"The Irish master." –
New Yorker "One periodically rereads a [Banville] sentence just to marvel at its beauty, originality and elegance." –
USA TODAY "John Banville deserves his Booker Prize." –
Los Angeles Times Book Review "[Banville's] books are like baroque cathedrals, filled with elaborate passages." –
Paris Review "A grand writer with a seductive style." –
Marilyn Stasio, New York Times Book Review "Banville is a master at capturing the most fleeting memory or excruciating twinge of self-awareness with riveting accuracy." –
People "A brilliant stylist." –
Christian Science Monitor "Represents a watershed in contemporary Irish writing." –
Colm Tóibín "John Banville is the heir to Nabokov." –
Sunday Telegraph "One of the best novelists in English." –
Edmund White, Guardian "He cannot write an unpolished phrase, so we read him slowly, relishing the stream of pleasures he affords." –
The Independent (UK) "The heir to Proust." –
Daily Beast "A great storyteller." –
Observer "Banville's ventriloquism is word-perfect." –
Vulture