author: Julian Barnes

  • Arthur and George by Julian Barnes

    Arthur and George by Julian Barnes

    I was wrong to be daunted by this. All of the Julian Barnes I had read to this point were short novels that hit like a sledgehammer. They demand close, slow, attentive reading. I worried that 400+ pages of that would be overwhelming. I underestimated Julian Barnes. This is the (fictionalized) true story of Sir…

  • Elizabeth Finch by Julian Barnes

    Still readable but at least one tier below his best. Weak Barnes is still pretty good though. The middle third of this book is a weird inclusion, and at least 25 pages longer than it should be. I imagine this will be one of the books recommended for Barnes completists only.

  • Levels of Life by Julian Barnes

    Seems rude to rate and review someone’s grief. This is beautiful, haunting and memorable. Get it.

  • The Only Story by Julian Barnes

    Julian Barnes is a new favourite author. I hadn’t read anything by him until The Sense of an Ending a couple months ago, and I haven’t been able to get that book out of my head since. This one might even be better. It’s one of the saddest things I’ve ever read. Even so, I was absolutely…

  • Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes

    Julian Barnes never really crossed my radar until recently. In the Sutherland House newsletter (essential reading IMO) Ken Whyte described something as “What Julian Barnes would call a nickel fucker.” Which resulted in me buying this book. It’s great, if you’re a certain demographic. It’s full of things like this: …this may be one of the differences…