The Newton Letter

FINALLY, a true Banvillean work of art. Immediately previous to reading The Newton Letter, I had ploughed through Doctor Copernicus and Kepler, in which Banville, in which he later admitted was a misguided quest, attempted to incorporate the work of these scientists with their lives. Both of them are rather clunky works at best. There is no such attempt in the Newton letter, and I am more than a little taken aback at... Read Full Review

"The Newton Letter" is a mere eighty-one pages, a good thing since this imaginative and masterfully written, but often cryptic, novel needs to be read at least twice (if not three times) to fully appreciate John Banville's enigmatic, introspective tale.Written in the first person, the nameless, fiftyish male narrator of "The Newton Letter" is an historian who has spent seven years writing a book about Sir Isaac Newton. Seeking... Read Full Review

I had borrowed this book from the library a long long time ago and I somehow happened to pick it up after like 3 books and read it in a span of two days! This was the first time I was venturing to read a Banville and thank god, I did decide to pick it up. A short novella - around 97 pages and riveting!This book is a letter written by the narrator - who is nameless and has entered the Irish countryside to finish his book on... Read Full Review

"The Newton Letter" is a novel of twin obsessions: a writer attempts to discover the cause of Isaac Newton's nervous breakdown in 1693 even as he is drawn deeper into the secrets of a family with whom he lives on a dilapidated Irish estate. The first obsession involves truth; we are told of Newton in 1693 that, "[H]is greatest work was behind him . . . He was a great man now, his fame was assured, all Europe honoured him... Read Full Review