Time Pieces

A Dublin Memoir

By: John Banville

Narrated by: John Lee

From the internationally acclaimed Booker Prize-winning author of The Sea comes "a delicious memoir" (New York Times) that unfolds around the author's recollections, experiences, and imaginings of Dublin.

As much about the life of the city as it is about a life lived, sometimes, in the city, John Banville's "quasi-memoir" is as layered, emotionally rich, witty, and unexpected as any of his novels. Born and bred in a small town a train ride away from Dublin, Banville saw the city as a place of enchantment when he was a child, a birthday treat, the place where his beloved, eccentric aunt lived. And though, when he came of age and took up residence there, and the city became a frequent backdrop for his dissatisfactions (not playing an identifiable role in his work until the Quirke mystery series, penned as Benjamin Black), it remained in some part of his memory as fascinating as it had been to his seven-year-old self. And as he guides us around the city, delighting in its cultural, architectural, political, and social history, he interweaves the memories that are attached to particular places and moments. The result is both a wonderfully idiosyncratic tour of Dublin, and a tender yet powerful ode to a formative time and place for the artist as a young man.

Critic reviews

“A delicious memoir … Like the more thoughtful Romantics, Banville sees into the life of things…. [His] soarings, like a hawk’s, are both wild and comprehensive, taking in everything and imagining more.” —The New York Times

‘loved it!

It’s a real treat to have a first rate memoir of one of the very finest current Irish writers.

Not only do we get to travel around Dublin with Banville; we also get his accounts of encounters with some of the truly great Irish writers of recent times. And we get his reports of significant moments in Irish literary and political history just beyond his touch.

Just outstanding.

The reader was magnificent.

If you like Irish literature and history, this is a must.

My first Banville Book

Such an interesting semi memoir. Although the focus was on Dublin - the life stories could have occurred anywhere.