Quotes from John Banville

There was something studied about this hesitancy, something theatrical. Again, I understand. A doctor must be as good an actor as physician.

Hay momentos en que el pasado posee una fuerza tan poderosa que parece que podría aniquilarte

have the impression, and I credit it, that in certain cases a union is no sooner forged than the seed of separation sprouts.

The daylight too is strange, even outside, in the yard, as if something has happened to it, as if something has been done to it, before it is allowed to reach us. It has an acid, lemony cast, and comes in two intensities: either it is not enough to see by or it sears the sight. Of the various kinds of darkness I shall not speak.

Good manners were a part of his inheritance, like left-handedness or hemophilia.

We're constantly losing - we're losing time, we're losing ourselves. I don't feel for the things I lost.

With the crime novels, its delightful to have protagonists I can revisit in book after book. Its like having a fictitious family.

I have this fantasy. I'm walking past a bookshop and I click my fingers and all my books go blank. So I can start again and get it right.