Speaking Of John Banville …

Were we? Well, he was mentioned here. The Top Ten: Writers Pick Their Favorite Books is a book I most definitely need to get – and I kind of love Banville’s list of his Top 10 Books (which I found here) … I’d love to read more. I always love to hear writers talk about the books that they love – the books that either inspire them, frustrate them, push them to do better, or just provide an escape …

John Banville’s Favorite Books:

1. Ill Seen, Ill Said by Samuel Beckett

2. Notes from Underground by Fyodor Dostoevsky

3. Ulysses by James Joyce

4. Doctor Faustus by Thomas Mann

5. Moby-Dick by Herman Melville

6. Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov

7. Austerlitz by W.G. Sebald

8. Dirty Snow by Georges Simenon

9. Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift

10. Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray.

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2 Responses to Speaking Of John Banville …

  1. Anne says:

    Do you think your favorite book necessarily influences your style? I often think there are things I’d like to imitate but know I can’t, and just have to go with… what’s already in my water. Or something like that.

    I have another question for you, over at my place.

  2. red says:

    Anne – I don’t think favorite book does influence style. Or maybe sometimes it does, but not necessarily. One of my favorite books is Nicholas Mosley’s Hopeful Monsters – and I would never EVER write a book like that, or in that voice. It’s not even worth imitating, it’s so not in me – if that makes sense.

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