The Sea

The Sea, written by the Irish novelist John Banville, won the 2005 Man Booker Prize. Kazuo Ishiguro’s Never Let Me Go was among the shortlisted works that year.

Banville is often praised as a master of language, yet this novel is extremely challenging for English learners. I read it twice a few years ago, and although the plot is simple and the action minimal, I still found it difficult on this third reading.

The narrator, Max Morden, is a retired art historian whose wife has recently died of cancer. He returns with his daughter Claire to a seaside resort village. The dilapidated guest house where he stays was once called the Cedars. Fifty years earlier, the Grace family had rented it as a summer villa. The current housekeeper, Ms. Vavasour, now runs the place.

…… And my life is changed forever. ……

Half a century earlier, Max’s family spent their summers in the same village, renting a shabby cottage. One day, young Max encounters the Graces, a wealthy family also vacationing there. The family consists of Mr. and Mrs. Grace, their twins Chloe and Myles, and the governess Rose. Myles has been mute since birth. At first, Max becomes infatuated with the elegant Mrs. Grace, but soon he falls for the selfish, precocious Chloe.

Rose is often teased and tormented by the twins. Max once overhears what he believes is Rose tearfully confessing her love for Mr. Grace to Mrs. Grace. (In fact, he has misunderstood the scene.) He repeats this to Chloe, who becomes offended.

That same day, in a shabby beach hut, Chloe allows Max to touch her thigh and kiss her. Suddenly the door opens—Rose is standing there. Chloe bolts from the hut and runs toward the sea, with Myles following her.

The novel weaves together the pains of childhood, the confusion of sexual awakening, Max’s fragile love for Chloe, his memories of Anna, and the shock of sudden death. His narration slips seamlessly between past and present.

…… “You live in the past,” Claire says. ……

In the final pages, Max goes alone to the beach at night with a bottle of brandy. He drinks until he nearly kills himself. Only then do we learn that Ms. Vavasour is, in fact, Rose.

 

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