tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4217670599100952035.post4202831049220275554..comments2024-01-23T05:10:35.472-05:00Comments on Reading, Running, and Red Sox: Review: The Sense of an Ending (Julian Barnes)gibsonmeigshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16094122509371844728noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4217670599100952035.post-46654026970950389402012-05-24T14:18:34.186-04:002012-05-24T14:18:34.186-04:00just got to reading this one... i almost read it ...just got to reading this one... i almost read it twice, in fact. the first part of the book was slow going for me, but it really picked up steam as the book progressed. i thought barnes had a nice way of pushing you to guess what he would write next.<br /><br />in the end, i didn't feel as though there were unanswered questions. i felt as though tony was an incredibly self-absorbed, meek character... one who worked as hard as he could to properly establish the sense of his own ending, or the lasting impression each person in his life would have, even if it was unnderwhelming... as long as it was slightly positive. it wasn't until he stepped in it at the end, until he finally figured it out that he realized other people actually exist... and while his life hadn't been drawn outside the lines much, there were some truly extraordinary and terrible things going on all around him, all along.<br /><br />a bit of a sad ending, if you ask me... but at least 'ol Tony figured it out before his life had completely passed by.erichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02002087469616786196noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4217670599100952035.post-31334460926724517392011-10-21T08:06:12.658-04:002011-10-21T08:06:12.658-04:00Nivedita - I do suspect a connection to all the wo...Nivedita - I do suspect a connection to all the work that is being done on memory in the social sciences. Not that an author necessarily consciously chooses the theme for that reason. But it's in the air. Thanks for coming by and for following our blog!Joelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11308509561834397951noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4217670599100952035.post-58827439474130473532011-10-21T04:33:20.215-04:002011-10-21T04:33:20.215-04:00Hi Joel,
I hadn't realized there were so many ...Hi Joel,<br />I hadn't realized there were so many books with reminiscing themes. Interesting observation about such books winning the Booker(especially now when Barnes has also won it :) <br />Am following your blog now.Nivedita Barvehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01318053619943096162noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4217670599100952035.post-7601066866235059532011-10-20T19:37:53.054-04:002011-10-20T19:37:53.054-04:00Depending on your tastes, of course, I'd start...Depending on your tastes, of course, I'd start with Arthur & George.<br /><br />The only one you should really pass on is England, England. I found it awful.Joelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11308509561834397951noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4217670599100952035.post-29737657198457765912011-10-20T19:06:12.651-04:002011-10-20T19:06:12.651-04:00I've never actually read Julian Barnes, which ...I've never actually read Julian Barnes, which seems a shame now. I"ll have to remedy that soon. And I couldn't agree more with you about Philip "wah, wah, it's so hard to be a white man. Life is hard" Roth.As the Crowe Flies and Readshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12110661562901480120noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4217670599100952035.post-65774815920801356132011-10-19T08:57:56.755-04:002011-10-19T08:57:56.755-04:00Mrs. B. -- thanks for dropping by! I don't kn...Mrs. B. -- thanks for dropping by! I don't know the movie, but I will check it out.<br /><br />Incidentally, I found an old interview with Julian Barnes over at <a href="http://www.theparisreview.org/interviews/562/the-art-of-fiction-no-165-julian-barnes" rel="nofollow">The Paris Review</a>. In it, he reminisces that, "I remember at school in the sixties we were being taught Ted Hughes by our English master, who was a bright young man just down from Cambridge. . . . He said, Of course everyone’s worried about what happens when Ted Hughes runs out of animals. We thought it was the wittiest thing we had ever heard. But of course Ted Hughes never did run out of animals; he may have run out of other things, but not animals."Joelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11308509561834397951noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4217670599100952035.post-33653741963586645562011-10-19T05:06:49.443-04:002011-10-19T05:06:49.443-04:00Thanks for leaving a comment on my blog about this...Thanks for leaving a comment on my blog about this book. I agree with you this isn't a great book certainly not the same standard as The Remains of the Day. However, it was riveting and really leaves so much food for thought that I think it definitely deserved the Booker win. You asked what I meant by the ending is 'open to interpretation.' What I meant is that everyone will have a different take on it and that's exactly what Barnes wanted I think. It's kind of like that movie Cache (Hidden) by Michael Haneke. If you haven't seen this, then you must. In an interview, Haneke said that if you are still trying to figure out who the culprit is then you're missing the entire point of the film.Astrid (Mrs.B)https://www.blogger.com/profile/00504736603540947661noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4217670599100952035.post-67117840479108605852011-10-18T13:57:41.118-04:002011-10-18T13:57:41.118-04:00Good review. I've read a number of these types...Good review. I've read a number of these types of books myself, and would pay money not to have to read another "old polemic" by Roth or Updike. I'm intrigued to see if DeLillo will ever explicitly tackle the subject. <br /><br />Personally, i haven't read any Barnes for years (I'm a big fan of <i>History of the World in 10 1/2 Chapters</i> mainly because his books became too ramblely. I'll add this to the wishlist!gibsonmeigshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16094122509371844728noreply@blogger.com