The Untouchable (SIGNED)
Condition: SECONDHAND
This is a secondhand book. The jacket image is a photograph of the exact copy we have in stock. This image shows the condition of this book. Further condition remarks are below.
Edition: 1st ed., 1st pr.,
Condition remarks:
Book: Very good
Jacket: Very good
Pages: Good
Markings: No markings
A masterwork of literary fiction, The Untouchable chronicles the final confessions of Victor Maskell, a fictional amalgam of the real-life Cambridge spies, as he reflects on a lifetime of betrayal, duplicity, and hidden identity in post-war Britain. Narrated with cold, elegant precision, the novel uncovers the psychological architecture of a man who sold secrets to the Soviets while moving effortlessly through the highest echelons of English society — art historian, aesthete, and traitor. Banville constructs Maskell's voice with devastating irony, illustrating how the performance of loyalty and the performance of self become indistinguishable for a man whose entire existence is a carefully maintained lie. The tone is cerebral and deeply melancholic, suffused with the bitter wit of a man who has outlived his own secrets and now faces the indignity of public exposure. Rich with allusions to art, class, and the moral ambiguities of the Cold War era, The Untouchable stands as one of the most psychologically penetrating spy novels ever written.
Author: John Banville
Format: Hardback
Published: 1997, Picador
Genre: Modern fiction
Edition: 1st ed., 1st pr.,
Condition remarks:
Book: Very good
Jacket: Very good
Pages: Good
Markings: No markings
A masterwork of literary fiction, The Untouchable chronicles the final confessions of Victor Maskell, a fictional amalgam of the real-life Cambridge spies, as he reflects on a lifetime of betrayal, duplicity, and hidden identity in post-war Britain. Narrated with cold, elegant precision, the novel uncovers the psychological architecture of a man who sold secrets to the Soviets while moving effortlessly through the highest echelons of English society — art historian, aesthete, and traitor. Banville constructs Maskell's voice with devastating irony, illustrating how the performance of loyalty and the performance of self become indistinguishable for a man whose entire existence is a carefully maintained lie. The tone is cerebral and deeply melancholic, suffused with the bitter wit of a man who has outlived his own secrets and now faces the indignity of public exposure. Rich with allusions to art, class, and the moral ambiguities of the Cold War era, The Untouchable stands as one of the most psychologically penetrating spy novels ever written.