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The Sense of an Ending
Sep. 17th, 2022 08:50 pmBook Review: The Sense of an Ending, by Julian Barnes
I had debated whether to pack a second book for holiday reading, and in the end I didn't. But it became apparent that I was going to finish Hav before arriving back in the country, and so I hoped for an English language shelf somewhere. In fact there was quite a good range in a bookshop in Naples Centrale, and I picked this one up. I'd enjoyed The Noise of Time and had at least one more of his books on a to-read list somewhere.
Although quite slim, this is one of those books where every word has earned its place. Tony Webster is now retired, and whilst his memory seems clear, he admits it may not always be accurate. We are taken all the way back to his sixth-form years and friends, then through his university years and relationships. The reason for this becomes clear when a letter informs him of a bequest left to him, which causes him to attempt to get back in touch with someone from his past. The results are awkward. Tony likes to view himself as mild-mannered and middle-of-the-road and ironically, there are a few times where he refers to what fictitious characters would have done to improve the drama in a situation. Yet he doesn't let go, in a situation where surely the mundane thing to do would be to "move on". I enjoyed the perambulative writing, and there's a twist at the end which creates clever yet disturbing symmetries in the book.
I had debated whether to pack a second book for holiday reading, and in the end I didn't. But it became apparent that I was going to finish Hav before arriving back in the country, and so I hoped for an English language shelf somewhere. In fact there was quite a good range in a bookshop in Naples Centrale, and I picked this one up. I'd enjoyed The Noise of Time and had at least one more of his books on a to-read list somewhere.
Although quite slim, this is one of those books where every word has earned its place. Tony Webster is now retired, and whilst his memory seems clear, he admits it may not always be accurate. We are taken all the way back to his sixth-form years and friends, then through his university years and relationships. The reason for this becomes clear when a letter informs him of a bequest left to him, which causes him to attempt to get back in touch with someone from his past. The results are awkward. Tony likes to view himself as mild-mannered and middle-of-the-road and ironically, there are a few times where he refers to what fictitious characters would have done to improve the drama in a situation. Yet he doesn't let go, in a situation where surely the mundane thing to do would be to "move on". I enjoyed the perambulative writing, and there's a twist at the end which creates clever yet disturbing symmetries in the book.