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A review by tumblyhome_caroline
The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes
3.0
I have always struggled to get started with this so it has sat on my shelf for years....foolish me! ...... I suppose I have read reviews that have described the book as the boring life of an upper middle class schoolboy, Tony, with an ending that is a bit of an anticlimax...but it is sooo much more than that. I have just settled down to it and have loved it. it was an excellent portrayal of age and how we look back on life, how we misremember (it is true..it happens), how younger people view older people and how we view ourselves. So seldom are there books that write about ageing well or realistically. It is a bit of a bug bear of mine really that older people are not portrayed well. The only other book that I felt did a good job of this was Olive Again by Elizabeth Strout.
Anyway, being 59 now, the times spoken of in this book were just so exactly as they were. The 1960’s were not as generally depicted for the vast majority of the U.K. chatting to my husband, who went to a slightly posh grammar school at the time and could relate to this, gave us a right good giggle about it all.
Anyway, I highlighted many sections ...some were just so funny ‘marriage is a long dull meal with the pudding served first’ (the book is hilarious at times, really snortingly funny), some sections were tragically poignant and others made me rethink how I view things.
So I just thought the book was good. If I had to say anything negative I would say the equation bit towards the end was a bit bonkers...as was veronicas driving. Also , this comment added in 2024…it hasn’t stayed with me over the years. So tho I enjoyed it it wasn’t one of my all time greats
Ps....I just really wanted to read Adrians diary...
I liked this bit...
‘When you are young, you think you can predict the likely pains and bleakness that age might bring. You imagine yourself being lonely, divorced, widowed; children growing away from you, friends dying. You imagine the loss of status, the loss of desire and desirability. You may go further and consider your own approaching death, which despite what company you can’t muster, can only be faced alone. But all this is looking ahead. What you fail to do is look ahead and then imagine yourself looking back from that future point, learning the new emotions that time brings......’
Anyway, being 59 now, the times spoken of in this book were just so exactly as they were. The 1960’s were not as generally depicted for the vast majority of the U.K. chatting to my husband, who went to a slightly posh grammar school at the time and could relate to this, gave us a right good giggle about it all.
Anyway, I highlighted many sections ...some were just so funny ‘marriage is a long dull meal with the pudding served first’ (the book is hilarious at times, really snortingly funny), some sections were tragically poignant and others made me rethink how I view things.
So I just thought the book was good. If I had to say anything negative I would say the equation bit towards the end was a bit bonkers...as was veronicas driving. Also , this comment added in 2024…it hasn’t stayed with me over the years. So tho I enjoyed it it wasn’t one of my all time greats
Ps....I just really wanted to read Adrians diary...
I liked this bit...
‘When you are young, you think you can predict the likely pains and bleakness that age might bring. You imagine yourself being lonely, divorced, widowed; children growing away from you, friends dying. You imagine the loss of status, the loss of desire and desirability. You may go further and consider your own approaching death, which despite what company you can’t muster, can only be faced alone. But all this is looking ahead. What you fail to do is look ahead and then imagine yourself looking back from that future point, learning the new emotions that time brings......’