I can hardly believe it.This one hass taken the Booker prize.It is as boring as last years winner,The Finkler Question.Perhaps we should rename it the "boring book-er prize".There is a brutality in the story as it unfolds.There is no joy in any of these characters,only detachment and a resignation to their lot. Tony's relationship with Veronica is distinctly unpleasant.They use each other quite selfishly. There is no warmth or even a hint of love here. The question of memory arises i.e. do we alter unpleasant memories to make them more palatable.Are we unable to accept bad bits in our past? The final section is cleverly handled,the revelation asto the parents of the child and the curse. I did not see that coming. Not until the last few paragraphs did I realise the truth.Was I correct in my conclusion or did I just "not get it ".
Liz says I read the first chapter and thought it sounded promising,but after that I found the book very unexciting.Tony Webster was an intensly boring boy/man.His life seemed so ordinary that I was suprised that anyone would want to write about it. My experience tells me that he is correct in his theory that memory is far from accurate. We manipulate it to fit what our brain prefers to think, and although this is a short book it takes a long time to tell us this. I found none of the characters engaging and the attitudes to people in care particularly unpleasant. Perhaps this is how many people live their lives but it all seems so unexciting,and lacking in enjoyment,that I hope not. Not a book I would recommend as a good read.
I am a fan of Julian Barnes, I've read quite a few of his books, and like his writing style, so was looking forward to reading this. Sense of an ending is a novel(la?) set mainly in the narrators past, reflecting and revisting events from his point of view alone. The best sections of the book for me where when Tony sees the letter he wrote 40 years before,and is shocked at how totally different it was from his previously described version - it really makes you think about how we interpret and reflect on events - perhaps to allow us to live with ourselves? The final twist saves the book really, as I became much more interested in Tony's detective efforts, and raced along to see what would unfold! I did find it hard to engage and empathise with any of the characters though, and came to the conclusion that Tony was really not a nice person at all! I think the characterisation is a bit too clinical and fails to grip the reader at times, which is why I think i struggled with the first section of the story. So far this is the best book, from a literary perspective I have read from this years selection, but I've still got another three to read! I think it would benefit from a second read as there are a lot of clues and markers in the text if you know what you are looking for I think. 7/10
I can hardly believe it.This one hass taken the Booker prize.It is as boring as last years winner,The Finkler Question.Perhaps we should rename it the "boring book-er prize".There is a brutality in the story as it unfolds.There is no joy in any of these characters,only detachment and a resignation to their lot.
ReplyDeleteTony's relationship with Veronica is distinctly unpleasant.They use each other quite selfishly. There is no warmth or even a hint of love here.
The question of memory arises i.e. do we alter unpleasant memories to make them more palatable.Are we unable to accept bad bits in our past?
The final section is cleverly handled,the revelation asto the parents of the child and the curse. I did not see that coming.
Not until the last few paragraphs did I realise the truth.Was I correct in my conclusion or did I just "not get it ".
Liz says
ReplyDeleteI read the first chapter and thought it sounded promising,but after that I found the book very unexciting.Tony Webster was an intensly boring boy/man.His life seemed so ordinary that I was suprised that anyone would want to write about it.
My experience tells me that he is correct in his theory that memory is far from accurate. We manipulate it to fit what our brain prefers to think, and although this is a short book it takes a long time to tell us this.
I found none of the characters engaging and the attitudes to people in care particularly unpleasant.
Perhaps this is how many people live their lives but it all seems so unexciting,and lacking in enjoyment,that I hope not.
Not a book I would recommend as a good read.
I am a fan of Julian Barnes, I've read quite a few of his books, and like his writing style, so was looking forward to reading this.
ReplyDeleteSense of an ending is a novel(la?) set mainly in the narrators past, reflecting and revisting events from his point of view alone.
The best sections of the book for me where when Tony sees the letter he wrote 40 years before,and is shocked at how totally different it was from his previously described version - it really makes you think about how we interpret and reflect on events - perhaps to allow us to live with ourselves?
The final twist saves the book really, as I became much more interested in Tony's detective efforts, and raced along to see what would unfold!
I did find it hard to engage and empathise with any of the characters though, and came to the conclusion that Tony was really not a nice person at all! I think the characterisation is a bit too clinical and fails to grip the reader at times, which is why I think i struggled with the first section of the story.
So far this is the best book, from a literary perspective I have read from this years selection, but I've still got another three to read! I think it would benefit from a second read as there are a lot of clues and markers in the text if you know what you are looking for I think.
7/10