MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - Literary The Untouchable by John Banville

Bookpossum · 01-20-2016, 06:55 AM

I have just managed to finish this, having taken far too long over it for various reasons, not least our adopting a dog last week!

I enjoyed it very much indeed. I really liked Banville's writing style and I thought the ending was terrific.

I find it hard to get my mind around the apparent fact that these men could go on spying for the USSR when they knew the dreadful things that were happening under Stalin, and the terrible fate that awaited those who were summoned to return after some blunder, real or perceived.

I understand how they could get pulled in back in the 1930s with fascism on the rise and their own country standing by and doing nothing, when the ideals of Communism sounded so wonderful to a socialist. But to have even a slight idea of the horrors being perpetrated and to continue to support the system? It is beyond my comprehension.

01-20-2016, 06:55 AM	#19
Bookpossum Snoozing in the sun Posts: 10,146 Karma: 115423645 Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: Melbourne, Australia Device: iPad Mini, Kobo Touch	I have just managed to finish this, having taken far too long over it for various reasons, not least our adopting a dog last week! I enjoyed it very much indeed. I really liked Banville's writing style and I thought the ending was terrific. I find it hard to get my mind around the apparent fact that these men could go on spying for the USSR when they knew the dreadful things that were happening under Stalin, and the terrible fate that awaited those who were summoned to return after some blunder, real or perceived. I understand how they could get pulled in back in the 1930s with fascism on the rise and their own country standing by and doing nothing, when the ideals of Communism sounded so wonderful to a socialist. But to have even a slight idea of the horrors being perpetrated and to continue to support the system? It is beyond my comprehension.