''Ancient Light'' is a 2012 novel by

John Banville William John Banville (born 8 December 1945) is an Irish novelist, short story writer, Literary adaptation, adapter of dramas and screenwriter. Though he has been described as "the heir to Marcel Proust, Proust, via Vladimir Nabokov, Nabokov", ...

. First published on 7 July 2012, the novel concludes a trilogy concerning Alexander Cleave and his daughter, Cass. ''

Eclipse An eclipse is an astronomical event which occurs when an astronomical object or spacecraft is temporarily obscured, by passing into the shadow of another body or by having another body pass between it and the viewer. This alignment of three ...

'' (2000) and ''

Shroud Shroud usually refers to an item, such as a cloth, that covers or protects some other object. The term is most often used in reference to ''burial sheets'', mound shroud, grave clothes, winding-cloths or winding-sheets, such as the Jewish '' ...

'' (2002) were ''Ancient Lights literary predecessors in the Banville canon. Banville dedicated ''Ancient Light'' to the literary editor

Caroline Walsh Caroline may refer to: People * Caroline (singer) (born 1981), Japanese glitch pop musician * Caroline (given name), a feminine given name * J. C. Caroline (1933–2017), American football player * Jamie Caroline (born 1999), British racing driv ...

, whose recent sudden death had left him devastated.

Plot and themes

''Ancient Light'' is narrated by Alexander Cleave, a 60-something year-old retired actor, and takes place 10 years after the death of his daughter Cass in ''Eclipse''. Cleave begins to record his memories of a first, unlikely affair he had at age 15 with Mrs Gray, a married woman 20 years his senior. "Billy Gray was my best friend and I fell in love with his mother." The book moves between memories of this affair and his current state of grief he shares with his wife Lydia, touching on themes of family, love, grief, and the reliability of memory. His solitude is interrupted by an offer to play the lead in a film entitled ''The Invention of the Past''. The film is to be based on the life of literary theorist Axel Vander, the man with Cass when she killed herself in Italy. On the set Cleave bonds with Dawn Devonport, an emotionally fragile young ingenue mourning the death of her father. As Cleave continues to narrate his past relationship with Mrs Gray to its inevitable conclusion, the father-daughter relationship grows between him and Dawn.

Reception

Critical reception for ''Ancient Light'' was primarily positive, with a reviewer for UK newspaper ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'' calling it a "luminous, breathtaking work." ''

Culture Critic Culture ( ) is a concept that encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, customs, capabilities, attitudes, and habits of the individuals in these groups ...

'' assessed critical response as an aggregated score of 78% based on British press reviews. Critics for ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' also reviewed ''Ancient Light'', with Tim Adams praising Banville's themes and "cleverness", while

Alex Clark Alex Clark may refer to: * Alex Clark (baseball), American baseball player * Alex Clark (journalist), British literary journalist * Alex Clark (politician) (1916–1991), American politician * Alex Clark (squash player) (born 1987), Scottish squash ...

praised the dual narrative as "disorienting". UK newspaper ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...

'' gave the book three out of five stars, writing that it is "notably, though for the most part seamlessly, light-fingered – strings of

Yes Yes or YES may refer to: * An affirmative particle in the English language; see yes and no Education * YES Prep Public Schools, Houston, Texas, US * Young Eisner Scholars, in Los Angeles, New York City, Chicago, and Appalachia, US * Young Ep ...

es from ''

Ulysses Ulysses is the Latin name for Odysseus, a legendary Greek hero recognized for his intelligence and cunning. He is famous for his long, adventurous journey home to Ithaca after the Trojan War, as narrated in Homer's Odyssey. Ulysses may also refer ...

'', bits of

Eliot Elliot (also spelled Eliot, Elliotte, Elliott, Eliott and Elyot) is a personal name which can serve as either a surname or a given name. Although the given name has historically been given to males, females have increasingly been given the name ...

, a hazel wood from

Yeats William Butler Yeats (, 13 June 186528 January 1939), popularly known as W. B. Yeats, was an Irish poet, dramatist, writer, and literary critic who was one of the foremost figures of 20th-century literature. He was a driving force behind the ...

, a lovely quote from

Leopardi Count Giacomo Taldegardo Francesco di Sales Saverio Pietro Leopardi (29 June 1798 – 14 June 1837) was an Italian philosopher, poet, essayist, and philologist. Considered the greatest Italian poet of the 19th century and one of the greatest a ...

". ''

The Harvard Crimson ''The Harvard Crimson'' is the student newspaper at Harvard University, an Ivy League university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. The newspaper was founded in 1873, and is run entirely by Harvard College undergraduate students. His ...

'' stated that ' e major weakness of "Ancient Light," however, lies is not in its moments of gimmickry but in its vagueness'. The writer

Colm Tóibín Colm Tóibín ( , ; born 30 May 1955) is an Irish novelist, short story writer, essayist, journalist, critic, playwright and poet. His first novel, ''The South (novel), The South'', was published in 1990. ''The Blackwater Lightship'' was short ...

named ''Ancient Light'' as one of his books of the year. ''Ancient Light'' won in the Novel category at the 2012

Irish Book Awards The Irish Book Awards are Irish literary awards given annually to books and authors in various categories. It is the only literary award supported by all-Irish bookstores. The primary sponsor is An Post, the state owned postal service in Ireland ...

Artwork

The cover photograph of a man and a woman dancing in a kitchen was taken by

Elliott Erwitt Elliott Erwitt (born Elio Romano Erwitz, July 26, 1928 – November 29, 2023) was a French-born American advertising and documentary photographer known for his black and white candid photos of ironic and absurd situations within everyday setti ...

and is titled "Spain, Valencia, 1952, Robert and Mary Frank". Andrew Winer also used the photograph for the book cover of ''The Marriage Artist'' (2010, Henry Holt & Company) and

Mark Knopfler Mark Freuder Knopfler OBE (born 12 August 1949) is a British musician. He was the lead guitarist, singer and songwriter of the rock band Dire Straits from 1977 to 1995, and he is the one of the two members who stayed during the band's existence ...

used it for the album ''

The Ragpicker's Dream ''The Ragpicker's Dream'' is the third solo studio album by British singer-songwriter and guitarist Mark Knopfler, released on 30 September 2002 by Mercury Records internationally, and by Warner Bros. Records in the United States. The album receiv ...

''.

References

{{John Banville 2012 Irish novels Novels by John Banville Viking Press books