Title: The Sense of an Ending (Goodreads)
Author: Julian Barnes
Published: Jonathan Cape, 2011
Pages: 150
Genres: Literary Fiction
My Copy: Hardcover
Buy: Amazon (or visit your local Indie bookstore)
When I see a book that is only 150 pages, I automatically think the book won’t have much to offer, but then I remember some great novellas like, George Orwell’s Animal Farm, Anthony Burgess’s A Clockwork Orange, Robert Louis Stevenson’s Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde and now Julian Barnes’s A Sense of an Ending. Winner of this year’s Man Booker prize A Sense of an Ending is the story I always wanted an angsty book about the teenage years to be like. I think back to Catcher in the Rye and think The Sense of an Ending is everything that classic should have been, all Catcher left me with was the need to slap Holden repeatedly.
The book follows the story of Tony Webster forty years later who receives an unexpected letter which leads him to remember his life forty years ago. The obsession with girls he had, his very first relationship and the memories of talking about philosophy, classical music and literature with his friends. This book is beautifully written, it was a real pleasure to read; it was intelligent, witty and I’d highly recommend it to everyone.
This is definitely a great novella – one of the best I’ve read for a while. As you say, you definitely shouldn’t judge a book by its length.
The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes
Agree
I loved, loved, loved this book. I am a huge Barnes fan now. If you can get your hands on his first book Metroland, I highly recommend it – it’s a gem but hard to find. I ended up borrowing a copy from my uni library!
I do need to read more of his books
[…] Barnes won the Man Booker Prize in 2011 for his book The Sense of an Ending which has sparked a huge increase in this man’s popularity. To follow up (cash in) on the buzz […]
[…] Frankenstein, which is my all-time favourite novel and give five star ratings to other books like The Sense of an Ending, Super Sad True Love Story and The Marriage Plot. Sure I love those books and will reread them when […]
I read this book two years ago; it was my first Barnes novel and absolutely loved it. The writing, the twists and turns, the themes of memory…I couldn’t recommend it enough 🙂
I kind of love Barnes, all the fiction I’ve read of his is great, I should read them all.