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A review by devilstatedan
The Book of Evidence by John Banville
adventurous
challenging
dark
funny
informative
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
An intriguing and engrossing dive into the mind of a narcissist and murderer from real events.
Our main guy tells the story though his own warped opinions of himself and never really takes responsibility for his crime, rather attempts to sway us into forgiving him on the basis that he is merely a product of his upbringing and environment.
We take a tiki-tour through his various points of history; his privileged childhood - though not without trauma, his posing himself as a personality which he thinks will further his prospect, his vast history of broken relationships and unpaid debts, until he is forced to return to his native Ireland and where, through an act of perceived injustice, he brutally kills a woman who by chance just happens to get in his way.
This story of his is brimming with self-importance and self-pity and Banville has worked some absolute magic here to retain enough intrigue to keep us turning pages - mostly, I feel, as an act of morbid fascination at this perfect example of how not to be...
Fans of true crime would love this one and although not strictly a non-fiction narrative Banville takes us inside the mind of a dickhead self-lover, rather than merely focusing on the act of violence itself.
Our main guy tells the story though his own warped opinions of himself and never really takes responsibility for his crime, rather attempts to sway us into forgiving him on the basis that he is merely a product of his upbringing and environment.
We take a tiki-tour through his various points of history; his privileged childhood - though not without trauma, his posing himself as a personality which he thinks will further his prospect, his vast history of broken relationships and unpaid debts, until he is forced to return to his native Ireland and where, through an act of perceived injustice, he brutally kills a woman who by chance just happens to get in his way.
This story of his is brimming with self-importance and self-pity and Banville has worked some absolute magic here to retain enough intrigue to keep us turning pages - mostly, I feel, as an act of morbid fascination at this perfect example of how not to be...
Fans of true crime would love this one and although not strictly a non-fiction narrative Banville takes us inside the mind of a dickhead self-lover, rather than merely focusing on the act of violence itself.