Each of these essays fulfils Raymond Carver's criterion for the short story: to leave the reader's body temperature a degree higher or lower than when the book was opened

Shows how seriously he took the task of inspiring the general reader...displays the full breadth of his learning and experience

Berlin's description of Jews in contemporary Western society is brilliant, indeed dazzling

Stunning

Takes us into the heart of the Hasidic community in New York, where two Hungarian-Romanian Jewish children orphaned during the barbarity of the Second World War are set to begin new lives

Fascinating... Offers a glimpse into the real world of Hasidic life

Outstanding novel

Using the language of the scriptures, Markovits depicts religion’s potential for both beauty and cruelty, and the inevitability of transgression even in the most devout life

The writing is stunning, the execution flawless and the plot utterly gripping (4 stars)

An unusual, beautifully written novel

A bittersweet rumination on first love ... The language soars, full of the beauty of nature and the sadness of loss

Banville perfectly captures the spirit of adolescence, the body yearning for sexual experience, the mind blurring eroticism and emotion ... Banville is a Nabokovian artist, his prose so rich, poetic and packed with startling imagery that reading it is akin to gliding regally through a lake of praline: it's a slow, stately process, delicious and to be savoured ... This is a luminous breathtaking work

Ancient Light also bears resemblance to Lolita that extend beyond the obvious hallmark ecstatic prose..different periods of his life blending into a single meditation of breathtaking beauty and profundity on love and loss and death, the final page of which brought tears.

A beautifully written tale of youthful passion

A novel about sexual awakening and the tricks that memory plays. Banville's lushly gorgeous prose enhances a mood of brooding passion in a place of secrets

A sumptuous novel. Read it for the sentences and smarts, and for the copious sexy parts

Everything I want from a love story: sexy, convincing, baffling, funny, sad and unforgettable

Banville's exquisitely written novel unravels the deceptions of memory with wit and pathos