Julian Barnes

[Patrick R]

I just read Levels of Life, Julian Barnes' memoir about his wife's death and grief. It's a three part book, and the first two parts make up about half the book and are pieces of historical fiction (maybe? Real people, but plays out dramatically more like fiction than non-fiction) about the history of ballooning and a romance between a great French actress and an English explorer. The conceit that these stories play out as metaphors of the grieving process is more interesting in theory than practice. Finely written on their own, but they do very little to illuminate the second half of the book where Barnes speaks more bluntly about the grieving process, outside providing a handful of images to refer back to.

 

But the Barnes' whose ruminations on memory and time made The Sense of an Ending such a joy to read is in full force in the second half, and it's the first time I've read anything about grief that takes an explicitly non-religious non-afterlife approach. I too believe that there is no grand meaning to death, and it was refreshing and reassuring to read about that pain from someone who feels the same. I know when my parents die everyone is going to frame everything around being "in a better place" and it's gonna really suck.

[Patrick R]

On a Julian Barnes kick, so I just finished his latest novel The Noise of Time, a historical fiction about the life of Russian Composer Dmitri Shostakovich, as explored through three time periods in his life where he was challenged by powers that be and how they wore hm down. Typically great writing and definitely in the contemplative style of The Sense of an Ending, with a little thematic overlap as well. Certainly bracing to read about the life of artists under fascism now.

 

I don't know anything about the history of life under Stalin or even Shostakovich (despite the fact that he's one of the most famous composers of the 20th century, I never heard of him before) so I can't speak to it's accuracy (though there's an epilogue where Barnes lays out all his sources) but I'd highly recommend it if you like The Sense of an Ending.

[agorman]

Other than The Sense of an Ending, the only other book I've ready by Barnes is England, England. These two novels also share a fair amount of thematic content, but England, England explores how we revise our history on a more macro scale than Sense of an Ending does. 

I'm curious if people who have more read more of Barnes find this thematic through line in most of his work, or if I'm just looking at a small sample size of his work here.

[Patrick R]

I just finished my fourth Julian Barnes book and I think he's my favorite author now? I don't think I'm well-read enough for that statement to mean that much and I don't think his books are the best I've ever read. It's that his style and point of view really really resonate with me. The Sense of an Ending was a life-changing book (not necessarily for the better, as the main way it changed my life is that I dwell on awful things I did as a child with a lot of my free-time) and I've found each subsequent one to be just as insightful, if not always as good.

 

So I figured I'm in this for the long haul and instead of posting all my Julian Barnes thoughts into the Books Books Books section I can start a new thread to collect them and encourage others to read his books. 

 

Previous posts about Barnes:

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I just read Levels of Life, Julian Barnes' memoir about his wife's death and grief. It's a three part book, and the first two parts make up about half the book and are pieces of historical fiction (maybe? Real people, but plays out dramatically more like fiction than non-fiction) about the history of ballooning and a romance between a great French actress and an English explorer. The conceit that these stories play out as metaphors of the grieving process is more interesting in theory than practice. Finely written on their own, but they do very little to illuminate the second half of the book where Barnes speaks more bluntly about the grieving process, outside providing a handful of images to refer back to.

 

But the Barnes' whose ruminations on memory and time made The Sense of an Ending such a joy to read is in full force in the second half, and it's the first time I've read anything about grief that takes an explicitly non-religious non-afterlife approach. I too believe that there is no grand meaning to death, and it was refreshing and reassuring to read about that pain from someone who feels the same. I know when my parents die everyone is going to frame everything around being "in a better place" and it's gonna really suck.

 

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On a Julian Barnes kick, so I just finished his latest novel The Noise of Time, a historical fiction about the life of Russian Composer Dmitri Shostakovich, as explored through three time periods in his life where he was challenged by powers that be and how they wore hm down. Typically great writing and definitely in the contemplative style of The Sense of an Ending, with a little thematic overlap as well. Certainly bracing to read about the life of artists under fascism now.

 

I don't know anything about the history of life under Stalin or even Shostakovich (despite the fact that he's one of the most famous composers of the 20th century, I never heard of him before) so I can't speak to it's accuracy (though there's an epilogue where Barnes lays out all his sources) but I'd highly recommend it if you like The Sense of an Ending.

 

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And now, the book I just finished, A History of the World in 10 1/2 Chapters, his short story collection. Despite being 11 discreet stories (one of which is an essay about the nature of love he calls "Paranthesis" and refuses to number, but it's one of my favorites) it shares a lot of the same qualities of his complete novels, where he establishes premises in one story that become a metaphor in the next and continues to build. The first story, "The Stowaway", tells the story of Noah's Ark as told through the eyes of a woodworm that stowed away (Noah didn't include a lot of animals he thought unworthy), and while Noah's Ark jokes are kind of corny and old hat for me, it serves as the bedrock of metaphor and the Noah's ark imagery continues through the whole book.

 

I spent too long reading this (about 3 weeks) and had too much time in between stories to pick up any real thematic links, but they were all good to great. My favorites were "Paranthesis", "The Visitors", "Shipwreck", "Upstream!", and "The Dream". They range in tense, tone and approach but all share his wry humor and insight. I'd definitely recommend this.

[xchen]

On 4/6/2017 at 3:06 PM, Patrick R said:

The Sense of an Ending

 

Picked this up at the library yesterday on your recommendation. Will report back!

[osmosisch]

8 hours ago, xchen said:

 

Picked this up at the library yesterday on your recommendation. Will report back!

Don't forget to listen to the idle book club episode when you're done as well

[Patrick R]

There's Nothing To Be Afraid Of, Julian Barnes' non-fiction book about mortality, is a play on words. What about death is there to fear? Nothingness.

 

I tend to prefer when Barnes mixes his ruminative approach with fiction, but I definitely liked this book. Barnes is absolutely inconsolable about his own mortality. This is the only book I've read that refuses to force an optimistic look on death, and as such (like the passages on grief in Levels of Life) it somehow made me feel much better than anything else I've read about death. I tend to feel like people who talk about not being afraid of death are Martians. Or make me feel like one.

 

Anyway, if you like Barnes' style, and are interested in the subject of mortality and faith (or lack thereof) as explored through the lives of him and many classic artists and composers he's researched, There's Nothing To Be Afraid Of is worth checking out.

[xchen]

14 hours ago, osmosisch said:

Don't forget to listen to the idle book club episode when you're done as well

 

Thanks! Didn't realize there was one. Will be sure to give it a listen!

[Chris]

I was in London recently and saw a ton of ads for a new film based on The Sense of An Ending, which I have never seen advertised at all in the US and had no idea existed. Anyone seen it or heard anything positive?

[Patrick R]

It played a very limited run in America and is coming to video June 6th. Apparently the story didn't translate too well, and basically features no voice-over which, while usually a thing I applaud in book adaptations, removes one of the most defining aspects of the novel. I personally have trouble imagining how the story even plays without the subjective point of view, and fear that it'll mostly just be alternating between the flashbacks of the first part and the present tense of the second part. Maybe that could work anyway, but it'd have to be a very different thing, I think.

 

My video store is getting it and I'll definitely be checking it out, if only because I think Jim Broadbent as Tony is really great casting.

 

EDIT: Got the DVD release date wrong. Fixed it.

[xchen]

So I finished the Sense of an Ending and it definitely resonated with me (as someone who was a total shit in the past).  What should I read next?

[Patrick R]

I haven't read them, but I believe his highest acclaimed books after The Sense of an Ending have been Flaubert's Parrot, England, England, and Arthur and George. At the very least, all three were shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize that The Sense of an Ending won.

 

Of what I've read, I'd either recommend A History of the World in 10 1/2 Chapters or The Noise of Time. The former, as a collection of short stories, shows off his range a bit more while the latter follows a similar path and tone to The Sense of an Ending.

[osmosisch]

I found Levels of Life to be very good. One of the most accurate accounts of what love and loss feels like, to me.