, and is  considered to be one of most important literary awards in the UK, if not the most important. In recent years it has been sponsored by the Man Group, an investment company, and thus is officially known as The Man Booker Prize, but is more often referred to simply as 'The Booker'.

Pierre Bonnard: Max has a tendency to muse over the paintings of Pierre Bonnard and in particular Bonnard's paintings of his wife, Marthe, in the bath.  abcgallery.com has a good collection of Bonnard's pictures if you're interested in taking a look, and if you do, spare a thought for poor old Marthe and think how lucky you are not to be married to an artist who paints pictures of you in the bathtub - unless of course you are!

John Banville was born in Wexford, Ireland, in 1945, and lives in Dublin. Between 1988 and 1999 he was the literary editor of the Irish Times. His first book, Long Lankin, a collection of short stories, was published in 1970. It was followed by two novels, Nightspawn (1971) and Birchwood (1973); and then by Dr Copernicus, which won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for fiction, and was followed by a series of novels exploring the lives of eminent scientists.

Bibliography (dates and titles reflect UK publications)
Long Lankin, 1970
Nightspawn, 1971
Birchwood,1973
Dr Copernicus, 1976
Kepler, 1981
The Newton Letter: An Interlude, 1982
Mefisto, 1986
The Book of Evidence, 1989
Ghosts, 1993
Athena, 1995
The Ark, 1996
The Untouchable, 1997
Eclipse, 2000
Shroud, 2002
Prague Pictures: Portrait of a City, 2003
The Sea, 2005.

Filed under

This "beyond the book article" relates to The Sea. It originally ran in January 2006 and has been updated for the August 2006 paperback edition. Go to magazine.

This review is available to non-members for a limited time. For full access become a member today.
Membership Advantages
  • Reviews
  • "Beyond the Book" articles
  • Free books to read and review (US only)
  • Find books by time period, setting & theme
  • Read-alike suggestions by book and author
  • Book club discussions
  • and much more!
  • Just $60 for 12 months or $20 for 3 months.
  • More about membership!

BookBrowse Book Club

  • Book Jacket
    Lessons in Chemistry
    by Bonnie Garmus
    Praised by Parade and The New York Times Book Review, this debut features a 1960s scientist turned TV cooking star.

Members Recommend

  • Book Jacket

    The Seven O'Clock Club
    by Amelia Ireland

    Four strangers join an experimental treatment to heal broken hearts in Amelia Ireland's heartfelt debut novel.

  • Book Jacket

    Serial Killer Games
    by Kate Posey

    A morbidly funny and emotionally resonant novel about the ways life—and love—can sneak up on us (no matter how much pepper spray we carry).

  • Book Jacket

    Ginseng Roots
    by Craig Thompson

    A new graphic memoir from the author of Blankets and Habibi about class, childhood labor, and Wisconsin’s ginseng industry.

  • Book Jacket

    One Death at a Time
    by Abbi Waxman

    A cranky ex-actress and her Gen Z sobriety sponsor team up to solve a murder that could send her back to prison in this dazzling mystery.

  • Book Jacket

    The Fairbanks Four
    by Brian Patrick O’Donoghue

    One murder, four guilty convictions, and a community determined to find justice.

  • Book Jacket

    Happy Land
    by Dolen Perkins-Valdez

    From the New York Times bestselling author, a novel about a family's secret ties to a vanished American Kingdom.

Who Said...

It was one of the worst speeches I ever heard ... when a simple apology was all that was required.

Click Here to find out who said this, as well as discovering other famous literary quotes!

Wordplay

Solve this clue:

A C on H S

and be entered to win..

Your guide toexceptional          books

BookBrowse seeks out and recommends the best in contemporary fiction and nonfiction—books that not only engage and entertain but also deepen our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.