The Untouchable
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The Untouchable by John Banville
WINNER OF THE LANNAN LITERARY AWARD FOR FICTION * From the Booker Prize-winning author of The Sea comes the fascinating story of a former British spy who's been unmasked as a Russian agent--and "one of spy fiction's greatest characters" (People). * "Contemporary fiction gets no better than this." --The New York Times Book ReviewOne of the most dazzling and adventurous writers now working in English takes on the enigma of the Cambridge spies in a novel of exquisite menace, biting social comedy, and vertiginous moral complexity. The narrator is the elderly Victor Maskell, formerly of British intelligence, for many years art expert to the Queen. Now he has been unmasked as a Russian agent and subjected to a disgrace that is almost a kind of death. But at whose instigation?
As Maskell retraces his tortuous path from his recruitment at Cambridge to the airless upper regions of the establishment, we discover a figure of manifold doubleness: Irishman and Englishman; husband, father, and lover of men; betrayer and dupe. Beautifully written, filled with convincing fictional portraits of Maskell's co-conspirators, and vibrant with the mysteries of loyalty and identity, The Untouchable places John Banville in the select company of both Conrad and le Carre.
"Victor Maskell is one of the great characters in recent fiction.... The Untouchable is the best work of art in any medium on [its] subject." --Washington Post Book World
"As remarkable a literary voice as any to come out of Ireland; Joyce and Beckett notwithstanding." --San Francisco Chronicle
John Banville was born in the Irish town of Wexford in 1945. He has won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize, the GuardianFiction Prize, and the Lannan Literary Award for Writing for his previous thirteen works. He is based in Dublin.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9780679767473 |
| ISBN 10 | 0679767479 |
| Title | The Untouchable |
| Author | John Banville |
| Series | Vintage International |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Paperback |
| Publisher | Random House USA Inc |
| Year published | 1998-06-30 |
| Number of pages | 384 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |