Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Unavailable
    Ancient Light
    Unavailable
    Ancient Light
    Unavailable
    Ancient Light
    Audiobook9 hours

    Ancient Light

    Written by John Banville

    Narrated by Robin Sachs

    4/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    The Man Booker Prize-winning author of The Sea gives us a brilliant, profoundly moving new novel about an actor in the twilight of his life and his career: a meditation on love and loss, and on the inscrutable immediacy of the past in our present lives.

    Is there any difference between memory and invention? That is the question that fuels this stunning novel, written with the depth of character, the clarifying lyricism and the sly humor that have marked all of John Banville's extraordinary works. And it is the question that haunts Alexander Cleave, an actor in the twilight of his career and of his life, as he plumbs the memories of his first-and perhaps only-love (he, fifteen years old, the woman more than twice his age, the mother of his best friend; the situation impossible, thrilling, devouring and finally devastating) . . . and of his daughter, lost to a kind of madness of mind and heart that Cleave can only fail to understand. When his dormant acting career is suddenly, inexplicably revived with a movie role portraying a man who may not be who he says he is, his young leading lady-famous and fragile-unwittingly gives him the opportunity to see with aching clarity the "chasm that yawns between the doing of a thing and the recollection of what was done."

    Ancient Light is a profoundly moving meditation on love and loss, on the inscrutable immediacy of the past in our present lives, on how invention shapes memory and memory shapes the man. It is a book of spellbinding power and pathos from one of the greatest masters of prose at work today.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPenguin Random House Audio
    Release dateOct 2, 2012
    ISBN9780449013434
    Unavailable
    Ancient Light
    Author

    John Banville

    John Banville was born in Wexford, Ireland, in 1945. He is the author of many highly acclaimed and prize-winning novels including The Sea, which won the 2005 Booker Prize. He has been awarded the Franz Kafka Prize and a literary award from the Lannan Foundation. He lives in Dublin.

    More audiobooks from John Banville

    Related to Ancient Light

    Related audiobooks

    Romance For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Must-Read Poetry: August 2017

      Aug 7, 2017

      This is a book to share, a poetic window into someone “standing in line / behind you / the girl you’re pretending not to notice.” The post Must-Read Poetry: August 2017 appeared first on The Millions.

      7 min read

    • Article

      Books

      Dec 19, 2022

      Books
      10 min read

    • Article

      Five Books We Missed in 2015

      Dec 15, 2015

      Five Books We Missed in 2015
      9 min read

    • Article

      Holiday Reads By The Recently Departed

      Jul 27, 2023

      FOR THIS YEAR’S HOLIDAY READING special — where The Critic suggests some older fiction that might more profitably fill your beach-y or gîte-y afternoons than the latest screamers from the bestseller lists — the theme is, well, death in summer. We off

      6 min read

    • Article

      The Magic Of Being Out Of Touch: Ignorance As The Last Stand Of Romanticism

      Oct 18, 2018

      Why did America put Franz Kafka in such a good mood? As his friend Max Brod remembered, Kafka worked on his ultimately unfinished novel about the U.S. with “unending delight,” a noteworthy state for someone much more likely to be brooding about the b

      5 min read

    • Article

      Satire, Sci-fi And A Sting In The Tale

      Nov 30, 2023

      A BOOKISH FRIEND SAID TO ME recently, “It’s been a terrible year for books.” Well, up to a point. The sheer volume of new novels, together with the difficulty of seeing through the thickets of bandwagonesque trendcentred publishing, mean it’s easy to

      5 min read

    • Article

      After the Flood

      Dec 31, 2022

      Though the book was delivered to me for review as a PDF version, I ran right out and bought a physical copy. It’s that kind of book—it needs to be held in the hands, smelled, listened to. This slender hardback is a reprint, produced with care on the

      2 min read

    • Article

      Tuesday New Release Day: Starring James, Li, Wang, McCracken, Bolaño, and More

      Feb 5, 2019

      Here’s a quick look at some notable books—new titles from the likes of Marlon James, Yiyun Li, Esmé Weijun Wang, Elizabeth McCracken, Roberto Bolaño, and more—that are publishing this week. Want to learn more about upcoming titles? Then go read our m

      10 min read

    • Article

      Books Of The Month

      Feb 9, 2024

      By John Cooper Clarke A big-hearted poet of boundless humour and unmistakable style, Clarke has written some of the catchiest contemporary ballads about social injustice. Many poems in WHAT satirise modern dysfunctional Britain with deadly wit. In Cl

      2 min read

    • Article

      Prophet And Loss

      Apr 29, 2022

      Prophet And Loss
      3 min read

    • Article

      Poem Of The Week: Simulacrum By Oluwaseun Olayiwola

      Mar 20, 2023

      There wasn’t love but there was what love becomes —(sheet-wrinkle.) (skin-dune.) (Arm-ropes lassoingour neck-flesh with push-and-pull —, equal amounts;the hurt convincing its shape is false, the relation:the recorded moment (he likes to record) (to r

      3 min read

    • Article

      László Krasznahorkai Comes Home

      Aug 28, 2019

      The Hungarian master's novel cycle culminates with a fourth book full of manic humor that also happens to be precisely the book we need right now. The post László Krasznahorkai Comes Home appeared first on The Millions.

      4 min read

    • Article

      Two Portraits Of Troubled Art Scholars

      Jan 26, 2023

      WHAT IS THE POINT OF ART history? Today, like the clergy in the nineteenth century, it seems fit only for heirs and spares and to while away the time until you snag a Royal. This wasn’t always the case, of course. It was only 50 years ago that John B

      3 min read

    Reviews for Ancient Light

    4/5

    166 ratings15 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 4/5
      It's been a long time since I read any of Asimov's short stories. In fact, it's been a long time since I read any Asimov. I don't remember noticing before how traditional Asimov was in assigning roles to men and women. Maybe he did and I just wasn't as tuned in as I am now. Or maybe he had his consciousness raised by the time I started reading his work. At any rate, I probably would have rated this book higher if it wasn't for the fact that women played a very subordinate role in 8 out of the 9 stories and in the one where a woman was the main character, The Ugly Little Boy, she is a nurse. I know that these stories were all written in the 1950's and therefore they are a product of their time but a person as talented as Dr. Asimov surely could have foreseen that women were capable of working in any field. Even in the 1950s there were women scientists and doctors and computer programmers and they weren't all freaks or man-haters. I did a Google search for "Isaac Asimov" and "women's roles" and found this list of his essays which seem to show that by the 1970s Asimov was actively supporting the women's movement and equality for women. That makes me feel better but I still felt his male-centered stories in this book marred my enjoyment. That said, I think my favourite story was the first, "Profession", which posits a future where people are chosen for their adult jobs by their brain patterns and they are trained for those positions by having tapes downloaded to their brains. They are not able to handle new advances in their field as they never take any more training or do any further reading. George Platen did not get chosen for any profession when he turned 18 and he is stuck in a home while his friends compete in the Olympics for the best jobs. And yet Platen isn't stupid, he can read and think. What will happen to him? The answer is vintage science fiction.
    • 3/5
      Review courtesy of Dark Faerie TalesQuick & Dirty: This reincarnation paranormal falls back on insta-love and a lot of backstory to explain the novel, while Brendan and Emma wait for the other shoe to drop on their tragic romance. Opening Sentence: It’s always embarrassing to have someone take you to school. The Review: The story begins with Emma starting the semester late at Vincent Academy, one of New York City’s exclusive and snobby prep schools. She’s moved in with her aunt because of her step-dad and a horrible accident that turned into a press-attention nightmare. To say Emma is not thrilled to be going to school with the Blue Bloods of NYC is putting it mildly. Part of it, I think, is because she hates to be a burden to her aunt. The rest of it is because these socialites-in-training are party-harder snobs with more money than sense. Emma begins to have strange dreams. Dreams where her dead twin brother Ethan is warning her to stay away, but Emma can’t figure out what. She does know that these dreams are vivid and real and that in all of them she dies. Strange, different deaths, but her brother is always there trying to protect her. Then there’s Brendan Salinger. He’s the hottest boy in school — and the most untouchable. Everyone knows he hates Vincent Academy and his fellow students — a classic bad boy who always look like he just rolled out of bed. (But actually more attractive than real boys who have just rolled out of bed.) Brendan is the most attractive boy she’s ever seen — and after a great night at a concert he refuses to acknowledge her existence. Not that he doesn’t know she exists. He ignores her, deliberately and without provocation. It isn’t long before Emma realizes there is more to Brendan — more to Brendan and her than meets the eye. If they are going to have half a chance of surviving what’s coming, he needs to stop playing hot-and-cold. The largest problem I had with Spellbound was the massive amount of exposition and info-dumping the author used to set up the story and explain every situation. If that’s not the sort of thing that bothers you, then Brendan and Emma’s romance is sure to make you swoon. For me, it seriously cut the tension and made the book lag. My other problem with this book is that Emma’s new life at Vincent Academy is based completely on the idea that her friends aren’t going to Google her. Now, I haven’t recently googled any of my friends, but when you give a heroine an archenemy you expect that sort of underhanded tactic. I let it slide because this book is populated mostly with stock characters and the focus is solely on Emma. Hopefully, Vincent Academy will become more fleshed out with the sequel, so I can fall in love with characters other than Brendan. (He’s pretty hot. And filled with angst.) I’m very intrigued with where the series is going, because I think it’ll be in a direction very different from what I first thought. Spellbound could easily have been a stand-alone novel. This makes me worried about what Shultz is going to put Brendan and Emma through in the next installment! Notable Scene: Wordlessly, Brendan bit his bottom lip and a mischievous look crossed his handsome features. He quickly reached out his hand and grabbed my kneecap, pinching it between his thumb and forefinger. “Hey!” I yelled. I wasn’t hurt–just surprised. I flicked my pen at him. It bounced off his shoulder and he laughed. “Tsk, tsk, Emma,” Brendan admonished, wagging a finger at me. “Starting another fight. Has anyone ever told you that you’re an instigator?” Before I could reply, he leaned in and in a low voice, said, “By the way, I’m out tomorrow, and leaving school right at lunch, so please try to not provoke any wars or attempt to take on the entire junior class.” “I was just going to fight a few freshmen,” I retorted. “I can take them. They’re little and weak.”FTC Advisory: Harlequin Teen provided me with a copy of Spellbound. No goody bags, sponsorships, “material connections,” or bribes were exchanged for my review.
    • 1/5
      After reading the Romanov Prophecy, I was quite excited to read another Berry novel. What a disappointment this one was. Unlike with the Romanov Prophecy, I was not drawn into this book and indeed I had to force myself to turn each page. Part of what turned me off was the anti-Semetic sentiment which appeared very early in the book and continued till it's end. Berry seemed to demonize Israel and Jews far more generally. As another reviewer mentioned, his story reads like a pro-Palestinian propoganda piece, even going so far as to refer to the 1948 war solely by its Arabic nickname.
    • 5/5
      In what may be one of the best collections from Isaac Asimov that I've ever read, the master of SF brings us nine extraordinary tales ranging from the dramatic to comedic to heartbreaking. Nine Tomorrows gets five stars from me."Profession" — In the future,  your ability to read is installed into your brain by a computer during childhood and your career is determined by a brain scan taken at puberty—but what happens when the results of the scan are inconclusive and the authorities determine that you are not suited for any career at all?"The Feeling of Power" — In a society where mathematical computations are handled strictly by computers, a lab technician devises a method for longhand arithmetic... with disastrous results."The Dying Night" — A science conference on Earth reunites four colleagues, some of whom have been working off-planet for many years. One of them has developed a method for instant teleportation and intends to present his discovery at the conference—until he's found dead in his hotel room."I'm in Marsport without Hilda" — A government agent arrives on Mars after an assignment and learns that his wife is unable to travel from Earth to meet him. He steals the opportunity to arrange a date with a local lady of the night, which he tries to keep even when his supervisor tasks him with another mission right there in the spaceport."The Gentle Vultures" — An alien race known as the Hurrians spends 15 years observing Earth, waiting for humanity to destroy itself in a nuclear war so that the they can takeover the planet and enslave the survivors."All the Troubles in the World" — What happens when an entire planet is managed by a single super computer that no longer wants the responsibility?"Spell My Name with an S" — At the insistence of his wife, a downtrodden nuclear physicist named Zebatinsky reluctantly visits a numerologist who suggests that by changing the first letter of his last name to an 'S,' the probablility is high that his life will improve—but not before placing him under surveillance by the federal government."The Last Question" — A super computer called Multivac spends thousands of years collecting data to answer one question that has been repeatedly put to it over the generations: Will the human race ever have the ability to restore the sun to its current state after it has died?"The Ugly Little Boy" — Miss Fellowes, a nurse, is hired on to care for a Neanderthal child that is snatched from the past into the present by a new technology developed by Stasis, Inc. By contemporary standards, the boy is considered ugly and is dubbed by the press as the "Ape-Boy." After three years, the executives of Stasis decide to send the now educated child back to his own time where he will likely perish, but Miss Fellowes has different plans.
    • 3/5
      A collection of 9 short stories about possible futures. Generally still thought-provoking and interesting, despite having been written in 1959.
    • 5/5
      “Nine tomorrows” is a collection of stories by Isaac Asimov originally published between 1956 and 1958. I’ve given the stories an average rating of 4.3. In my opinion the short story forms are ideal for sf, but a lot of what gets published fails the first test - they aren’t stories. Asimov always gives you a beginning, a middle and an end. Each piece has a central point. The best thing in the collection is “The ugly little boy”, which is about a Neanderthal child who is kidnapped into the 20th century by scientists, and the childcare nurse who they hire to look after him. It’s a pretty scathing critique on the subject of scientific ethics. Several stories deal with the future of AI, about which Asimov was amazingly prescient, given that they were written 60 years ago. The collection is a bit let down by a couple of jokey stories that were ok, but appallingly sexist(“I’m in Marsport without Hilda”) , or just too slight (“The gentle vultures”)
    • 5/5
      Amusingly dated but entirely relevant stories that explore the human condition through science fiction.
    • 3/5
      Good stories though some have not aged well.
    • 5/5
      Has "The Last Question" in, one of the greatest science fiction short stories ever.
    • 4/5
      I needed a short book to occupy my time between waiting for Phil Lesh's book about playing bass in the Grateful Dead and taking a short break from studying Greek history. This was a good choice, what could be better than nine great Asimov short stories? Some are better than others, of course, but they are all good. There is just something about speculative 1950's scifi. It makes me think of Happy Days and Star Trek at the same time.
    • 4/5
      An excellent collection of Asimov short stories that appeared in SF magazines
    • 5/5
      Nine Tomorrows is not a large collection, but it packs into its short length some of Asimov's best non-Robot short stories. Each of the nine short stories is excellent, the two poems somewhat less well done (Asimov apparently liked writing poetry, but wasn't really that good at it). The stories in this volume were written in the late 1950s, when Asimov was just finding his voice as a writer, and each one is thought provoking and enjoyable to read.Almost all of these stories are now considered to be signature Asimov works: Profession, The Ugly Little Boy, Spell My Name With an S, The Feeling of Power, All the Troubles of the World, and The Last Question. Even the weakest two (The Gentle Vultures and The Dying Night) are excellent stories (although The Dying Night relies upon what is now somewhat outdated information).Anyone looking to get a good introduction to Asimov's short fiction at its best would do well to look here first.
    • 5/5
      This nifty collection of 9 of Asimov's shorts (previously published in magazines), along with 2 short works of verse, was published in 1959. My favorites are "Profession" and 2 of Asimov's own favorites, "The Last Question" and "The Ugly Little Boy". "Profession" is a story of a bright young man, George Platen, who is a citizen in the 65th Century, where people are educated by "taping"--an instantaneous computer/brain interface. George, being different and thought feeble-minded, realizes "Somewhere there must be men and women with capacity for original thought." "The Last Question" is a story most athiests would find disturbing, I believe. It is part of the Mulitvac series. Mind blowing stuff! "The Ugly Little Boy" is a story of a Homo neanderthalensis child, his keeper, and his nurse. Great collection of work here, don't miss it!
    • 5/5
      Being older (over 50) I was amazed at how accurately Asimov predicted where computers were heading & intrigued by his visions for the future. My daughter, being younger(in her 20's), just loved the stories.
    • 5/5
      Good collection of Asimov's short stories. Most memorable is "The Last Question", where a series of generations asks the big computer, "How can entropy be reversed?"Yay Asimov!