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Christine Falls (Paperback)

by Benjamin Black (Author)

3.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)

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1 new from CDN$ 68.30 7 used from CDN$ 1.29

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Product Details

Paperback: 300 pages
Publisher: Picador; Airside ed edition (Oct 6 2006)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0330447165
ISBN-13: 978-0330447164
Product Dimensions: 21.2 x 13.6 x 3 cm
Shipping Weight: 422 g

Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)

Amazon.ca Sales Rank: #1,174,154 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Product Description

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. Dalton uses all his pacing and vocal skills and his wonderful, deep Welsh tones to keep listeners engaged and on edge through this mystery set in 1950s Dublin and Boston. He skillfully sustains our empathy for widowed Dublin coroner Quirke, the alcoholic, angry and acerbic narrator who drags himself into solving the mystery of Christine Falls's death in childbirth and the disappearance of her newborn—a scenario that parallels Quirke's own experience. Black (pseudonym of Booker Prize–winner John Banville) is a fine writer, reminiscent of P.D. James in his care for language and his emphasis on psychologically complex characters, including Mel, Quirke's obstetrician stepbrother; Sarah, Mel's wife (and sister of Quirke's dead wife), whose love for Quirke is reciprocated; and Mel and Sarah's confused daughter, Phoebe. Black weaves his characters through a neat and original plot that descends into the dark depths of Quirke's family history and rises to the highest ranks of the Catholic church. Detective fiction readers will love Black's writing and Dalton's reading, and look forward to more from both.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Audio CD edition.

From AudioFile

Timothy Dalton offers an excellent, fine-tuned narration of this first in a planned series of crime novels by Booker Prize winner John Banville, writing as Benjamin Black. The series will feature Garret Quirke, an alcoholic Dublin pathologist as quirky as his name. The dark, densely plotted novel focuses on illegal transatlantic trafficking in orphans by prominent Catholics who want to create a stockpile of future priests and nuns. Dalton differentiates his Dublin and Boston Irish accents beautifully. He's also adept at creating believable personality studies of a wide range of characters, including women, the very young, and the old. His narration, which grabs the listener's attention from the first, never flags. R.E.K. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine --This text refers to the Audio CD edition.

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Customer Reviews

2 Reviews

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3.5 out of 5 stars (2 customer reviews)

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3.0 out of 5 stars The Pseudonym Is The Problem, May 12 2008

By	taking a rest - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)

This review is from: Christine Falls: A Novel (Paperback)

The rationales for an author choosing to write under a different moniker are probably unlimited. The logic I have never understood is what will the explanation be once the true name is known? Several people have commented on interviews done by Mr. Banville where he evidently has stated the speed with which he pens these books is notable. My reading is that people also feel his speed is better described as haste and that these books are intentionally meant to be more commercial, publications to facilitate a payday for an author who is well respected/admired but might like to sell more books. In this case it may have worked. A brief review of works under the Banville name generally garner much less attention, the exception being the work that won The Man Booker Prize.

As I have read all of Mr. Banville's previously published novels this new name only served to ensure that I knew nothing of this book until someone pointed out to me, a year after publication, that he had written it. I doubt the goal was to make the work invisible to admirers of his work but that is exactly what happened in my case.

He may place any name he likes on his work but unless he is to radically change the manner with which he writes I do not believe there is massive audience awaiting his books. I would suggest that readers like me enjoy his work for the many reasons others do not. If you are looking for a tale told at a blistering pace look elsewhere, if you enjoy a tale that is wrapped up as quickly as the 60-minute TV mysteries (43 minutes without commercials) his books will try your patience.

This work is a grim tale of deceit, hypocrisy and betrayal by an institution that is supposed to exist in counterpoint to these failures of character. The author did not set out to lift anyone's spirits or provide even a mildly positive outcome. The events in this book document the depravity that comes with moral certitude together with the arrogance that a simplistic belief system facilitates.

And that may be why this book does not seem to be very appealing to many, it is relentless at exposing the flaws of its characters and the institutions they believe they are the champions of. It also reads like contemporary news accounts. The topic may be different but the evil is the same.

I don't like this version of "John Banville" as much as his other works. How much of this is caused by my curiosity as to why this work came out camouflaged is something I cannot gauge.

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4.0 out of 5 stars Ellipitical Tale of a Drunk and His Guilt, Feb 29 2008

By	Professor Donald Mitchell "Jesus Makes Me a P... (Boston) - See all my reviews (#1 REVIEWER)

This review is from: Christine Falls: A Novel (Hardcover)

If you are not already a fan of John Banville but like suspense stories, you will probably grade this book as a two. Why? The "mystery" is heavily contrived by holding back details that the main characters know from the beginning. That method of story telling is a John Banville specialty that makes his "serious" novels smack you with epiphanies after you are lulled into complacency by "predictable" seeming plots and his lovely prose into assuming that more is well than is.

Having a narrator who is usually drunk makes for interesting fiction, if the complication doesn't drive you away from the story. Clearly, that's a "serious" book ploy.

Quirke is a pathologist. Malachy (Mal) Griffin is an OB/GYN. They work in the same hospital. In the rest of their lives, they are rivals for the approval of Mal's father, Judge Griffin, and were rivals for the love of Quirke's life, Sarah, who married Mal. The two are brothers-in-law due to Quirke having married Sarah's sister, Delia.

Into that conflicted background, Quirke staggers down towards his office after overindulging at a staff party and finds Mal sitting at his desk writing in a patient record. The patient's name? Christine Falls. Her young body lies on a near-by gurney that Quirke accidentally undrapes.

Soon, Quirke doesn't even remember the incident until he is reminded. But he cannot get the image off his mind and starts to probe into what happened to her. Strong forces strike back to limit his progress.

If you stick it out, you'll be rewarded by appreciating some remarkable causes and effects that trace back over several decades . . . and make you realize that everything we do counts. A good analogy for this story is the effect of dropping a huge stone into a small pond -- the ripples will radiate out to the bank and back creating considerable turbulence for some time.

The book is skeptical about the sanctity of the Catholic establishment in Dublin and in Boston. Some may be offended by the turns that the story takes in that direction.

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