Madam, - What a book. What a boost for the future of literary fiction when one man sits still for long enough to create a work of art such as John Banville's The Sea.
He uses exquisite language to clothe the sorrows of life which all sentient beings experience from time to time. His style of writing- the wonder, the genius of it - brings a smile, almost a tear to the eye.
Read it with a dictionary beside you lest you lose the flavour of so many new, strange, musical-sounding words. Like good wine the book must be slowly savoured.
Congratulations too, to Eileen Battersby. She never gets it wrong and is always a pleasure to read. - Yours, etc,
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CATHLEEN BENSON, Roseacre, Dublin Road, Naas.