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Summary
Ancient mystery elements X modern human evil, perfectly combined!
1957: a parish priest dies mysteriously in the ancestral home of the enigmatic Osborne family.
Inspector St. John Strafford is sent from Dublin to investigate. A blizzard rages, and the locals keep their mouths shut. Despite all obstacles, he is determined to find the killer. As his investigation deepens, he discovers that the Osborne family is hiding unspeakable secrets...
Booker Prize winner John Banville takes a classic suspense structure and crafts a finely wrought novel that erases the boundary between literary fiction and crime fiction, impossible to put down.
Editor's review
Who it's for
A good fit for
- Readers of crime fiction who value both literary quality and suspense
- Mystery fans who prefer classic country-house, closed-circle structures
- Literary fiction readers who appreciate cold atmosphere and delicate psychological description
- New readers who want an introduction to Banville's narrative style
Not a good fit for
- Readers of fast-paced thrillers seeking intense twists and quick solutions
- Readers hoping for abundant action scenes or police-procedural ensemble casts
- Readers impatient with slow buildup and atmospheric description
Reading tips
- Choose a quiet time to read the first few chapters continuously and enter the closed-in atmosphere of the snowbound house
- Watch for contradictions in what family members and residents say, and jot down relationships as you go
- Do not rush to guess the killer; follow the inspector's investigative rhythm and experience the suspense
- After finishing, revisit the environmental descriptions in key scenes to see how atmosphere serves the theme of human nature
About the publisher
Hunan Literature and Art Publishing House is a publisher known for its literary titles, with a catalogue spanning foreign literature, world classics, classical Chinese literature, essays and miscellaneous writings, and mystery and detective fiction. Judging from the more than 1,100 books in the database, the press publishes foreign classics such as Crime and Punishment, Snow Country, The Complete Sherlock Holmes and Letter from an Unknown Woman, as well as Chinese classical and modern literary works including Lu Xun's Wandering and A Madman's Diary and Wu Jingzi's The Scholars. In terms of translators and authors, translations by Cao Guowei and Tan Jinghua appear in its foreign literature titles, and the authors involved include Dostoevsky, Kawabata Yasunari, Conan Doyle and Zweig. Its publishing character lies in introducing Chinese and foreign literary classics side by side, balancing popular and serious works and attending to both readability and literary value. Public information is limited; the above is a brief overview based solely on the books in the database.
Contents
- 版权信息
- 1957年冬（上）
- 1957年冬（下）
- 1947年夏
- 1957年冬
- 尾声 1967年夏
FAQ
Is there a strong detective element in this book?
Can I read it without having read other works by Banville?
Why is it said to blur the boundary between literary fiction and crime fiction?
Is it suitable for reading alone late at night?
Comments
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About the author
John Banville is a writer known for works of foreign literature, and his books are classified under foreign literature in Chinese reading circles. The library currently holds eight of his works, including the six-volume John Banville Collection and individual titles such as Kepler, Doctor Copernicus, The Newton Letter, Birchwood, Daydream, Mephisto, and Snow. These titles suggest that his writing often centers on figures from the history of science, the inner lives of intellectuals, and themes with a speculative bent, with narratives that combine literary quality and conceptual reflection. Because public information is limited, details of his life, nationality, and dates of birth and death cannot be confirmed here; this introduction outlines his creative profile based only on the works in the library, for readers' reference.
Publicly available information about Wang Xiaoying is limited, and the existing sources are not enough to confirm her nationality, dates of birth and death, or personal background. Judging from the eight titles held in the collection, her editorial and translation work mainly covers two areas: foreign literature and modern poetry. Representative works include the complete four-volume set of Ali Smith's Seasonal Quartet, as well as individual volumes such as Autumn, Winter, and White Sand, which shows a sustained interest in contemporary English-language literature, especially narrative works organized around seasons and nature. In addition, the reading assessment guide to Ai Qing's poetry belongs to the category of modern-poetry reading and evaluation materials, while The God of War and The Mistress of the Ritz touch on other foreign-literary subjects. Overall, her work leans toward title selection, translation and introduction, and reading promotion rather than personal creative writing.
