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The book of evidence
John Banville
1989 · Literary fiction
How it reads
The book of evidence is literary fiction (confessional psychological fiction, specifically), and its dominant mood is melancholy. It's quietly sad, wistful and reflective. It's a slow burn: character-driven, with a payoff that comes from accumulation rather than twists. It rewards attention and suits unhurried reading more than five-minute gaps.
It's set in several locations, in the recent past, told in the first person by a single narrator. Its central concerns are identity, loss and grief and secrets. In weight it's heavy and literary — denser, more serious, and more demanding of you.
It stands alone, so there's nothing else you need to read first or after. The ending is left open, for you to argue about. It's well known, the kind of book most keen readers have heard of.
Pick it up if…
- you're in the mood for something melancholy
- you have time to settle in
- you want something to chew on
Maybe not if…
- you need something funny or hopeful
- you're reading in five-minute gaps
All 15 dimensions
- Genre
- literary fiction
- Author gender
- male
- Author experience
- prolific veteran
- Setting: place
- multiple locations
- Setting: time
- recent past
- Mood / feeling
- melancholy
- Pace
- slow burn
- Tone / weight
- heavy and literary
- Length
- medium
- Narrative style
- first person, one narrator
- Publication era
- modern classic
- Popularity
- well known
- Series vs standalone
- standalone
- Themes
- identity, loss and grief, secrets
- Ending style
- ambiguous
What these mean: the 15 dimensions of a book.
Books with a similar reading
The closest books in Match Book's catalogue across the same dimensions, and what they share.
The Anna PapersEllen GilchristShares: literary fiction, melancholy mood, heavy and literary tone, slow burn
She’s Come UndoneWally LambShares: literary fiction, melancholy mood, heavy and literary tone, slow burn- SolenoidMircea CărtărescuShares: literary fiction, melancholy mood, heavy and literary tone, slow burn
White OleanderJanet FitchShares: literary fiction, melancholy mood, heavy and literary tone, set in multiple locations
Last ThingsJenny OffillShares: literary fiction, melancholy mood, heavy and literary tone, slow burn
Our Wives Under the SeaJulia ArmfieldShares: literary fiction, melancholy mood, heavy and literary tone, slow burn
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