Imagine my overwhelming surprise when I dug deep into John Banville's "Shroud" and discovered a book oozing with sumptuous prose stylings, beautifully shaped characters, sumptuous scenery, and a plot both wondrous and fulfilling. I really did not think there were writers who could sculpt a book like this anymore. Most modern "literature" consists of shallow characters, banal dialogue, and pedestrian plot lines. Not Banville, or at least not in this stupendous story about a retired university professor and literature critic named Axel Vander. "Shroud" blew away many of my dogmatic conceptions about what literature means in this era of waning attention spans and lazy readers. Perhaps it will do the same for you.